The Mallet of Loving Correction Available for Preorder at Subterranean Press
Posted on March 14, 2013 Posted by John Scalzi 29 Comments
No, not the Mallet pictured above. That’s mine.
BUT: The Mallet of Loving Correction, my hardcover collection of Whatever posts from 2008 through 2012, is now available for pre-order at the Subterranean Press Web site. This is is a huge collection — nearly 500 pages — and it’s going to be a limited (1,500) edition. In other words: Totally deluxe and very cool.
Subterranean was also the hardcover publisher of the previous Whatever collection, Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded, and it sold that one in relatively quick order, and once the limiteds are gone, they’re gone for good (it’s why they’re called “limited editions,” after all). So if you want to be assured of getting a copy, hop to the pre-ordering.
When does the book come out? September 13 — which is also, and not in the least coincidentally, the 15th anniversary of Whatever. That’s right! The Whatever is a moody teenager! Which explains so much, actually.
First? It’s pre-ordered, sir. Looking forward to it. Congratulations.
This is very cool! When you say “limited edition”, do you mean “only 1500 copies ever”, or “1500 hardcover copies and then it comes out in paperback”?
Will they also publish it as an ebook?
In response to general questions about other formats:
In print, hardcover is the only edition currently contracted for, and Subterranean doesn’t usually do trade or mass market paperbacks in any event.
In electronic, the eBook will be released simultaneously.
Oh, darn. I thought the Mallet itself was available for order.
There are a few people who could use malletting (malleting?) over here…..
Ordered!
“In electronic, the eBook will be released simultaneously.”
Ah ok – then ebook it is.
$34 shipping on a $35 book is a tad much for me ;)
Joerg Mosthaf:
Fair call.
I’d love and audio edition. Just throwing that out there.
Is there an e-book for “Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded” out there anywhere that I’vbe not found?
Ha! John, I saw the Sub Press email this morning and had my pre-order in before you even had this post up.
Do I “need” a hard copy version of the stuff I read in daily real-time visits to Whatever? Nope.
But I do so love the high quality Sub Press limited editions and getting a signed hard copy of a beautiful book while at the same time supporting a favorite author is a WIN WIN all around.
@LabRat,
I got my copy from iBooks, I do a lot of ebook reading on the iPad.
LabRat001:
Yes, on most of the major eBook retailing sites.
Is Whatever the older sibling or the younger?
It’s so very an only child.
John: now that the TSA allows souvenir baseball bats and hockey sticks on planes why don’t you bring the actual Mallet on your book tour?” If someone wrote a song you could sing it while wielding the Mallet – almost like a Viking warrior with his hammer with a flagon of mead singing raiding songs. Composing starting……..NOW.
But will “The Mallet” have cat pictures? Or is that a sneaky incentive to check out the original Whatever site?
*Sigh*
John, how many times do I have to tell you this: That is not a mallet; that is a Maul or War hammer.
A mallet is usually the size of a hammer or it is elongated in croquet. But the head is never as oversized as that one you show.
What you have is the “Maul of Loving Correction”. And doesn’t that sound better? The contradiction implied in that name?
Hmm.. when I see your Mallet… errr… Maul (sorry @scorpius) I think leather over reinforced plastic case with foam interior (no scratches for the finish allowed). A compartment for a stein (mead, beer, rum… whatever) and a smaller compartment for antibiotics (rabid fans, etc.). Oh and clear pouch for shipping labels (so you don’t get the sticker glue all over the nice leather).
That way you can fly with it in luggage if you have to although if flying Delta or United it would probably best to ship it ahead of time.
You are signing all 1500 copies? Ouch! Sounds like a hand cramp to me. A signature stamp? Or several sessions? Ordered my copy. Shipping was 0 for media mail. @jorge is in a far away county?
Its size is somewhat out of keeping with its appearance. I think it looks like the world’s largest gavel. I always envisioned the MOLC as more of a weapon than an enforcer of Robert’s Rules of Order, but I suppose when you get down to it, that pretty much is what it actually is, though for Scalzi’s rules rather than Robert’s.
Scorpius, et al:
Actually, the Mallet pictured here is a novelty oversized gavel, and a gavel is generally considered a subspecies of mallet. So it is, in fact, a mallet.
I am highly amused to realize that the guitar stand you’re using to support the Mallet in that photo is a clone of the one I have at home, and that I don’t have a guitar in mine, either.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=maul
It appears to me that mallet is a diminutive of maul. If a tiny maul is a mallet, then is a giant mallet a maul?
In any case, it’s a big gavel.
I felt a great disturbance in the Web, as if thousands of voices suddenly cried out in anticipation and were suddenly disappointed.
I’ve got to say, as a guy who used to work in wood for commercial purposes, that mallet is Beautiful. You can tell that the head was made from a single piece because of the striations that run from side to side. The varnish is gorgeous, and I’m guessing oak for the wood which is a hard wood to work with. Good job to whoever made it.
I wonder why John has a Cleric weapon on display. I’ve always imagined him more of a Bard myself, and Bards aren’t supposed to use hammers.
The mallet should be your most prized possession. It should go with you to your grave. It should watch you eat cereal in the morning. It should lean against the night stand as you fall asleep. Le sigh.
BTW, should Scalzi really be celebrating hammer ownership since the number of murders by hammer outnumbers the number of murders by legally-owned rifles?
Think about the CHILDREN! BAN THEM NOW! ;)