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A Song of Ice and Fire / Announcements / update: ASoS UK release and NEW MAPS!

Back 20 Messages

Green Gerg
User ID: 0081374 Jun 1st 10:30 AM
RE: ASoS, I asked George "Do you think it'll be out in England in July?"

<<Yes. HarperCollins has been cracking the whip at me relentlessly, and pushing everything at an amazing pace. The typesetting's done, and I am just about finished with the galleys. Jim Burns finished the cover painting ages ago.

In fact, the British hardcover has a sales ranking of 132 on Amazon.UK the last time I looked, and it's still six weeks away from pubdate.

One interesting note -- we will have two different sets of maps this time. On GAME OF THRONES, Harper used the Bantam maps. With CLASH OF KINGS, however, Harper's pubdate was so much earlier than Bantam's that they didn't get the updates in time, so only Bantam had the new maps. To avoid that this time, Harper will be doing its own maps.

Both sets of maps will be based on my originals, of course, but different artists will be cleaning them up and re-rendering them for publication, so they should have a somewhat different look. There will be four maps: updated versions of the North and South, with new places and details added, and new ones of the Wall and environs, and a part of the eastern landmass.

As for my vacation... I'll be going to Westercon in Hawaii over 4th of July. I hope to be dug out from under my then.

GRRM>>

Ghost
User ID: 8061053 Jul 4th 6:11 AM
Arend,

Just a translation of the English title. aGoT was 'Het spel der Tronen'. I don't recall the exact Dutch title of aCoK. They translated all sorts of names as well. 'Konings Landing' and 'Grouwvreugd' (Greyjoy), to name two of the more horrible.

My English writing may not be flawless, but I'm very glad my reading is ok. To wait six extra months to read a translated version of which you cannot be sure how accurate it is... nightmare. All you people born and raised in English speaking countries have no idea how lucky you are.

Arend
User ID: 9941493 Jul 4th 9:38 AM
Uhm, ghost, I wasn't actually raised in an English speaking country. I grew up in Oisterwijk, Den Haag, and actually went to college in Leiden. But I can't remember the last SF book I read in Dutch. Some translations just made me cringe. Admittedly, there is only one good Dutch SF writer, (the now late) Wim Gijssen.

Grouwvreugd, yuck.

Padraig
User ID: 1028194 Jul 4th 4:51 PM
Not that the internet stores are perfect either. Amazon still hasn't updated the release date for a Storm of Swords or the number of pages.

Gap Hermit
User ID: 8987493 Jul 5th 0:17 AM
Yeah, that's the big thing that annoys me about the online bookstores. They hardly ever update their listings. But then again, at least amazon.com knows that A Storm of Swords exists, and will be published soon. Ask a Barnes & Noble salesperson about GRRM's new book, and receive their blank stare.

Ser Benjen
User ID: 2122084 Jul 5th 6:55 AM
I used to work for a large bookstore chain. About the same time Tom O. did, actually. I wasn't one of the blank stare types. I loved finding books for people, even if it took what my boss considered to be an inordinate amount of time. I'd call the competition, used book stores, contact the corporate buyers, or even talk to the reps from the publisher to get info, whatever it took.

My point is that, although I know exactly where you are coming from when you complain about bookstore employees, they are not all bad. I've come across some very good ones in my time.

The internet has definitly changed the dynamic of the bookselling industry, but there is something about a bookstore that you can not imitate virtually (yet) and it will have an attraction long after the internet is available in every household.

Once they stop printing books on paper and switch to selling them as downloads for your hand-held computer, that's when things will get really intersting. Our grandchildren will look at our shelves of books and think of us as the unrepentent treekillers.

Gap Hermit
User ID: 9928103 Jul 6th 1:32 AM
Oh, yes, Ser Benjen, I know all bookstore employees are not bad. Didn't mean to imply that. It's just real annoying having to deal with the ones that don't know what they are doing, just like it's annoying to deal with any salesperson that doesn't know anything about the business they are working in or the product they are selling. Chain bookstores, like all big retail employers, obviously are only interested in hiring employees who smile prettily and suck up to their managers, and these large employers don't care if their people know anything about the product they are selling. Fortunately, there are ways around this problem now, thanks to the Internet. I can also understand why your bookstore boss thought you were spending "an inordinate amount of time" helping people with their book purchases, because bookstores want to sell the books they already have on their shelves, not order more books that the person making the special order may or may not ever come back in to buy. Not exactly cost effective.

The paper vs. download debate about books is one that interests me a lot, and I have to agree with the argument I keep seeing, which is that once a new generation of children is born who first learn to read on computer screens rather than on printed paper, there will quickly be no more books. This thought does not make me happy, but I expect to be dust long past the time that that generation is born. This would require a computer on every desk in kindergarden and all the early grades, for instance, and that isn't likely to happen in the near future. If schools can't afford to buy books these days, they certainly aren't going to be able to buy hundreds of computers for every desk.

Steve
User ID: 1836024 Jul 6th 7:05 AM
Many years ago I was in a queue in the SF section of a very famous bookshop in London. A couple in front of me were asking the assistant for help. They wanted to buy a trilogy for their son, but didn't know the author or the title. However, they described the plot in great detail. It was the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, which had just been published. The assistant had never heard of it and when I spoke up and told him what it was (politely), I got an angry glare from him.

