Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Fate of Percepliquis

The ancient capital of the Novronian empire was lost seemingly overnight. Its fate remained a mystery, but many mourned its disappearance. All that is about to change.

Orbit has offered to make available a limited ebook and print version of the final book of the series using my cover in order to allow readers of the original books to complete their sets. The book will not be released until January 2012, but those of you with printed sets will get the book you wanted.

I personally am amazed they would go to this effort on behalf of my series, and I think it says a lot about the kind of company Orbit is.

I guess I will need to work on that cover after all.

33 comments:

  1. Wow, that's an amazing gesture by Orbit! Looking forward to the upcoming trilogy so I can finally get around to reading these books. I've heard so many good things about them.

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  2. Wow this is fantastic news! I can't wait for the new trilogy to come out, it'll be much easier to convince e-friends to check it out when it's a trilogy/cheaper.

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  3. Great news indeed, Michael, and thank you for standing as firm as you could for the fans. :) Looking forward to it! :) Will have Wintertide's review for you within the next two weeks, probably. :)

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  4. fantastic gesture - looking forward to it. If the omnibus versions are hard cover, I will buy them as well as the stand-alone trade PB. Congrats again to you on making the big time.

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  5. Awesome! If they need me to pre-order, just let me know! :)

    Can't wait to see your coverart.

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  6. I'm happy to hear that you're able to publish the 6th book separately, but am sad that the wait is so long.
    Will the book that comes out in January be the same version as you would have produced in April (as a 6th distinct book) or will it be the newer edited version (that is in the 3rd book)?

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  7. I expect the text of Percepliquis will be the same as the second part of Heir of Novron.

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  8. On a purely selfish level I'm still po'd that I have to wait until January.

    On a larger level I'm happy that orbit is being so generous and I'm also excited for Mr. Sullivan if it means he will have more opportunity to write books (especially about Royce and Hadrian).

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  9. It kind of sucks that we'll still have to wait, but it is better than the alternative. :)

    I'm curious though, unless my memory is mistaken, didn't you guys go out looking if any of the big publishing companies were interested in the series? Couldn't you have released the final book first and then sign with Orbit? You probably would have avoided some of the backlash and maybe even made some more money.

    As another question (it may have already been asked, I skimmed through the other blog comments but didn't see it) will the Orbit released trilogy be significantly different than the books that are released now? That's really the only reason I'd see that the release dates are so far in the future. If they are, I definitely see myself picking up physical copies of the updated books when they're released.

    I just loved reading your books and the following interactions I had with you on Amazon, so I just wish you and your career the absolute best. :)

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  10. Also, I was curious whether the trilogy will be published in hardcover, paperback, or a hybrid of the two. With the likely length of the books, in my opinion the hybrid might be the best option (look at Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy for an example of this). I've found that they tend to stand up to wear much better than paperbacks for a few bucks more. Also, it provides some more options for the cover art and the paper material.

    One more thing, in one of your other posts I saw the mention of your new cover artist, and I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed his cover on Amanda Downum's second book. I wonder if his interpretation of Hadrian and Royce will come close to mine. It should be a pretty cool cover. :)

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  11. Wow I had no idea that all this was going down. Now that I have caught up: First, a big congrats to you Michael for nabbing a big publisher. I am very happy for you. Maybe now I will see your work on the bookshelves here in Australia! Second, I am so glad you worked out a deal with Orbit for Percepliquis. Waiting a few more months as opposed to the alternative is great!! So, thankyou!! I look forward to seeing the cover art and reading the last installment!

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  12. I'm not 100% convinced that the Percepliquis only version will have to wait for January. I could easily see them using it to "build some buzz" as having a bunch of people talking about the final book will generate pre-sales for their versions.

    Of course they'll want to do the editing first (I suspect) and the "tough part" the story line edits have already been completed by Orbit and Michael has sent back the changes on the first book and I'm going over the next two books now.

    In any case...I could see all this being done in 3 - 4 months and I believe the preorder pages will go up in April so things are moving along at a good clip.

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  13. BigZ7337 said... I'm curious though, unless my memory is mistaken, didn't you guys go out looking if any of the big publishing companies were interested in the series? Couldn't you have released the final book first and then sign with Orbit? You probably would have avoided some of the backlash and maybe even made some more money.

