Why wouldn't this book be published in the US first?

May 27, 2008 10:17 PM

Why isn't the sequel to The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters out in America yet when it's already published in the UK? The UK published the first book after America did, so why would the UK publish the sequel first now? Is it even going to be published in the US? Help me, booksellers and those knowledgeable in publishing!

I read Gordon Dahlquist's book The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters when it came out in the USA in 2006. I knew he was working on a sequel, so I was eagerly awaiting its publication.

However, my recent Googlings show that a sequel, apparently called The Dark Volume, came out in the UK at the beginning of this month. What gives, since it isn't out in the US yet?

Since the first book came out in the UK after it came out in the US, why would the sequel not come out in the US first too? Did it not do well enough in the US to merit publication of the sequel? Is this possibly the reason that the first book hasn't come out in paperback yet, nearly two years since it came out?

posted by Locative to Writing & Language (4 answers total)

Best answer: A quick rummage around yielded a news post from Subterranean Press which seems to indicate they've taken up some Dark Volume for the US market and it will appear in 2009 at some point. It's a little light on detail though, but perhaps a mail to them might offer a little more clarity as to exactly what they'll be offering.

Over here in the UK, Glass Books was released in late 2006 in the form of a chapbook (pretty pictures of the set here from a Flickr account) as Penguin chose to set it out in a series of ten installments which you bought directly from them and received by post on a weekly basis and it was a fantastic if slightly more expensive way to read it. It was then released in a standard paperback edition for the UK at either the end toward of last year or the start of this year.

Hope some of that helps, and thanks for the heads up he got round to a sequel!
posted by kuriyama at 1:30 AM on May 28, 2008

Tsk, sloppy editing. "They've taken up Dark Volume in some form".
posted by kuriyama at 1:32 AM on May 28, 2008

Best answer: I think that it didn't sell as well in the US.
You could order it from the UK (I import lots of stuff) free shipping there.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 4:28 AM on May 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thank you both for your answers! I ordered it and am so excited to read it.

If anyone else comes across this thread and has any insight, please don't hesitate to post it.
posted by Locative at 8:09 PM on May 28, 2008