Steven Eriksons Malazan series

[Clarkesworld Books]

Erikson's books

Hi! I found this place by tracking back a link to my site. Great to see this conversation going on and if I'll have to mention it to the folks over at the Malazan.com forums. I'm sure they'd be just as interested as I am.

It seems that there is almost universal dislike of the US covers. Reaction from the long-time (pre-US publication) fans has been horrible. They feel the art doesn't represent the story. I'm inclined to agree. It certainly didn't make selling this book easy. I had to twist a lot of arms to get people to ignore the cover.

I've been importing Midnight Tides and it's actually outsold Gardens. The Blood Follows and The Healthy Dead novellas set sales records for us. This is a great series. While I am extremely happy that TOR is rolling the rest of the books out in 9 month intervals, they have slipped up with the presentation and marketing of Gardens. Those of us who have seen the cover art for Tor's edition of Deadhouse Gates continue to be disturbed. (A link to the artists work was posted at the Malazan forum.) Most of us are hoping that the quality of the story eventually overcomes this... as it should.

I think I can get off my soapbox now... I should say that this instance (and their website) are the only times I've been disappointed in Tor. They are typically a quality operation.

-Neil

 

[neg]

Covers?

Hey Neil-

Heh, I just ordered some Erikson books from you this morning. I can recommend Clarksworld Books on customer service. I had a slight payment problem, emailed, and Neil got right back to me. On a Saturday no less!

Any way, I hear the cover issue. Truly I do not think that the first cover, Gardens of the Moon U.S. Edition, was THAT bad. Seriously, I think it will make for an attractive mass market, and hopefully the casual browser will take a chance.

I do think that some of the older fans are wanting to find some identifable characters on the covers. And I don't disagree that they might have some trouble finding that on the covers of the U.S. Editions. However, I don't think the first cover is truly horrible, rather I think it works toward getting the casual browser to take a look at it. Especially when it gets to mass market.

Now, with that said, I do have some difficulty with the forthcoming cover for Deadhouse Gates. I actually prefer the British cover for this title, and I wish we would go with it personally. Nothing personal against the artist who put time and effort into the cover, but I think the British cover captures this book particularly well.

I am not thrilled with the next few British covers personally. I don't think a new cover treatment for the U.S. Editions of those books is necessarily a bad thing.

But too much discussion about the covers, I would rather get people to read the content of the book than dwell on the cover. Maybe the age old adage "Don't judge a book...." applies here.

I hope people pick up a discounted hardcover (available now) or a mass market of Gardens of the Moon in Jan '05. You won't regret it.

-neg

 

[Clarkesworld Books]

Covers

Thanks Neg!

Wish I could agree that this cover attracted customers. I've seen covers do that in our store, but this certainly wasn't one of them. Fortunately word of mouth has been strong and with a cheaper edition on the way, people will be willing to take the chance. Given that the later books are even better, he should do very well after this slow start in the US.

I'll certainly second Neg's "don't judge a book by it's cover" on this one. Excellent series and the best is yet to come.

-Neil

 

[barsoomcore]

Holy cow! Thanks barsoomcore, this made my day.

Feel free to reward me with freebies.

This has been a very interesting thread, I have to say. Nice to see people who actually know what they're talking about posting. Cause otherwise, you'd all have to listen to me blathering on and on about how great Steven Erickson is.

 

[jester47]

I forgot to mention that when I was in said bookstore I picked up one of those discounted Gardens of the Moon copies.

Barsoomcore is probably picking his jaw up off the floor at this point, as he and I went round about Memories of Ice. But I plan on giving Erikson a second chance, as I think I was trying to read the book too fast last time. Now that I own an Erikson book I can take my time rather than have to worry about returning it on time. Hopefully the rumor that ERikson's books stand on thier own as separate stories is true.

Aaron.

 

[barsoomcore]

I think that taking the books in order will greatly improve your opinion of them. Though the flaws that you saw in MoI exist in abundance in GotM. You have been warned.

Stick with it, though, because Deadhouse Gates is amazing.

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Hey Neg-

How long have you worked for Tor? My wife Laura worked there for a couple years, from 97-99. She was Linda's assistant for a year, and then the Ad/Promo Coordinator for 2 years. Maybe you met her at Sales Conference if you were there then?

 

[TheOtherFool]

I'm one of the long-time malazan fans Neil mentioned and i'd just thought i'd add my bit on the cover issue.

My problem with the covers isnt so much that i cannot see any of the characters in them. Heck, i still dont know who the characters on the UK covers are supposed to be.

Thing is, they simply lack style and uniqueness. I will bet you anything that if you held a drawing competition without the judges even knowing any of the books, 10 times out of 10 the UK covers will destroy the US ones.

And of course one shouldnt judge a book by its cover, but when i put one of my favorite books/series on my shelf, i'd really like it to look good, and not like pulp.

So if i lived in the US and didnt have the books yet but knew how good they were, i'd import them just for the cover even if i had to pay a couple bucks more.

 

[neg]

Hey Neg-

How long have you worked for Tor? My wife Laura worked there for a couple years, from 97-99. She was Linda's assistant for a year, and then the Ad/Promo Coordinator for 2 years. Maybe you met her at Sales Conference if you were there then?

That is a little before my time. I joined VHPS in January of 2001, so I missed her by a few years.

Is she still in the industry? Are you?

-neg

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

That is a little before my time. I joined VHPS in January of 2001, so I missed her by a few years.

Is she still in the industry? Are you?

And now to take this conversation off topic...

No, neither of us work in publishing anymore. She worked for Tor in Marketing and Ad Promo, and I worked for HarperCollins in both the HarperPrism (now EOS) & HarperEntertainment divisions as an Assistant Editor. Now we both work for the University of Virginia, she's in the bookstore and I'm in the library.

Did you work for any of the other publishers before VHPS? I've got friends around the industry in several companies. You said you are in sales, what part of the country do you cover?

If you should happen to talk to Linda Quinton or David Hartwell, tell them Laura Martof and Rich Miller say hello.