tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post7640965522522892836..comments2024-01-21T09:25:55.810+00:00Comments on Civilian Reader: Guest Post: “How Did I Come To Write ‘What Makes This Book So Great?’” by Jo WaltonCivilian Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10978134983999101494noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-89559344034380645202014-01-22T19:51:47.988+00:002014-01-22T19:51:47.988+00:00Thanks for stopping by, Patrick, and offering a re...Thanks for stopping by, Patrick, and offering a response despite Anonymous's unclear question.<br />Always nice when publishers/editors stop by. :)Civilian Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10978134983999101494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-62672589768382581642014-01-22T12:59:03.973+00:002014-01-22T12:59:03.973+00:00"I would like an answer from the publisher!&q..."I would like an answer from the publisher!"<br /><br />Well, I work for one of the several publishers you discuss in this post. What I can't discern is what your question is.<br /><br />Another commenter has noted to you that "Jo Walton is English and lives in the UK" is wrong in both its particulars. I would further note that an author's nationality doesn't determine whether they wind up being published first--or primarily--in the US or the UK. Jo Walton is a British writer who was first published by Tor in New York; she has only recently acquired a UK publisher (Constable & Robinson, an independent trade publisher in London), after more than ten years without one, and Tor US is still her primary publisher. <br /><br />For an example going in the other direction, Scott Lynch is an American writer whose work was first discovered and acquired by Gollancz, a distinguished British publisher, and although Gollancz then sublicensed his work to Bantam US for American publication, Gollancz are still his primary publisher, and Gollancz employee Simon Spanton his first editor.<br /><br />Elsewhere in your comment, discussing THE EMPEROR'S BLADES by Brian Staveley, you state that "the first edition was a signed, limited edition issued by Pan Macmillan, the British arm of Tor." As far as I can tell, this is wrong. First, if you really want to fuss over tiny differences in the official release dates of US and UK editions, the Tor US hardcover preceded the Tor UK hardcover by two days. Second, as far as I can tell--and I'm open to being corrected about this--the signed-and-numbered "limited edition" of the UK hardcover, offered on eBay and on a specialty bookseller's web site, is just a hundred copies of the normal UK hardcover that have been signed and numbered by the author, possibly with an extra page tipped in. I don't see any evidence that this was produced by Tor UK as a separately-catalogued limited edition. Had it been a truly separate edition _from the publisher_, it would have needed a different ISBN. Simply signing a bunch of copies of a hardcover doesn't make them a "limited edition." (Of course, just as surely, there's nothing wrong with signing a bunch of copies of a hardcover, or selling those signed copies, or being a collector who collects such things.) <br /><br />It's also not really correct to call Pan Macmillan "the British arm of Tor." One imprint of Pan Macmillan, Tor UK, has a kind of affiliate relationship with Tor Books in New York. They use the Tor logo with our permission, but we publish different lists, befitting our different markets. We do sometimes acquire one another's books, or even acquire world rights jointly, and we expect to be working together more closely as English-language publishing becomes more global. But while it's flattering to see their parent organization described as our subsidiary, the description is inaccurate. What's true is that we're all part of the same worldwide Macmillan organization.<br /><br />Finally, as to PR, I'm not sure exactly what you think we or anyone else should be doing better. From where I sit, it looks like there isn't a fantasy debut this season which we've publicized more than Brian Staveley's, and it seems from here that our Tor UK colleagues have made just as much of a fuss about it. If your main issue is finding out the official release dates of forthcoming hardcovers in the US and the UK, why on earth do you have to do "a lot of research", as opposed to just using Amazon and Google like everyone else? None of this information is remotely difficult to find. So I end this comment just as puzzled as I began it over what kind of "answer from the publisher!" you're demanding.Patrick Nielsen Haydenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13675127319737095559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-65071588892767536192014-01-17T18:16:06.141+00:002014-01-17T18:16:06.141+00:00I don't know about Ho Walton, but as far as I ...I don't know about Ho Walton, but as far as I know, Jo Walton lives in Montreal, in Canada.Hendrik Boomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03664840145177541236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-76001631938521219442014-01-17T16:22:19.799+00:002014-01-17T16:22:19.799+00:00And, if you want an answer from the publisher... C...And, if you want an answer from the publisher... Contact the publisher.Stefanhttp://civilian-reader.blogspot.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-33339371686592816122014-01-17T16:21:38.452+00:002014-01-17T16:21:38.452+00:00Quite often UK and US publishers under the same pa...Quite often UK and US publishers under the same parent company operate as separate companies - with their own publicity teams, etc. Also, just because an author is American does not mean his/her novel will be automatically available in the US. It all depends on when/if the book is bought for publication. Unless it's a World English Deal, there can often be quite a gap between UK/US publication and the other.<br /><br />Also, very rarely are signed editions anything to do with the publisher, unless it is released as a Limited/Special edition. If it's just a first edition that has been signed, it has nothing to do with them. Especially if it's being sold via eBay.<br /><br />It's also worth pointing out that the UK and US have different release days - Tuesday in the US and Thursday in the UK (if I remember correctly), so it's not inconceivable that there will be a slight difference between the two release dates, even if it's meant to be a worldwide release.<br /><br />Also, Jo Walton is Welsh and lives in Canada. She is not English.Stefanhttp://civilian-reader.blogspot.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25675853.post-7003582676397600462014-01-16T23:26:59.236+00:002014-01-16T23:26:59.236+00:00After doing a lot of research, I found out that th...After doing a lot of research, I found out that the UK edition of this book was the true 1st. ed. It preceded the American edition by a few days. I had to go on EBAY to aquire a copy of the UK book. This cost about the same as the American edition. This is understandable, as Ho Walton is English and lives in the UK<br /><br />A similar situation arose over trying to purchase The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley. I found out that the first edition was a signed, limited, edition issued by Pan Macmmillan, the British aem of TOR. This is very confusing, considering that Btian Staveley is an American author, living in Vermont. I'm trying to find a The UK signed edition on the aftermarket, but it's expensive.<br /><br />I feel that the publisher is doing a great disservice to book collectors by not using their PR to inform more people.<br /><br />I would like an answer from the publisher!<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com