Elizabeth Bear’s mosaic novel, New Amsterdam is now available as a trade paperback. As Publishers Weekly notes, New Amsterdam “introduces a tough, witty female sleuth. Abigail Irene Garrett is the perfect Victorian hard-boiled detective… Teaming occasionally with vampire sleuth Sebastien de Ulloa, Irene cuts a figure of crime-fighting confidence through five of the six stories…plunging into wildly unpredictable adventures such as those recounted in “Lumière,” a stunning blend of steampunk and eldritch horror. Bear’s tales are not only ingeniously mysterious but also richly textured with details that bring the society and history of her alternate America to vivid life. Readers who like the grit of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake novels and the historical heft of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s vampire tales will find similar pleasures here.”

Trade Pbk:

$14.95

Our first Far Territories title, Tad Williams 120,000 word short story collection, Rite, is in stock and shipping. As Green Man Review notes, “Tad Williams’ short fiction is written with the beauty of language that he has become known for, but also with the winking sense of humour a youth often shows to a beloved mentor, especially in the pieces he writes in honour of authors who have personally influenced him. For example, “Three Duets” is a tribute to Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn, and “The Author at the End of Time” and “Go Ask Elric” are weighted with Moorcock references.”

Trade Pbk:

$14.95

The first two titles in our new imprint, Far Territories will arrive in our offices and start shipping this week. First up is Rite: Short Work by Tad Williams, the first short story collection by the NY Times Best-Selling writer. The trade paperback contains all of the fiction in the hardcover limited edition, while the teleplays and non-fiction have been trimmed from the new edition. At only $14.95, it’s a bargain.

The second trade paperback from Far Territories is Elizabeth Bear’s mosaic novel, New Amsterdam, about an alternate America in which transcontinental travel is by dirigible, and Deputy Crown Inspector solves magic-infused cases with the help of The Great Detective, Sebastian, who also happens to be a centuries old wampyr.

Best of all, in just a few short weeks, you’ll be seeing the Far Territories titles show up in Borders and other brick-and-mortar venues. Meanwhile, if you’d rather not wait to stumble across them, we will have a limited number of copies for direct sale.

Lewis Shiner has turned in the bonus chapbook that will accompany the signed limited edition of his historical, multi-generational thriller, Black & White. Shades of Gray consists of four stories that won’t appear in his Collected Stories (coming next year from SubPress): “Buyin’ My Heartache a Bear”, “Real Life”, “Stoked”, and “Wild Thing.” At 40 pages, with a story notes section, the chapbook for the limited edition will be a real treat for Shiner’s many fans.

We’ve added two novellas to our schedule for later this year, by a couple of our favorite writers.

First up is an interstellar novella by Dan Simmons. In Muse of Fire, a traveling Shakespeare troupe must perform for the Archons, the seldom seen ruling caste of the tale’s world. Please note that the signed edition of Muse of Fire is much smaller than any other Simmons project we’ve done.

Orson Scott Card’s 30,000 word novella is set in the same universe as his upcoming multivolume Mithermages series. In Stonefather, young Runnel leaves his mountain valley to head for the great city of the water mages, wherein he undiscovered powers of his own complicate matters. Our last novella by Card, Space Boy, sold out its 2000 copy print run before publication. We fully expect Stonefather to do the same.

Just a quick note that we’ve received our second wave of orders for Richard Morgan’s ultra-cool debut novel, Altered Carbon, and we’re down to fewer than 50 of the 500 copy print run left.

Also no slouch is Naomi Novik’s His Majesty’s Dragon. We’ve sold roughly 350 of the 500 copy print run, with a number of wholesaler and online reseller orders yet to land in our offices. The sequel, Throne of Jade, is already fully designed, with all the artwork in house. We’re giving it a hard proofreading, and should be announcing it for presale soon.

