Okay, you're right. The countdown was supposed to start on Day 10. It would have looked so much more professional and well-planned. But somehow Real Life got in the way, and before we knew it...Anyway, the long awaited publication in the UK of the 9th Cooper & Fry novel THE KILL CALL is exactly nine days away, on 2nd April. Lucky that we managed to avoid the 1st and all those old jokes about April Fools Day.
Long awaited? Well, it's now 18 months since the publication of book 8, DYING TO SIN, which came out in September 2007. Up to then, I'd been dutifully producing a book a year regular as clockwork, just the way publishers like it. But 2008 was the first year without a new Cooper & Fry novel. You've no idea how many quizzical messages I got from readers wondering whether they'd missed a book, because they usually had one to take their on their summer holidays, and or to give to their Mum on her birthday. I started to feel really guilty.
So here it is, then. THE KILL CALL arrives in plenty of time for your summer hols. It's also in time for Father's Day. It's even in time to catch Easter, for goodness sake - and it's much better for you than all those chocolate eggs!
So what about the rest of the world, I here you cry. Well, according to HarperCollins Australia, THE KILL CALL is released Down Under on 1st April (I guess you don't have April Fools Day down there?). If I'm not wrong that means Australia actually gets this book first. So it seems we've come a long way since way since those wooden sailing ships took six months to get round the Cape of Good Hope. You'll be getting the internet next. *
HarperCollins Canada are a bit more cautious. They have THE KILL CALL scheduled for 15th May. You can't hurry a Canuck, eh? Got to wait until all the snow has gone, I suppose. **
With one exception, other parts of the English speaking world who get the HarperCollins titles will find THE KILL CALL drifting into their bookshops some time over the next couple of months, many of you apparently preferring the 'export' trade paperback editions to the lovely hardbacks that we get here in the UK.
The exception is, of course, the USA... Well, what can I say? There is no prospect of THE KILL CALL being published in the US. You Cooper & Fry fans across the pond might want to review your options. If you ask me, your best bet could be to move to the UK. Or to Canada, of course, if you have a good pair of snow boots. ***
Failing that, there are some good independent mystery bookstores in the States who will import a few copies, such as The Poisoned Pen in Arizona. And the internet is a great thing for book buyers. Many readers in the USA tell me they buy UK editions online from The Book Depository, which has the advantage of free worldwide shipping. As it happens, I'm currently a featured author on The Book Depository's website. and THE KILL CALL is one of their most popular pre-orders:
Translations? Well, as usual, the reliable Swedes are quick off the mark, with the Swedish translation of THE KILL CALL due for publication this autumn from Minotaur. Most other countries are still catching up on the series.
And that's it for now. More news as the countdown continues!
Stephen
* a joke
** another joke
*** the same as the last joke
And that's it for now. More news as the countdown continues!
Stephen
* a joke
** another joke
*** the same as the last joke
Posts
I live in New York City and ordered The Kill Call from Amazon UK on Friday March 27, expecting to receive it around the second week of April. Imagine my surprise when it showed up via Royal Mail on Monday, March 30. So for those of us across the pond, it seems that lacking a stateside publisher is an unexpected benefit...Yes, it costs more to buy from Amazon UK, but I do this routinely with favorite U.K. authors rather than wait months for the U.S. printing (if there is one). It's worth the few extra bucks. I mean pounds.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know when the paperback is out? I'm afraid I cant afford to buy hardbacks and it is frustrating having to wait so long for the paperbacks!! I end up reading other authors' books - which is good too- but then I get into them and the flow is broken and I forget where the characters are at when I eventually get to read the paperback. I dont understand the pricing structure either where a book is listed at a price-then reduced-then put back up and just when you've finished an authors series the whole lot are put out as a hugely discounted box set!Are the books worth less at one time or another? It unfairly penalises loyal readers.
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