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A Song of Ice and Fire / Announcements / Lates ASoS info from GRRM

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Ran
User ID: 0867924 Jun 16th 6:06 AM
This is from a mail GRRM has sent to various folk, webmasters and such, which contains information on ASoS's publishing dates, covers, and MS size, the U.S. paperback of ACoK, and the Meisha Merlin editions:

A couple of bits of news...

There has been some confusion about the publication dates of A STORM OF SWORDS. It appears there are several different dates posted at various places on the web, particularly in regard to the British edition from HarperCollins Voyager. I asked my editor at Harper to clarify. Her reply:

"We'll now have bound stock July 21 and the book will be in the shops shortly thereafter, from July 28"

That is the latest and most reliable information I have.

The American edition of A STORM OF SWORDS, from Bantam, will be released in hardcover in October. It will be preceded in September by the release of the US paperback of A CLASH OF KINGS, which will contain a sample chapter from SWORDS ... the first Sansa chapter.

Another source of confusion has been the number of pages in the book. In manuscript, A STORM OF SWORDS weighed in at 1500+ pages, some 350 pages
longer than A CLASH OF KINGS. But those are manuscript pages. All books shrink somewhat when set in type. I have corrected page proofs of SWORDS, and it will come in at just under 1000 pages.

Various readers tell me that Amazon has it listed at 600 pages, and want to know if half the book has been cut out. No. Nothing has been cut out. I have no idea where Amazon got that number. It means nothing.

There is yet further confusion about the cover of the book. Several different versions of the British cover seem to be up on the web.

The Harper cover can be found at http://images.amazon.com/images/P/ 0002245868.02.LZZZZZZZ.gif

The US cover can be seen at http://www.mandala.net/vsa/martin/storm.html

Finally, the Meisha Merlin deluxe limited edition of A GAME OF THRONES continues to move forward. Jeffrey Jones has completed all the interior illustrations, as well as the four color paintings. I am told that the 52-copy lettered edition is almost sold out; seven copies remained as of a few days ago, for those who might want one. There are still plenty of the numbered edition available, but we expect those to go quickly as well, once Meisha Merlin's ads begin to run.

And no, for all those who keep asking, I have not yet started on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. I'm still dealing with A STORM OF SWORDS at this point --
correcting proofs, working with the mapmakers, attending to revisions and copyediting, etc.

Arend
User ID: 9941493 Jun 16th 8:16 AM
Thank God for writers who keep their fans informed! End of July, mhhhh, I hope that is not going to screw up someone's trip to New Zealand...

Lodengarl
User ID: 0798784 Jun 16th 8:53 AM
GRRM is awesome...the guy is a reader's wet dream - keeps his fans in the loop, thanks them for their praise and is extremely patient and kind. A Great guy! Oh yeah, and about the best damn author I have ever read.

Anyone know what the going price for a 1st edition/1st printing UK copy of aGoT goes for? I was told it was a very small run and a fine/fine copy goes for 135 pounds...seems steep to me.

labor
User ID: 0798784 Jun 16th 9:27 AM
Yes, GRRM is great. The only piece of info missing is whether the British trade PB will come out at the same time as the hardcover...

Ser Gary
User ID: 1523284 Jun 16th 2:42 PM
Labor,

I took the liberty of asking GRRM. His one-word response follows:

<< I'm sorry to bother you at this time because I know you must be extremely busy with the upcoming release of A Storm of Swords. However, someone in
your group of avid fans just raised the question about whether the British Trade (paperback) publication is due to come out at the same time as the British Hardcover edition >>

Yes..

Ran
Moderator
User ID: 0867924 Jun 16th 3:14 PM
Just call me Slayer of Gods. ;)

Lodengarl,

The UK hardback of GoT _is_ very expensive. Tiny print run, apparently. I've yet to see a very good copy below the $200 range anywhere.

Moreta
User ID: 0701364 Jun 16th 5:01 PM
Does that means we (the Americans) who ordered from UK gets the book in August?

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Jun 16th 5:28 PM
Yup.

Questioner
User ID: 2324014 Jun 16th 5:51 PM
Why have the last two books come out in the UK so much before the US? I seem to remember GRRM answering this the last time by saying that it was just a one time thing with Clash, but here its happening again. Will this continue for the rest of the series?

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Jun 16th 6:02 PM
It may or may not. The trend of late seems to be that the U.K. publishers -- Voyager in particular -- tend to beat out their American counterparts.

