Cherie Priest, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Me

Posted on March 5, 2007    Posted by John Scalzi      8 Comments

First off, a big fat w00t! to Cherie Priest, whose limited edition novel Dreadful Skin makes it out in the big ol’ world today. Because I’m special, I got an early look at it, and I thought it was just fabulous; it had just about everything that makes Cherie one of my favorite contemporary smart and spooky writers. And it’s gotten lovely reviews from others, just in case you think my taste is suspect. And you can still check out the first third of the novel — which is its own, self-contained novella — online at Subterranean Press.

Speaking of Subterranean Press, while you can order Dreadful Skin in various places online, you may wish to consider ordering it through the SubPress Web site, because Subterranean Press is doing a nifty little giveaway contest:

We have in our hands an ultra rare PC copy of Stephen King’s new short story collection, The Secretary of Dreams, just published by Cemetery Dance. This very oversized volume contains literally hundreds of illustrations by Glenn Chadbourne, is printed in two colors, and signed by both the author and artist!

Best of all, we’re giving it away!

That’s not all!

Second prize in this giveaway will be a copy of our just published edition of The Green Mile, which features more than 60 brand new black and white illustrations by noted artist Mark Geyer. The Subterranean Gift edition consists of six small hardcovers with foil stamped covers, printed in two colors throughout, housed in a custom slipcase.

To enter the drawing, all you need to do is place an order for any in-print or forthcoming title between now and 5:00 EST Friday, March 9, 2007. For every book you order, we’ll drop your name into the “hat” five times.

Yeah, that’s pretty cool. But if you really want to boost your chances, Subterranean is offering to double your tallies in the drawing you if you order one of three books that Subterranean announced today. The first is a new collection of short stories from Neil Gaiman, called M is for Magic, which just looks damn cool. The other two are from me.

Which is to say that today Subterranean announced that it would be publishing very limited special editions of both Old Man’s War and The Ghost Brigades. These editions will feature full color covers and several full color interior plates from artist Vincent Chong, and will also likely feature new introductions by me. Basically, they’re going to be damn cool. There will be two editions: a signed hardcover edition, of which 400 will be made, for $60; and (if you’re feeling especially collectoriffic), a signed, lettered traycased edition of 15 for $250. Those of you who bought the signed editions of The Sagan Diary will also have the option of getting the same number for the limited editions of OMW and TGB, so your collection of Scalziana will all match.

Also, because Subterranean knows that treating Whatever readers well makes feel all warm and fuzzy inside, here’s a special deal for those of you thinking of plunking down $120 for both limited editions: Until Friday, you can get both cheaper:

Until Friday (3/9/07) buy copies of both OMW and TGB for only $95, a savings of $25 off the regular cover price. Please mention the special when checking out. May not be combined with other specials, coupons or savings certificates (although you’ll still be entered in the Stephen King drawing). Your shopping cart total and automatic e-mail confirmation won’t reflect the sale price. Don’t worry, we’ll catch it when processing your order. Important note: If you use PayPal, e-mail us for an invoice. Do NOT go through our online store. Thanks.

Here’s the store page for OMW on Subterranean; here’s the store page for TGB. Both are slated for release this summer. Don’t worry, I’ll probably mention them again the closer we get to release.

That covers that.