Friday 3 July 2015

The Big Book of Thorns is on its way!

It has long been an ambition of mine ... well, these past 4 years at least ... to have a special edition of the Broken Empire books. And when I say special I don't mean just a fancy front page proclaiming it to be a special edition - I mean SPECIAL.


The Broken Empire trilogy means a lot to me. It was an emotional thing to write and contains some of the best writing I'm capable of. I know it means a lot to quite a few other people too, because I've had hundreds of emails and messages telling me so. Both the book and the process of putting it into the world and interacting with its readers have been a journey - an epic journey - and I wanted something to commemorate it.

After a lot of nagging, set-backs, planning, failing, natural disasters, and blind luck, we've finally got there. It's coming!

Grim Oak Press are producing an omnibus edition, the whole trilogy in one volume, a Big Book of Thorns! Shawn Speakman's the man in charge. He loves books, he loves these books, and he loves producing beautiful examples.

All 52 copies of the leather-bound lettered edition, retailing at $300 each, were sold within 9 minutes of the pre-order page going live!

However, you can still pre-order the numbered edition, which are the same omnibus, a hardbound, cloth-covered, signed limited edition with 9 new pieces of  Jason Chan artwork, a new 10,000 word Jorg short story, and thorn-graphic designed interior/exterior by graphic artist Nate Taylor (an illustrator who works with Pat Rothfuss).

Pre-order it here while copies are still up for grabs! 

I'm sharing this now because recently I posted about the signed and numbered run of The Liar's Key - I posted multiple times on my Facebook page, the Prince of Thorns facebook page, Twitter, my blog, and Goodreads. The books sold out quickly and ever since I've been getting distressed messages from people who missed out because they didn't know about it. So, I'm getting the word out early!

Special editions are a labour of love. Compared to the sale of hardcovers, paperbacks, and ebooks they make very little money. I make more money on a fire & forget deal for the Lithuanian rights to Prince of Thorns or whatever. They cost a lot to buy because they cost a lot to produce. I'm pushing this because I love the idea of a big boxed leather-bound Book of Thorns. I want one. I hope you do too!


But wait, there's more! When the print run sells out Grim Oak Press are going to donate $10,000 to the Children's Hospice charity that runs several wholly charity-supported hospices, one of which gives 14 days respite care a year to my daughter Celyn and cares for a great many other life-limited children. This is a very generous move, suggested by Shawn Speakman, and in-line with Grim Oak Press's track-record for charitable donation. I know that the money will be very well spent on the most vulnerable of children, putting some happiness into their short lives and being there for them at the end.

So basically if you order the cloth-bound edition you're giving $10 to charity - which is a lot more than you're putting in my pocket!



I don't have anything else to show you, except this sequence of photos I took recently when unwrapping my copy of the Unfettered anthology from Grim Oak Press. This should give you an idea of the type of thing they produce.

(check out their announcement)











12 comments:

  1. My comment concerns the possibility of your including a short Jorg-related story in the omnibus. I love books, but I love the environment more. So these days I only read via my Kindle. However, I also love your short stories, especially those set in "The Broken Empire." So I would ask that if you do include a short story in the omnibus, please do not make it exclusive to the print book. Or at least not for more than a year or so. I implore you: please don't exclude any short stories from those who exercise principles based on conscience, no matter how bizarre they may sound. If Grim Oak Press (or anyone else) were to put out a Kindle version of this omnibus that can be purchased in the US, I would buy it. Thank you.

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  2. The donation to Children's Hospice tipped it from "Wow I want one" to "I'm getting one" (I have a medically fragile daughter with disabilities) and the prospect of a new Jorg story - well, I may just get it for me rather than wrapping it ad pretending it's for my husband...

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  3. I'm with Jess on this one. It goes on my "gotta have it list!" I seriously want the lettered version.

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  4. I'm incredibly excited to see the broken empire trilogy in one volume, and the prospect of a new Jorg story is exciting. This comment concerns the other broken empire stories you've written (select mode, sleeping beauty etc.) Will they be included in the omnibus? It would be great to not only have the books but also all broken empire stories in one volume.

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  5. I will definitely be getting one, and would like to say YES! to the extras!

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  6. I'd like to see a bit of a staggered release. I can only really justify spending $100 on a book if it's a special occasion so would need to wait for Christmas or my birthday in February. I'd hate for them to all sell out by then so maybe if you released the 1000 copy edition in 250 pre order lots once a month it would ensure everyone had a good shot at scoring one even if they did have to ask for it as a gift from someone else.

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  7. So excited for this! I've been looking for an excuse to go through and read the trilogy again. (the pile of books to read on my desk has gotten rather large though.) But now I have that excuse!

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  8. So excited for this! I've been looking for an excuse to read through Jorg's trilogy once again. (The pile of books to read on my desk has gotten quite large though.) But now I have that excuse!

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  9. Sign me up, I'm going to totally need that.

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  10. 1. Only to the US? (I'm from Europe)
    2. How much? (I just earned some sum amount of money, and it's time that I buy something for myself, but I would still like to be able to afford rent)
    3. Inform us of the site of buying as soon as you know it (twitterwise as well)
    4. Stuff I would like to see on the cover:
    Nuban's shortbow!
    Watch they don't cut off Jorg's hair short.
    Tall Castle somewhere in the misty distance

    When I first read POT I had no idea who Builders were. I was binge reading right after some major fantasy book - which I can't remember for the life of me now, so there - and when the book finally came to the computer that requested the "password" I guess it was enough to my sleep deprived brain to finally click together - "wow, wow, wait! This is postapocalyptic book?" There goes to show what happens when you don't read the book introductions on the back (or what they're called). And I rarely do that.
    Since then I enjoy reading the small insertions of the Builder's artefacts into your book - like Jal's father's safe. It's like a minigame of guess, but not really. So, yeah, something small and in the distance - Tall castle that has the most 'Builder' look to it - would be great for us lazy asses that just start reading on the first page and get too caught up with the great written narrative to check WHAT world we're reading.
    Also, map should be a giveaway to that information, but when I looked at it first, I was like: Hey, that's what the world would look like if it flooded. Wonder if the author knows that. (yes, I facepalmed enough times to make up for that idiotic-sleep-deprived idea).

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  11. With the way you write shorts, I'd like to see one included in this omnibus edition. Are you considering putting some of the other empire sports in as well?

    Credit to Grim Oak for their generosity to a worthy cause.

    I too like the ridged spine look, it'll set the book off quite nicely.

    I look forward to getting my copy next year upon its release.

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