It has a lot to do with the difference between how the Brits and the Americans handle publishhing. The Brits have more room to play with schedules, they seem to live and die by their deadlines, and they have a lot of incentive to get out first (because that means they nail the European market, which otherwise could go to the Americans.)

GRRM's statement was based on his completing the book around January-February, but he didn't complete it until April, so I presume that Bantam had missed its slot at putting it to press and had to schedule later, while the Brits didn't need as much lead time.

LindaElane
User ID: 0276214 Jun 16th 7:02 PM
Arend, how kind of you to remember about my trip to New Zealand and how much I wanted to read ASOS whilst on holiday. ( or while on vacation as we say in the States :-) ) Yes, my trip has lost half its glow. I am there from 21 July to 8 August, and I don't have any place for them to send it even if I could get a rush order and read it during the final week. Hurumph.

I'm seriously considering waiting until Thanksgiving. I know thats almost eccentric, but the books are special and I like to read them in special places. i.e., I think its great fun to be in England or something like it while reading the books for the first time. I read ACOK in England, starting at Bath Place hotel over dinner, which is, imho, the best hotel/restaurant in Oxford (that I know of). I then went round the English countryside and when it got dark at 5 PM I'd go into a pub, sit before a roaring fire and read! It was heaven. More than one interesting person came up to talk to me (even a couple of interesting gentlemen). Anyway, perhaps you can see why I want to repeat the experience.

Will anyone else read it in a special place?

Basically I just intend to enjoy the heck out of myself when I read ASOS and I won't touch it in this 112 degree heat. Its downright unatmospheric. :-(

Oh, I am back to searching everywhere for an ARC. I mean, George did not say impossible, just he'd be lucky if he got one himself, right? I can always dream.

Tom O.
User ID: 1167284 Jun 16th 7:26 PM
I understand your sentimental reading experience. My special reading environment concerns absolute privacy. I prefer my lazyboy recliner, a bay window looking out on green foliage (preferably a yard surrounded by tall trees), a summer breeze, and depending on the type of book; a lighting storm.

And maybe, just maybe, some Beethoven (sp?).

Tom O.

Aaron
User ID: 1118614 Jun 16th 8:32 PM
I like to be alone when I'm reading a special book. LindaElaine, your reading habits about reading in restaurants matches mine exactly. Just curious but do you usually go by yourself when your reading? There are three places I like to go and every time I get at least a few people starring at me.. haha, probably because I'm such a loser for going alone. The problem though, is that when friends go they always want to talk and you have to talk back to them... and have a conversation.. blah blah. LOL I don't have any friends that read very heavily either. Let me know if you get those wierd looks... I want to know if I'm the only one.

:)

Arend
User ID: 9941493 Jun 16th 10:24 PM
The book itself is the experience for me, but yes, I do tend to look for small independent coffee places with some nice baked goods and plant myself there. Mainly to avoid friends and thesuch, so I can truely read. I tend to get extremely absorbed when I read, to the point that I can be rude without realizing (people addressing me directly and I just keep on reading without noticing). The one thing I like though, is to _finish_ reading the book late at night. When things are quiet and calm. If possible with an (almost) full moon coming through the window.

Tom O. you spelled it correctly, but it should be "Von Beethoven". Then again, I'm being pedantic, so please ignore this comment...

LindaElane, we would seriously miss your input, so might I suggest you plan an extra vacation around Labour Day? Go on a short cruise in Alaska or something... All the snow should resonate nicely with the themes in aSoIaF!

LindaElane
User ID: 0276214 Jun 16th 10:57 PM
Aaron, I know this is going to sound odd, but you asked about whether I get odd looks whilst I read in restaurants. The truth is, I don't usually lock eyes with other patrons. I'm looking at my book and such. I've never sensed the servers thought me odd. I mean, yes, I do occasionally lock eyes with fellow customers. I have not noticed them giving me odd looks very often, but that could be because I just have not locked eyes often enough.

My habit is to read the newspaper with lunch at work, often in a restaurant, at a salad bar and such. It seems very normal to me to do that. But the truth is, I often see people sitting alone at other tables at lunch time, and they don't have reading matter. I always think others have a much greater tolerance for "lack of input" than I do. I would be horribly bored eating lunch alone without reading matter. Yet, people consider it "acceptable" to drink coffee and read the newspaper. Ah, the human condition. It can be illogical, I guess.

