MAELSTROM 2014, APOCRYPHA, and a Progress Report
No, this isn’t a pre-order announcement. That’s not until later this year. But because a LOT of you are asking about this year’s Maelstrom set, and because there will no doubt be some confusion surrounding Apocrypha, I thought I’d address those questions.
This year’s Maelstrom set (which will come out last quarter of the year) is as follows: APOCRYPHA by Brian Keene, KING OF THE BASTARDS by Brian Keene and Steven Shrewsbury, and HAG by John Goodrich (with an Introduction by Laird Barron). John has been making a name for himself among Lovecraftian fans, and I’m thrilled to be introducing his work to a larger audience. King of the Bastards is the long-rumored sword and sorcery novel Shrews and I have been working on forever (“This is Conan without a conscience” said one person who has read some of the rough draft). But it is Apocrypha that is going to generate the most questions, so let’s try to answer those as clearly as possible.
There will be two editions of Apocrypha. It will never ever be reprinted after that. The first edition is a trade paperback, a copy of which will be sent for FREE to all former subscribers to the Of Keene Interest newsletter. We will only print enough trade paperbacks to fulfill those needs. The second edition is a signed, limited hardcover that will be offered for sale to the general public along with the rest of the Maelstrom set. Why? Because Thunderstorm Books is graciously printing and shipping the trade paperbacks for free, and I want them to recoup their costs, and the hardcover will allow them to do that.
So, to recap:
1. “If I was an Of Keene Interest newsletter subscriber, what do I get?” You get a free trade paperback of Apocrypha that will NOT be available to the public.
2. “If I wasn’t a subscriber, can I still get a copy of Apocrypha?” If you buy a Maelstrom set, yes, but only in hardcover.
3. “How can I get both?” If you were a newsletter subscriber, you can get the free paperback and buy a Maelstrom set to get the hardcover. If you weren’t a newsletter subscriber, you can buy a Maelstrom set to get the hardcover and then wait for a paperback to show up on the secondary market.
If you were a former newsletter subscriber whose address changed and you haven’t yet updated it, email the new address to briankeene@live.com. Please do not email Thunderstorm Books with questions about this yet. Apocrypha is being worked on right now. Today, in fact. There is progress on all things. Here is how the White Board of Doom looks this morning. Compare it to this shot from a few weeks ago. You’ll notice that in less than a month, a novel, short story, and a short story collection have all been completed. The machinery is working again, after sitting dormant and in desperate need of oil for too long.