We’re busy buying books, one that will sneak onto our schedule for very late 2008, the others in 2009. First up is a stunning interstellar novella by Dan Simmons, Muse of Fire. Look for ordering info on this in the next few days. We’ve emailed Dan to get his input on an illustrator, though the novella itself is already fully designed, proofread, and ready to head to the printer. If that’s not enough good luck, the mails the other day brought us the contract for Alastair Reynolds’s powerful novella, The Six Directions of Space, which we’ll publish in early ‘09.

Given the success pre-selling both our original Jim Butcher tale, Backup, and the limited edition of the first of his novels, Storm Front, we’ve reached agreement to produce limited editions of the next two novels in the series, Fool Moon and Grave Peril. If those continue to do as well as we expect, we’ll be producing the entire series in limited edition format. Please note that Storm Front is selling so well that we do not expect to be able to offer copies to large online retailers or wholesalers.

Finally, we’ve just reached agreement on a really nifty James P. Blaylock project. Every year, Tim Powers teaches a creative writing class for bright high school students. This year, their “master author” focus was on Jim Blaylock, with each student penning a Blaylockian short story. Jim has taken the three best efforts, and rewritten them so they’re true Blaylock stories. Next year we’ll be publishing a small collection containing these collaborations, with a cover and illustrations by Tim Powers.

Scampering back here to add one item I’d forgotten — We have reached agreement with Ray Bradbury on what is essentially a brand new collection, consisting of 27 short stories, of which 17 are virtually unpublished. Our edition will likely be limited to 2000 unsigned copies, priced in the $35 range. Look for an announcement on it in the next couple of weeks.

Our Director of Production, Yanni Kuznia, is helming our continuation of the Wandering Star Robert E. Howard Limited Editions. Right now, she’s cranium deep in Kull: Exile of Atlantis, proofreading our text against the del Rey version, and also double- and triple-checking the index to make certain everything is aright in that regard as well.

There will be a few differences in our edition, compared to the Wandering Star versions. We’ve made the decision to include b&w versions of the color plates mixed through the text, while having a full-color art portfolio at the end of the book. In addition, we’ve played with the contrast of Justin Sweet’s b&w illustrations, which struck us as a little muddy in the del Rey trade paperback. Justin has also taken the opportunity to touch up some of the color and b&w illlustrations, to make them a bit sharper in spots.

In short, everything is going well, and the book is right on schedule for a June release, at a price $75 less than the last Wandering Star edition. The only thing that might hold it up a bit longer than that is waiting for the slipcases to be manufactured. (Check out the full-color art for the slipcases, above.)

One final bit of REH news: Thus far, the one party that needs to sign off on the third Conan volume has refused to do so, though we thought an understanding had been reached with everyone, and they had been sent a contract promptly. If we can get the rights situation sorted out, it’s our intention to follow Kull with the third Conan volume. If not, we’ll be moving along to another title, and returning to Conan when the rights situation has been sorted.

We’ve completed the design and initial proofing of Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novelette, Backup. All that’s left is for Jim to set pen to the signature pages and take a final proofing tour through the book himself. Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame) has graced us with the striking cover as well as four black-and-white interior illustrations, making this a rare treat for Jim (and Mike’s) many fans. Printed in two colors throughout, with such great illustrations and a rare glimpse at Harry Dresden’s world through the eyes of his demon brother, Thomas, Backup has turned into a very special project indeed.

Collector’s Note: A reminder that we’re also doing a limited edition of the first Dresden Files novel, Storm Front, which is pre-selling exceptionally well. As we’re only doing 526 copies, you might want to get your order in soon or risk disappointment. We currently have a proposal in with Jim’s main publisher to do more of the Dresden Files novels as limiteds, so now’s your chance to get in on the ground floor.

We’ve just posted Subterranean #8 for preorder, as it’s out being designed, and will head to the printer shortly. The highlight this time is the reappearance of “Questions for a Soldier” (John Scalzi). The original chapbook of this Old Man’s War-related tale now sells for well in excess of $100, so this is a chance for John’s many fans to get a look at the story at a reasonable price. Rounding out the issue are great stories by Michael Marshall Smith, Tim Lebbon, and a number of other fine folks.