new faces for old books

[swan_tower]

I got cover flats for the re-issues of Doppelganger and Warrior and Witch yesterday, and in looking today, I see that Amazon has them listed. So if you've been curious about them, they've been recast as Warrior and Witch -- not the most original retitling ever, but man, I tried and failed to come up with anything better. At least this way it's easy to tell the books go together, both in terms of titling and covers. (And no, they didn't just flip the picture over for the new cover, though obviously it is meant to be extremely simliar. It is a new picture.)

So yeah. August street date for those, both at the same time, so anybody who finds me via Midnight Never Come will easily be able to lay their hands on other stuff I've written. I have no idea if the old versions will get pulled when that happens, of if they'll coexist for a little while on the shelves. At least they've printed on the backs of both that they're reissues of old titles, so people won't feel like we're trying to pull a fast one on them; also, they've made the sequel's cover copy a little bit less spoilericious. Not completely so, but I'm not sure it's possible to write useful cover copy for it that won't have any spoilers.

It'll be neat to see myself suddenly jump up to a more substantial shelf presence, with three books out there at once. I don't know what quantities they'll be shipping of any of them, but it should be pretty good.

Comments

[milbrcrsan.livejournal.com]

Well, at first and for a little while, I didn't understand. But after a while, everything fell together, it made sense in my head and clicked. I'm not trying to be some scary fan sort, but when I was explaining the book to my teacher (in order to get credit for it) I went on and on explaining every little detail and thing. The two books are either my favorite and close to my favorite books, once again, not trying to suck up or being some scary fan stalker. :p lol

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Oh, my thought isn't "omg scary fan stalker," but rather "uh, I can do way better." <g>

Of course, a reader's fondness for a book has to do with many factors besides its quality. I'm sure Midnight Never Come is a better book, but it won't necessarily be the kind of thing all my readers are looking for; to use an example not me, I think Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age is a better-constructed book than Snow Crash, but I'll never like it a tenth as much, because it doesn't have a tenth the psychotic energy Snow Crash does.

And heck, I read Daniel Keys Moran's Continuing Time books in reverse order, and that one worked out. Those are less closely connected than my two are, but it still illustrates the point.

[milbrcrsan.livejournal.com]

You're just being modest. :p The fact that you were even able to get them published and asked for a reprint should make you feel better about them, though not saying you hate them, just view them in a better light. :)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

No, I'm looking at those books with the perspective of time passed. I wrote Doppelganger literally YEARS (and six other novels) ago. And while W&W is more recent, I was still having to work within the conceptual constraints I set up in the first book. I don't think they're bad, but I also know I can do -- and have done -- better.

This is a good thing. If I weren't improving, I'd have a problem.