I must have brought hundreds of books from bookshops since then, but that one has never had my custom since. Fortunately there are _some_ good bookshops in London and I buy books from them rather than online because they make that effort.

Back 20 Messages

Green Gerg User ID: 0081374	Jun 1st 10:30 AM RE: ASoS, I asked George "Do you think it'll be out in England in July?" <<Yes. HarperCollins has been cracking the whip at me relentlessly, and pushing everything at an amazing pace. The typesetting's done, and I am just about finished with the galleys. Jim Burns finished the cover painting ages ago. In fact, the British hardcover has a sales ranking of 132 on Amazon.UK the last time I looked, and it's still six weeks away from pubdate. One interesting note -- we will have two different sets of maps this time. On GAME OF THRONES, Harper used the Bantam maps. With CLASH OF KINGS, however, Harper's pubdate was so much earlier than Bantam's that they didn't get the updates in time, so only Bantam had the new maps. To avoid that this time, Harper will be doing its own maps. Both sets of maps will be based on my originals, of course, but different artists will be cleaning them up and re-rendering them for publication, so they should have a somewhat different look. There will be four maps: updated versions of the North and South, with new places and details added, and new ones of the Wall and environs, and a part of the eastern landmass. As for my vacation... I'll be going to Westercon in Hawaii over 4th of July. I hope to be dug out from under my then. GRRM>>
Ghost User ID: 8061053	Jul 4th 6:11 AM Arend, Just a translation of the English title. aGoT was 'Het spel der Tronen'. I don't recall the exact Dutch title of aCoK. They translated all sorts of names as well. 'Konings Landing' and 'Grouwvreugd' (Greyjoy), to name two of the more horrible. My English writing may not be flawless, but I'm very glad my reading is ok. To wait six extra months to read a translated version of which you cannot be sure how accurate it is... nightmare. All you people born and raised in English speaking countries have no idea how lucky you are.
Arend User ID: 9941493	Jul 4th 9:38 AM Uhm, ghost, I wasn't actually raised in an English speaking country. I grew up in Oisterwijk, Den Haag, and actually went to college in Leiden. But I can't remember the last SF book I read in Dutch. Some translations just made me cringe. Admittedly, there is only one good Dutch SF writer, (the now late) Wim Gijssen. Grouwvreugd, yuck.
Padraig User ID: 1028194	Jul 4th 4:51 PM Not that the internet stores are perfect either. Amazon still hasn't updated the release date for a Storm of Swords or the number of pages.
Gap Hermit User ID: 8987493	Jul 5th 0:17 AM Yeah, that's the big thing that annoys me about the online bookstores. They hardly ever update their listings. But then again, at least amazon.com knows that A Storm of Swords exists, and will be published soon. Ask a Barnes & Noble salesperson about GRRM's new book, and receive their blank stare.
Ser Benjen User ID: 2122084	Jul 5th 6:55 AM I used to work for a large bookstore chain. About the same time Tom O. did, actually. I wasn't one of the blank stare types. I loved finding books for people, even if it took what my boss considered to be an inordinate amount of time. I'd call the competition, used book stores, contact the corporate buyers, or even talk to the reps from the publisher to get info, whatever it took. My point is that, although I know exactly where you are coming from when you complain about bookstore employees, they are not all bad. I've come across some very good ones in my time. The internet has definitly changed the dynamic of the bookselling industry, but there is something about a bookstore that you can not imitate virtually (yet) and it will have an attraction long after the internet is available in every household. Once they stop printing books on paper and switch to selling them as downloads for your hand-held computer, that's when things will get really intersting. Our grandchildren will look at our shelves of books and think of us as the unrepentent treekillers.
Gap Hermit User ID: 9928103	Jul 6th 1:32 AM Oh, yes, Ser Benjen, I know all bookstore employees are not bad. Didn't mean to imply that. It's just real annoying having to deal with the ones that don't know what they are doing, just like it's annoying to deal with any salesperson that doesn't know anything about the business they are working in or the product they are selling. Chain bookstores, like all big retail employers, obviously are only interested in hiring employees who smile prettily and suck up to their managers, and these large employers don't care if their people know anything about the product they are selling. Fortunately, there are ways around this problem now, thanks to the Internet. I can also understand why your bookstore boss thought you were spending "an inordinate amount of time" helping people with their book purchases, because bookstores want to sell the books they already have on their shelves, not order more books that the person making the special order may or may not ever come back in to buy. Not exactly cost effective. The paper vs. download debate about books is one that interests me a lot, and I have to agree with the argument I keep seeing, which is that once a new generation of children is born who first learn to read on computer screens rather than on printed paper, there will quickly be no more books. This thought does not make me happy, but I expect to be dust long past the time that that generation is born. This would require a computer on every desk in kindergarden and all the early grades, for instance, and that isn't likely to happen in the near future. If schools can't afford to buy books these days, they certainly aren't going to be able to buy hundreds of computers for every desk.
Steve User ID: 1836024	Jul 6th 7:05 AM Many years ago I was in a queue in the SF section of a very famous bookshop in London. A couple in front of me were asking the assistant for help. They wanted to buy a trilogy for their son, but didn't know the author or the title. However, they described the plot in great detail. It was the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, which had just been published. The assistant had never heard of it and when I spoke up and told him what it was (politely), I got an angry glare from him. I must have brought hundreds of books from bookshops since then, but that one has never had my custom since. Fortunately there are _some_ good bookshops in London and I buy books from them rather than online because they make that effort.