The Zom-B Chronicles

I revealed back in the February Issue of the Shanville Monthly that my American publishers were releasing a collected paperback edition of the first three Zom-B books on September 9th. Well, my British publishers thought that was a great idea, and they loved the new title and cover, so they’ve decided to publish their own collection, even earlier, on July 3rd, at the same time as the hardback of Zom-B Clans and paperback of Zom-B Gladiator. BUT… and this is a crucial point, so pay attention… the UK edition will only collect the first two books, NOT the the first three. “What the hell?!?” I hear angry British fans cry… and to be honest, that was my reaction too when they told me of their intentions. But there is actually a solid reason why they’re doing this. In America, the books have not been released in paperback format, so Zom-B Chronicles marks the paperback debut for the series, and thus isn’t in competition with any other paperback editions. In the UK, on the other hand, they started bringing out paperback editions six months after the release of the hardbacks. This means, if they were to collect three books together as the Americans have done, that there’s a danger of them getting into a situation next year where the paperback editions start to overlap and compete with one another. To avoid that, and the confusion that would go with it, they’ve taken this route. They’re aiming Zom-B Chronicles at older readers who aren’t familiar with the series, trying to use the differently styled cover to appeal to people who aren’t interested in the more visceral hardback covers. I think the cover price is going to be £7.99 for the paperback and £4.99 on Kindle, so it will offer good value for new fans (albeit not quite as good value as the American edition!), but there’s no reason why existing fans should feel pressured to buy a copy—it’s not going to offer anything new, except for the cool cover.