My bottom line is that I lost my shyness about being seen reading by doing it at lunch. I now will do it in almost any restaurant. Perhaps a 100 dollar dinner would not be something I would do alone, and so not something I would do with a book. Its not like I don't eat with others. (I was taken for a 500 dollar dinner on my birthday and yesterday I had to upbraid the guy who did it for anti-semitic remarks...dreadful situation) Anyway, gosh....I don't care how those strangers look at me for reading. They are incorrect to think it odd to read and eat. They like reading less than I do, apparently. They are welcome to their opinion.

Arend, thanks for more kind words. I will think about Alaska. Or perhaps Victoria, BC. Or perhaps I should just give in and read it in August.

Duraq
User ID: 9941493 Jun 17th 10:59 AM
Can anyone explain to me the difference between a hardback and a trade paerback? I beleive the mass market editions are the small paperbacks that cme out a year after a hardback, but what is a trade paperback?

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Jun 17th 11:32 AM
A trade paperback is a large format paperback, essentially. Somewhat thicker, better paper than regular paperback, roughly about the same size as a cloth-bound hardback.

I don't know how well bound the trade PBs from Voyager are. In general, if you want to keep your books in pristine condition, you should go with a hardback.

Gap Hermit
User ID: 2073324 Jun 18th 2:08 AM
The type size is usually (if not always) bigger on the trade paperbacks, too, making them much easier to read than the mass market sized paperbacks. Not to mention, you can actually open a trade paperback without wrecking the spine immediately, unlike a mass market paperback of the length that A Storm of Swords is going to be. Ran has a good point, though--binding quality is definitely an issue, and I've seen some poorly bound trade paperbacks on bookshelves recently, brand new books in which the glue seems to already be failing to hold the pages in the book. If you hope to read a book more than once, hardback is the way to go.

Omer
User ID: 9551723 Jun 18th 8:55 AM
Yeah, my ACOK trade paperback is in bad shape. But it's way better than a MM Paperback. In th eMM paperbacks for AGOT and ACOK I've seen, the letters are in the size of tiny Islands on an Atlas. It's totally unreadable.

Ran
User ID: 0867924 Jun 18th 9:36 AM
Ahh, well. Found it quite readable, myself.

The U.K. mass market paperbacks appear to usesmaller type than the U.S. edition (AGoT being the only one with a perback so far), because the U.K. editions strive to get exactly the same page count as the hardbacks for some obscure reason.