    When Wintertide was released, Michael's sales shot up and I was seeing him on the "Customers Also Bought" pages of industry heavy weights like Rothfuss, Abercrombie, Weeks, Brett, etc. Which made me think maybe we should look for a traditional publisher to take it to the next level. Usually the "query-go-round" can take twelve to eighteen months (if anything ever becomes of it) so I fully expected for April to come and go and Percepliquis to have been out. As it turns out there were several publishers intersted in just a few weeks of our agent approaching them and an offer was made immediately. I NEVER expected that. Once the train was rolling there really was no way to put the genie back in the bottle. There was no chance of telling Orbit (or the other publsishers..."Thanks for showing such enthusism...but we'll be back in touch with you in six-months". Our only option would be to recant completely which would brand Michael as a "diva author" and he would not get another chance.

    In hindsight I probably would have done it differently, had I known I would have released Percepliquis and then looked for a publisher but as Michael's agent points out...there might have been no interest then (especially with it all "out there as it were".

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  14. BigZ7337 said... Also, I was curious whether the trilogy will be published in hardcover, paperback, or a hybrid of the two.

    No idea. Publishing contracts don't get into those details...and in many cases they don't even know until the start getting some feedback on persales interest. Personally...I'm rooting for trade paperbacks (like the originals) but Michael and I have no say over this decision - the publisher knows how to reach the most people they can and they'll decide format based on that.

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  15. As to how the new books will vary from the other books - I'm sure Michael is planning a blog post on that - so stay tuned.

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  16. Thanks for the answers, I tend to be a curious guy so sorry for the slight bombardment of questions. :)

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  17. I just found this series and can't wait until the 6th book comes out as an ebook. I have the rest of the series on my Kindle.

    Yay!!!!

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  18. I have to say I really, really appreciate all the obvious work and effort you, Michael, and Robin and even Orbit has put into this project. That there will be a volume 6 in the original format to match the others is surprising and delightful. Good for Orbit! And good for all of us who bought the first volumes and will not have a chance to complete the set.

    Is there any way that we can get on an email list to be notified when the pre-order can be made?

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  19. Sounds to me as Orbit is an amazing Publishing company. And really trying to stay true to you, Michael, and your readers. That is amazing. Not just thinking of the big company and dollars. Very nice and cool. :)

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  20. Ok... im new here, ive just finished wintertide and thoroughly enjoyed the story so far (although i wouldnt mind sorting Michael out over the way he treated some of the characters!! - look out if i ever meet you!).... but looking at all these posts are making me think... whats going on? sorry i dont understand what is happening about book six and what is the trilogy?

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  21. Tried the Orbit today and so wanted the 6th book. What is the link to buy the 6th book. Maybe I am looking in the wrong place.

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  22. I have the first 5 books on my Kindle and have been waiting on pins & needles on the release of Percepliquis.

    Can anyone post a link to where I can purchase an e-version of it?

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  23. Percepliquis (both ebook and print versions) don't have an order page yet but as soon as they do it will be posted here.

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  24. only started reading the series a week ago reading a book a day; I cannot wait for 6 (still haven't decided if this a literal feeling or merely a figurative one). Hopes that you'll be picked up for tv. the format of episodic but cohesive series is pretty perfect.

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  25. Color me bitter. Grats on your publisher, too bad you had to sell out your promise for it.

    Tell your publisher to provide a description on the Amazon pre-orders of your trilogy so that fans who already have your incomplete series don't pre-order the trilogy thinking they are buying something new. Even if it is something as simple as 'Riyria series re-created as a trilogy, book 1 of 3'.

    Also, put an announcement on your website so fans don't have to go searching through your blog archives to find out wth is going on with your promised release.

    Finally, change your "About Me" information on your/this blog which still misleads people into thinking you are releasing the final book this month, even though you made the announcement that you won't be fulfilling your promise back in February (and have made many blog entries since).

    Seriously though, why is it that authors can never seem to keep their promises? Especially when it comes to that last damn book. At least you would be hard-pressed to beat out Mr. Martin's epic delivery failure.

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  26. I too am very disappointed.

    I read the authors promise (all were written before the first was released, single epic tale not a string of sequels). I decided to try the series.

    I was rather shocked to get to the well advertised last book to find the author had a new plan. I guess it's better to sell out your fans than be considered a diva to the publishers.

    It's no crime to take advantage of your success, but be honest with your readers.

    I also agree, that unless your motive is to make extra money off unsuspecting fans, the names of the book are too misleading.

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  27. Just what I was trying to find out! Perfect! So excited to finish my set :)

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  28. When I starting looking in earnest for book 6 I was disappointed to see that the books had been bundled. Perusing this blog it seems as though book six (as a stand alone) will become available in January. To that end: Is there a way to pre-order the 6th book or will be have keeping checking various sites?

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  29. If you look under the "news" tab on this blog you'll see a link that will put you on a list to be notified when the book becomes available.

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