Lilith Saintcrow

By now most of you have already heard of the e-book launch of the Hedgewitch Queen.

Vianne di Rocancheil is a lady waiting at the Court of Arquitaine, where she studies her books, watches for intrigue, and shepherds her foolhardy Princesse through the glittering whirl. Court is a sometimes-unpleasant waltz, especially for the unwary, but Vianne treads its measured steps well.

A Queen can do no less.

It’s up for preorder at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and will be released on pretty much all ebook platforms as well. I am incredibly excited about it, I love this story. It’s very different than anything I’ve ever had published before.

There has been some…speculation, let’s say, about why it’s ebook-only. First of all, this doesn’t mean it won’t be in paper later–you can let the publisher know if you’d like that! They’re listening, believe me. They chose this book to start their ebook only line for a variety of reasons, very few of which have been shared with me; your thoughts and opinions, dear Reader, are very important to them.

Second, this book is not being released in ebook-only because it’s “unsellable.” (To those who suggested it, well. Yeah. Whatever.) You have got to realize I have multiple series on the shelves as of this year, and at least as many unpublished manuscripts as published works. Five or six of the unpubs are trunk novels that nobody will ever see. The others haven’t made it out because cannibalising my career by releasing a flood is so not in my best interests. So my agent tells me, and this is one of the things I trust her on.

Third, I’m getting asked, “But I thought you hated ebooks!” an awful lot. Guys, I don’t hate e-books. I prefer paper, and will until the day I die. Perhaps I’m in a minority, but I don’t think so, and it’s too early to tell. But there is something I hate with a flaming, unholy passion.

I hate e-piracy. (This is not news.) That was one of my reservations about accepting the offer to have Vianne and Tristan’s stories published in this manner. Thankfully, I’ve reached a point in my career where I could take a chance. Frankly, I’m not depending on Hedgewitch to pay my bills. (Other books, please God please, can do that.) A lot of authors do not have that luxury. This is why e-piracy means less of those things you love–because when an artist starts taking a look at the risks involved in that platform, they may choose not to go there.

All that aside, I’m very, very excited and happy. I’m glad to be able to offer my Readers a little something different, and I hope they like it.

Also, did you see the projected cover for The Iron Wyrm Affair, due out in early 2013? It’s not final yet, mind you. But here. Feast thine eyes, my chickadees.

Archibald Clare is a detective of truly uncanny abilities—a mentath, capable of feats of deduction and logic that border on the supernatural. He is also abruptly, uniquely, the only unregistered mentath left alive in Londoninium. Someone has murdered the others and, if not for the timely intervention of the Prime sorceress Emma Bannon, there would have been no one left to stop… whatever is coming.

The game is afoot…

Guys, I love this book. I had such an incredibly fun time writing it–muttering about clockwork rats, logic engines, and Victoriana until everyone was ready to heave an antique or two at me. Again, it’s something new and different, and I’m hoping you guys will like it.

Book two of Bannon & Clare is bubbling in my brainpan as I type. (Along with the head cold, but that’s another blog post.) Incidentally, since I am currently suffering the last vestiges of a Cold From Hell, now would be a really good time for the Fairy of Website Work to come fluttering down and update my Books pages for me…

…oh, wait, there is no Fairy of Website Work.

Damn. Guess I’ll have to do it myself.

Tune in next week for the continuing tale of Squirrel!Neo, plus the exciting saga of Phred and Miss B!

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Tags: Bannon & Clare, books, Hedgewitch Queen, shooting from the hip

This entry was posted on Friday, October 7th, 2011 at 10:51 am and is filed under Industry News, Reader Questions, Real Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.