Signed, but not yet sealed and delivered

As some may know, the Riyria Revelations were: 

• originally released by a small press: Aspirations Media Inc. (for The Crown Conspiracy) 
• then released through self-publishing (for Avempartha through Wintertide)
• and finally released by Orbit (for Percepliquis)

These books came out every six months on October 1st and April 1st starting in 2008.  Well, except for Percepliquis which was delayed by 9 months so it's release could be aligned with Heir of Novron (which came out in January of 2012).

That means we are just a little less than two years from the series' 20th anniversary, and I'd love to have special editions to celebrate that milestone. Now, I know that sounds like a lot of time to plan for a special edition, but it took more than a year and a half to negotiate a contract the last time I approached Orbit for permission to print hardcovers of Revelations, so Robin started early. In April of 2026, she reached out to Orbit, and as of a few days ago, we have a signed contract!

For the twentieth anniversary  I had several goals in mind.

• I wanted to return to the original six-book format rather than the two-book omnibus editions. 
  
  
• I wanted the number of copies created to be large enough to run a Kickstarter. Afterall, a lot of fans missed that original printing (which we have now dubbed "the rare editions"). Why is that? Well, it's because they were only available "by invitation only" because the number of permissible copies was so small.

• Over the years, we have played around with a few different design options for faux-leather editions, and each had their own issues. But our most recent incarnation (the ones created for The Riyria Chronicles) are versatile enough to make it possible for all books in the Elan Saga to have a similar look and feel - and I wanted to mirror that design for the 20th anniversary edition of Riyria Revelations.

• But I can't lie, I'm still a fan of the original artwork that I created for the author-published books, and I didn't want to lose them.  The good news is, I can include those graphics on the front end sheets.

So, based on that, this is what we came up with for the 20th anniversary of the books (click on the image for a higher resolution look.

Here are some details from the signed contract:

• Territories: Worldwide but granted through 2 contracts: Orbit USA & Orbit UK
• Contract's effective date March 1, 2028
• Kickstarter cannot last any longer than 6 months from effective date
• Books must be published within 18 months of effective date
• No books may be sold after March 1, 2031, and any remaining copies must be destroyed
• Format: deluxe faux-leather copies - no standard trade hard covers permitted
• Price of a six-book set $260 (no individual sales allowed)
• Number of copies permitted: 3,000 (for NA) and 750 (for all other territories)
• Advance to be paid to Orbit: $78,000 (for NA rights), $19,500 (for all other territories)

Based on the above - we anticipate the following for the Kickstarter:

• Kickstarter launch date: March 7, 2028 12:00 noon (EST)
• Kickstarter end date: March 28, 2028 2:00 pm (EST)
• Reward levels: $260 without slipcase | $299 with slipcase
• Number of copies available: 3,750

If you missed the Kickstarter for the Riyria Chronicles deluxe editions, you can order copies from this link. Boxsets sold there are discounted $60 (for a four book set) and $80 (for a five book set that includes Drumindor). Also sales from that site include free US shipping and deeply discounted (50% off) for non-US shipping).

NOTE: We probably won't do any reprinting of the Riyria Chronicles books until their 20th anniversary, which won't be until 2033. So if you think you want a complete set of the Elan Saga in this deluxe format, be sure to order soon as supplies will no doubt sell out.

Okay, back to the Riyria Revelations series. If you would like to sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter goes live, use this link (775+ people have signed up as of 10/26/2026).

And that about covers it. We expect the UK contract to be signed by the end of next week. I can't tell you how excited that this beautiful set of books will be a reality. This was the one roadblock to having all books in the Elan Saga using this new design.  So, yes, there will be announcements about similar editions for Legends of the First Empire and The Rise and Fall.