Next 20 Messages Newest Messages

Ran User ID: 0867924	Jun 16th 6:06 AM This is from a mail GRRM has sent to various folk, webmasters and such, which contains information on ASoS's publishing dates, covers, and MS size, the U.S. paperback of ACoK, and the Meisha Merlin editions: A couple of bits of news... There has been some confusion about the publication dates of A STORM OF SWORDS. It appears there are several different dates posted at various places on the web, particularly in regard to the British edition from HarperCollins Voyager. I asked my editor at Harper to clarify. Her reply: "We'll now have bound stock July 21 and the book will be in the shops shortly thereafter, from July 28" That is the latest and most reliable information I have. The American edition of A STORM OF SWORDS, from Bantam, will be released in hardcover in October. It will be preceded in September by the release of the US paperback of A CLASH OF KINGS, which will contain a sample chapter from SWORDS ... the first Sansa chapter. Another source of confusion has been the number of pages in the book. In manuscript, A STORM OF SWORDS weighed in at 1500+ pages, some 350 pages longer than A CLASH OF KINGS. But those are manuscript pages. All books shrink somewhat when set in type. I have corrected page proofs of SWORDS, and it will come in at just under 1000 pages. Various readers tell me that Amazon has it listed at 600 pages, and want to know if half the book has been cut out. No. Nothing has been cut out. I have no idea where Amazon got that number. It means nothing. There is yet further confusion about the cover of the book. Several different versions of the British cover seem to be up on the web. The Harper cover can be found at http://images.amazon.com/images/P/ 0002245868.02.LZZZZZZZ.gif The US cover can be seen at http://www.mandala.net/vsa/martin/storm.html Finally, the Meisha Merlin deluxe limited edition of A GAME OF THRONES continues to move forward. Jeffrey Jones has completed all the interior illustrations, as well as the four color paintings. I am told that the 52-copy lettered edition is almost sold out; seven copies remained as of a few days ago, for those who might want one. There are still plenty of the numbered edition available, but we expect those to go quickly as well, once Meisha Merlin's ads begin to run. And no, for all those who keep asking, I have not yet started on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. I'm still dealing with A STORM OF SWORDS at this point -- correcting proofs, working with the mapmakers, attending to revisions and copyediting, etc.
Arend User ID: 9941493	Jun 16th 8:16 AM Thank God for writers who keep their fans informed! End of July, mhhhh, I hope that is not going to screw up someone's trip to New Zealand...
Lodengarl User ID: 0798784	Jun 16th 8:53 AM GRRM is awesome...the guy is a reader's wet dream - keeps his fans in the loop, thanks them for their praise and is extremely patient and kind. A Great guy! Oh yeah, and about the best damn author I have ever read. Anyone know what the going price for a 1st edition/1st printing UK copy of aGoT goes for? I was told it was a very small run and a fine/fine copy goes for 135 pounds...seems steep to me.
labor User ID: 0798784	Jun 16th 9:27 AM Yes, GRRM is great. The only piece of info missing is whether the British trade PB will come out at the same time as the hardcover...
Ser Gary User ID: 1523284	Jun 16th 2:42 PM Labor, I took the liberty of asking GRRM. His one-word response follows: << I'm sorry to bother you at this time because I know you must be extremely busy with the upcoming release of A Storm of Swords. However, someone in your group of avid fans just raised the question about whether the British Trade (paperback) publication is due to come out at the same time as the British Hardcover edition >> Yes..
Ran Moderator User ID: 0867924	Jun 16th 3:14 PM Just call me Slayer of Gods. ;) Lodengarl, The UK hardback of GoT _is_ very expensive. Tiny print run, apparently. I've yet to see a very good copy below the $200 range anywhere.
Moreta User ID: 0701364	Jun 16th 5:01 PM Does that means we (the Americans) who ordered from UK gets the book in August?
Ran User ID: 0867924	Jun 16th 5:28 PM Yup.
Questioner User ID: 2324014	Jun 16th 5:51 PM Why have the last two books come out in the UK so much before the US? I seem to remember GRRM answering this the last time by saying that it was just a one time thing with Clash, but here its happening again. Will this continue for the rest of the series?
Ran User ID: 0867924	Jun 16th 6:02 PM It may or may not. The trend of late seems to be that the U.K. publishers -- Voyager in particular -- tend to beat out their American counterparts. It has a lot to do with the difference between how the Brits and the Americans handle publishhing. The Brits have more room to play with schedules, they seem to live and die by their deadlines, and they have a lot of incentive to get out first (because that means they nail the European market, which otherwise could go to the Americans.) GRRM's statement was based on his completing the book around January-February, but he didn't complete it until April, so I presume that Bantam had missed its slot at putting it to press and had to schedule later, while the Brits didn't need as much lead time.
LindaElane User ID: 0276214	Jun 16th 7:02 PM Arend, how kind of you to remember about my trip to New Zealand and how much I wanted to read ASOS whilst on holiday. ( or while on vacation as we say in the States :-) ) Yes, my trip has lost half its glow. I am there from 21 July to 8 August, and I don't have any place for them to send it even if I could get a rush order and read it during the final week. Hurumph. I'm seriously considering waiting until Thanksgiving. I know thats almost eccentric, but the books are special and I like to read them in special places. i.e., I think its great fun to be in England or something like it while reading the books for the first time. I read ACOK in England, starting at Bath Place hotel over dinner, which is, imho, the best hotel/restaurant in Oxford (that I know of). I then went round the English countryside and when it got dark at 5 PM I'd go into a pub, sit before a roaring fire and read! It was heaven. More than one interesting person came up to talk to me (even a couple of interesting gentlemen). Anyway, perhaps you can see why I want to repeat the experience. Will anyone else read it in a special place? Basically I just intend to enjoy the heck out of myself when I read ASOS and I won't touch it in this 112 degree heat. Its downright unatmospheric. :-( Oh, I am back to searching everywhere for an ARC. I mean, George did not say impossible, just he'd be lucky if he got one himself, right? I can always dream.
