The Good and the Bad

Briefly, I have good news and bad news.

Good news:

The Middle Kingdom (Chung Kuo Book 3) in hardcover is now available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk at a 30% discount. Yay! (Thanks Goonda.)

Bad news:

As several commenters have pointed out, all Kindle versions of both Chung Kuo books have been removed from the Amazon U.S. store. I don’t have an explanation. The optimist in me is hoping that this might be a sign of an impending deal with an American publisher, who would have the U.K. versions removed in favor of their own to be eventually available, but this is pure speculation – I haven’t heard anything at all from anyone to this effect. The last I heard about the search for American publisher was back in April.

If you still need Chung Kuo books on your Kindle, hope is not lost.

That’s all for now. More news as it comes in.

10 thoughts on “The Good and the Bad”

        1. Hi Jun,
          I am no publishing expert but I think the hard cover, trade edition and paperback are three separate things. I have been looking for a trade edition of Whirlwind by James Clavell for years. Trade Editions are usually larger than a paperback and were once meant for booksellers to encounrage readers to check out the books. Nowadays, they are often used as the first press to replace the hardcover.
          At least thats what I have always known. Happy to be corrected.

          Cheers

          1. Hi Adrian!
            I think you might be looking at an ARC (Advance Reading Copy) This is usually sent to proofreaders as you said. This is a softcover with larger prints and the cover is usually devoid of notable designs. Otherwise, I still think that the first releases of the hardcover will usually contain the word “First Edition” or the numbers 0123456789. Thanks

  1. I just wanted to update the U.S. info. Today, Aug 23, 2012, I am seeing the Chung Kuo books on Amazon listed with the publisher Atlantic Books (which is an imprint of Grove/Atlantic, Inc.) available for pre-order. “Son of Heaven” (paperback $9.52) release Sept 1, 2012. “Daylight on Iron Mountain” (paperback $10.36) release December 1, 2012. “Middle Kingdom” (hardcover edition) is listed for both Corvus ($19.26, release October 18, 2012) and Atlantic books ($78.73, October 1, 2012). That last price can’t possibly be correct though! In any case, none of the books are available for the Kindle on Amazon U.S. I think David needs to start threatening to self-publish the e-books in the U.S.! Either his agent, his publisher, or both are really dropping the ball.

    1. Hmmm… I wonder if Atlantic intends that price for “Middle Kingdom!” I just saw “Ice and Fire” (http://www.amazon.com/Ice-Fire-Chung-Kao-4/dp/1848877285) listed for release on November 1, 2012, for $78.64, and “The Art of War” (http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Ss-Wingrove-David/dp/0857890700) (release Feb 1, 2013) for $78.49! There is NO way I’m paying those prices unless the covers are 24k gold! Is there some kind of special edition being released for books 3 and up? If so, it’s not listed on the Amazon pages.

      1. If my understanding is correct, Grove/Atlantic, Atlantic, and Corvus are all arms of the same publishing entity, so I don’t take this as news of a true American publishing run. My impression (which could certainly be wrong) is that the parent company of Corvus is just extending its reach by using it’s sister companies to offer the UK versions on American Amazon, albeit at a steep premium. At those prices you’re much better off buying from Amazon.co.uk and paying more for international shipping. What I think all of us American fans are hoping and waiting for is the sale of American rights to a publisher here who will push a legitimate run (one that would put Chung Kuo on the shelves of Barnes and Noble).

        1. Speaking of Barnes & Noble, was just there the other day and they had the trade paperback version of Son of Heaven in the “new in fantasy/sci-fi” section. It was the UK version with a new barcode sticker slapped on it with the US price. First time I’ve seen it here in the flesh.

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