Nov 13 2015
It’s about The Skystone…
I heard a report a couple of weeks ago, while I was attending the annual Surrey Writers Conference, that my first novel, The Skystone, had gone out of print. Several people in attendance there had been trying to buy the book from the Chapters/Indigo bookstore on site and had apparently been told that it was unavailable because it had recently gone out of print. It was a misunderstanding, a misinterpreted comment by someone on the Chapters/Indigo staff, but that’s how rumours get started, and unless they’re scotched pretty damn quick, they spread far and fast.
Naturally, I was perturbed because I had heard nothing that would substantiate the rumour–and you can be sure I would have expected to be told, long before anything that important actually happened. And so I decided to talk to the folks at Penguin, once I got home from the conference. But Murphy’s Law took over as it always does, and the small space of time I had available before going into hospital four days after returning home, slipped by before I could make contact. As soon as I got out of dry dock, though, I got on the phone to my favourite acquiring editor, Adrienne Kerr, at penguinrandomhouse.com, and asked her what was going on… I took her by surprise just as much as the news had initially surprised me, but she promised to find an answer for me quickly, and she did.
It transpires that the book, The Skystone, now in its 20-somethingth Canadian printing, is Out Of Stock and between printings, but approaching the 25th Anniversary of its initial publication here in Canada, it is still selling and most definitely not Out Of Print, so it will be reprinted and available in Canadian book stores again soon.
That knowledge is reinforced by the fact that my next novel is a prequel to The Skystone, and it deals with the discovery of the original skystone meteorite and the making of the Skystone Dagger by Publius Varrus’s grandfather, Quintus Varrus, during the reign of the Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century. To back up the launch of the new book, which is called Vulcan’s Laughter, the publisher plans to reissue the entire Dream of Eagles series in trade paperback format with new cover art predicated on the British editions by Sphere Book.
Vicki Barrow
November 13, 2015 @ 7:01 pm
Great news! I’m very happy to hear that you got that sorted out and are feeling well enough to tackle the publishing company.
I can only imagine the surprise to your publisher to hear that you first book was out of print.
I can testify to the difficulty of getting my hands on a copy, as I had to replace my first copy when it fell apart!
Healing and wellness wishes headed your way.
Vicki
Jack Whyte
November 13, 2015 @ 9:14 pm
Thanks, Vicki: I’m actually healing at an astounding rate and I feel great. Once the staples holding my incisions together actually come out–scheduled for next Wednesday afternoon–I’ll be off to the races, or at least to the Gym.
lorenzo
November 14, 2015 @ 3:59 am
Very very wonderfull news!!
I hope that the prequel arrives also in Italy.
Lorenzo
Ian
November 14, 2015 @ 12:39 pm
Awesome! Can’t wait to get my hands on the prequel!
billhide
November 15, 2015 @ 6:26 am
Brilliant news about your recovery Jack and that the creative juices are still flowing. Looking forward to the prequel.
Nancy Bell
November 15, 2015 @ 5:12 pm
Hey Jack. good news about The Skystone. Glad you are feeling better and healing well. Will be thinking of you on Wednesday and sending healing thoughts and good wishes. Thanks for the great fun at SiWC.
ChiefScott
November 17, 2015 @ 5:16 pm
We are on parallel courses, Jack. Remember Kaeso? Had an avid reader friend recently read it and enjoyed it. We were talking about the story when she said, “I am really curious about how he got to be who he was and where he was.”
And so, I too have started a prequel of sorts, but since Kaeso hasn’t been published perhaps I’ve started the first book in a trilogy instead?
Jack Whyte
November 18, 2015 @ 10:02 pm
Hello again, Chief:
Parallel paths sounds reasonable. Just don’t stop writing.
ChiefScott
November 24, 2015 @ 3:57 pm
I put the time in when I can. Life has changed a lot for me since I first logged on to camulod dot com way back when. This irksome “day job” thing for instance!
donnaleeblair
November 25, 2015 @ 10:06 pm
Can we get any of your books as a ebook?
Jack Whyte
November 25, 2015 @ 11:26 pm
Yes, Donna, you can. All my books are available as eBooks, on all the major eBook platforms, through Amazon, iBooks, Kobi et al…
Tiffany Waller
June 22, 2017 @ 8:14 pm
I was able to find your first book (the Skystone) at a used bookshop, which was very lucky for me as your books are always sold out in the community I am from. The rest of your Arthurian saga I discovered by a very lucky chance at a book sale being run by my local library. They had book two throughout the very end, including your two side stories (Uther and Clothar).
I am currently on your second book and am loving it. Even though I know how it is going to end because I had to see what happened to Brittanicus. Though, the buildup to that final scene is incredibly interesting as well.
How do you feel about your books being confused for fantasy when it is clear that they are more historically based? I mean obviously the whole skystone is fantasy based, but the rest of it isn’t.
Jack Whyte
June 17, 2020 @ 1:16 pm
Dear Tiffany Waller: Thanks for your letter, and I hope you won’t keel over in response to receiving this . . . It’s only a few years late! Seriously, I have to spologize to you for taking so long to get back to you, and the whole world has changed in the interim. I’ve been ill–which explains why I dropped out of sight and haring for so long for the past few years–and I’m only now getting back into the swing of how things used to be. You, in the meantime might have done any one of a million things to change you completely from the person you were when you wrote to me so long ago.
You asked me for my reactions to a specific issue, at that time, and I have an answer for you, but I don’t want to send an aimless missive off into the interstellar wilderness because you’re no longer where you once were, email-wise. So if you receive this, please write back to me and I promise, I’ll write back to you immediately.
Jack