Tom O. User ID: 1167284	Jun 16th 7:26 PM I understand your sentimental reading experience. My special reading environment concerns absolute privacy. I prefer my lazyboy recliner, a bay window looking out on green foliage (preferably a yard surrounded by tall trees), a summer breeze, and depending on the type of book; a lighting storm. And maybe, just maybe, some Beethoven (sp?). Tom O.
Aaron User ID: 1118614	Jun 16th 8:32 PM I like to be alone when I'm reading a special book. LindaElaine, your reading habits about reading in restaurants matches mine exactly. Just curious but do you usually go by yourself when your reading? There are three places I like to go and every time I get at least a few people starring at me.. haha, probably because I'm such a loser for going alone. The problem though, is that when friends go they always want to talk and you have to talk back to them... and have a conversation.. blah blah. LOL I don't have any friends that read very heavily either. Let me know if you get those wierd looks... I want to know if I'm the only one. :)
Arend User ID: 9941493	Jun 16th 10:24 PM The book itself is the experience for me, but yes, I do tend to look for small independent coffee places with some nice baked goods and plant myself there. Mainly to avoid friends and thesuch, so I can truely read. I tend to get extremely absorbed when I read, to the point that I can be rude without realizing (people addressing me directly and I just keep on reading without noticing). The one thing I like though, is to _finish_ reading the book late at night. When things are quiet and calm. If possible with an (almost) full moon coming through the window. Tom O. you spelled it correctly, but it should be "Von Beethoven". Then again, I'm being pedantic, so please ignore this comment... LindaElane, we would seriously miss your input, so might I suggest you plan an extra vacation around Labour Day? Go on a short cruise in Alaska or something... All the snow should resonate nicely with the themes in aSoIaF!
LindaElane User ID: 0276214	Jun 16th 10:57 PM Aaron, I know this is going to sound odd, but you asked about whether I get odd looks whilst I read in restaurants. The truth is, I don't usually lock eyes with other patrons. I'm looking at my book and such. I've never sensed the servers thought me odd. I mean, yes, I do occasionally lock eyes with fellow customers. I have not noticed them giving me odd looks very often, but that could be because I just have not locked eyes often enough. My habit is to read the newspaper with lunch at work, often in a restaurant, at a salad bar and such. It seems very normal to me to do that. But the truth is, I often see people sitting alone at other tables at lunch time, and they don't have reading matter. I always think others have a much greater tolerance for "lack of input" than I do. I would be horribly bored eating lunch alone without reading matter. Yet, people consider it "acceptable" to drink coffee and read the newspaper. Ah, the human condition. It can be illogical, I guess. My bottom line is that I lost my shyness about being seen reading by doing it at lunch. I now will do it in almost any restaurant. Perhaps a 100 dollar dinner would not be something I would do alone, and so not something I would do with a book. Its not like I don't eat with others. (I was taken for a 500 dollar dinner on my birthday and yesterday I had to upbraid the guy who did it for anti-semitic remarks...dreadful situation) Anyway, gosh....I don't care how those strangers look at me for reading. They are incorrect to think it odd to read and eat. They like reading less than I do, apparently. They are welcome to their opinion. Arend, thanks for more kind words. I will think about Alaska. Or perhaps Victoria, BC. Or perhaps I should just give in and read it in August.
Duraq User ID: 9941493	Jun 17th 10:59 AM Can anyone explain to me the difference between a hardback and a trade paerback? I beleive the mass market editions are the small paperbacks that cme out a year after a hardback, but what is a trade paperback?
Ran User ID: 0867924	Jun 17th 11:32 AM A trade paperback is a large format paperback, essentially. Somewhat thicker, better paper than regular paperback, roughly about the same size as a cloth-bound hardback. I don't know how well bound the trade PBs from Voyager are. In general, if you want to keep your books in pristine condition, you should go with a hardback.
Gap Hermit User ID: 2073324	Jun 18th 2:08 AM The type size is usually (if not always) bigger on the trade paperbacks, too, making them much easier to read than the mass market sized paperbacks. Not to mention, you can actually open a trade paperback without wrecking the spine immediately, unlike a mass market paperback of the length that A Storm of Swords is going to be. Ran has a good point, though--binding quality is definitely an issue, and I've seen some poorly bound trade paperbacks on bookshelves recently, brand new books in which the glue seems to already be failing to hold the pages in the book. If you hope to read a book more than once, hardback is the way to go.
Omer User ID: 9551723	Jun 18th 8:55 AM Yeah, my ACOK trade paperback is in bad shape. But it's way better than a MM Paperback. In th eMM paperbacks for AGOT and ACOK I've seen, the letters are in the size of tiny Islands on an Atlas. It's totally unreadable.
Ran User ID: 0867924	Jun 18th 9:36 AM Ahh, well. Found it quite readable, myself. The U.K. mass market paperbacks appear to usesmaller type than the U.S. edition (AGoT being the only one with a perback so far), because the U.K. editions strive to get exactly the same page count as the hardbacks for some obscure reason.