Oct 9 2012
E-Books and Audio Books
An update here, for people interested in knowing What's What with the new e-Media and the status of the various editions…
Several American subscribers to this website have been wondering what happened to the E-book version of THE EAGLE, which is missing from the available lineup on Amazon et al… Turns out to be a paperwork issue . . . a minor error of omission on the part of the MacMillan Digital department, where THE EAGLE was listed under a separate, more "modern" contract entailing those rights and permissions. It has been noted and is being acted upon, so THE EAGLE will be added to the list of available E-book titles in the USA very soon now.
The Canadian situation is lightly different, since the current US rights are confined to MacMillan Books and their US Territories and that has meant the E-books of A DREAM OF EAGLES (AKA The Camulod Chronicles) have not been available for purchase in Canada… That, too, is being changed (quickly) and the Canadian versions, from Penguin Books, Canada, will soon be fully available for purchase and download in the Great White North. Look for them on Amazon.ca very soon now.
The audio rights to the entire nine-novel series of the Arthurian (Camulod) novels have recently been acquired by Audible.com, who are generally recognized as being the best in the audio-book business, and I have it on good authority from the editorial/production department there that they are aiming to have the entire series recorded, produced and available for download by the end of January, 2013. That, of course, is barring Acts of God and unforeseen disasters… No news yet on who will be doing the readings, though the Audible people have been considerate and courteous enough to ask me for my opinions on the "type" of treatment the books should receive. More information on that topic to follow as soon as I receive it.
On other fronts, the scheduled US publication date for the second novel in the GUARDIANS opus, recently issued as THE RENEGADE here in Canada, is August, 2013. I have no information yet on the projected pub. date for the UK's Sphere Books edition, but I anticipate it should be around the same time. Again, I'll pass that on here when I get it.
October 10, 2012 @ 5:31 am
I'm just wondering if you turned down the opportunity to do the audio versions of the books yourself. I'm sure you'd rather be writing than reading the books, but you as the author know each nuance, have the accent, and know what each scene entails. Then there is your marvelous voice.
I have to admit, while I'm reading your books, I hear most of the dialogue in your voice. Having it in an audio book would be the icing on the cake, so to speak.
October 10, 2012 @ 6:23 am
And I'd rush to do it, were I a couple of decades younger, but the sad and unavoidable truth is that the task would be too time-consuming for me nowadays. It would take months, if not years, for me to read all the books aloud, and in the meantime I'd have no time to write. Sad, but unfortunately true.
October 10, 2012 @ 7:18 pm
I often wish I could do two, three or four things simutaneously. Reading the books for the audio version and still having time to write the next volume of work definitely would fall into that category. I had a feeling that was the case, but thanks for confirming it.
Hope you are getting out and enjoying the fall weather, it has started to snow here in central Alberta, which means the golf courses will be shutting down, our sailboat will be coming out of the water this weekend, and worst of all, the water for the donkey's trough will have to be hauled from the house in five gallon jugs, because the outside water pipes have all been blown dry to prevent freezing and burting pipes. Maybe I'll sit by the fire and read another couple of chapters of The Renegade instead!
October 11, 2012 @ 6:05 pm
Maybe if you were just to do the guardian books? I understand how busy you must be. but I do agree that your voice is the one I hear when I read them. I know I have several friends who only listen to books while at work that are very excited to finally be able to order these, as I have been talking them up for years now….
October 23, 2012 @ 8:04 pm
I concur with Audible being highly rated. I listen to audiobooks as I drive to work and recently listened to Rebel (Forest Laird elsewhere). It was beautifully read and as I regularly visit the part of the world the book was set in, it was doubly good.
I shall look forward to the Skystone et al being done in that manner. I'm particularly waiting for the Camulod Chronicles to be available as ebooks this side of the Pond (the eastern side).
August 21, 2013 @ 7:38 am
I'm looking forward to the Eagle joining my other ebooks! One comment though: The editing for the Camulod ebooks I bought through Barnes & Noble is atrocious! Every book in the series has a massive number of errors, multiple errors on every page. Mostly it's words run together without a space, but any number of other errors. Will the ebook versions have a second version that will be edited a bit better? I'm hoping I'll be able to download new versions from Barnes & Noble without having to buy every book in the series again… Thanks!