Revised Editions of Books

[96bookworms]

Concerning the revised editions of the books:

Is there any time frame for when those will become available? I would definitely want to get those, but they aren't on Amazon or anything else. Any idea?

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Concerning the revised editions of the books:

Is there any time frame for when those will become available? I would definitely want to get those, but they aren't on Amazon or anything else. Any idea?

I don't think we're going to see anything of these on Amazon until February 2011 at the soonest. I know DD has been working on the revised version of SYW..., but she has been very concerned about taking the time to "get it right" (i.e. not to do more stuff to the book than it needs). Also, there's the issue of when Niko Geyer will have the new cover(s) ready: Niko has his own schedule, and it's a pretty busy one. I think the general feeling was that Niko would have a cover ready around the end of January, but whether the book will be ready then, I'm not certain. I'll ask DD for an update.

(Bear in mind, though, that this is not the revised-and-expanded "director's cut" version of SYW... that DD has occasionally mentioned. Apparently this hasn't been started yet and won't be until later in the year.)

As for the other three books she's planning to update, I get a feeling that DD wants to get them all out in the first quarter of 2011. The one she thought needed the most work was High Wizardry; Deep needed the least, with Abroad wanting a little more revision than Deep to bring it up to date with current events in Ireland and the changes the country has gone through over the last twenty years.

However, there's also a slightly thorny publishing issue involved here. For DD to sell these books in the US and Canada, they have to be "significantly" different from the versions already available from HMH... otherwise DD will get into trouble with her publisher. Exactly how to define "significantly" is apparently something that DD is discussing in some depth with her literary agent. But the changes in High Wizardry that she was discussing with her publisher would have been significant enough that HMH felt they would have to reissue the book with a new ISBN (which they have decided they're not going to be doing at this time, though DD very much wanted the High changes to go to print from HMH as soon as possible). The challenge, apparently, is going to be making sure that Abroad and Deep come up to this level.

Anyway, I'll let everyone know as soon as I hear anything more definite.

[NitaEmmaYW]

I didn't know that DD would revise her books. Think libraries will have them? In other words, where will these books appear .. bookstores .... or at least somewhere that isn't on the internet? How can I get a copy?

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

I didn't know that DD would revise her books. Think libraries will have them? In other words, where will these books appear .. bookstores .... or at least somewhere that isn't on the internet? How can I get a copy?

They won't be available in libraries, no. These will be ebooks only for the time being.

DD has wanted to make these revisions for some time, especially on High Wizardry, where the computer tech in particular is looking very dated. For a while there it was looking as if she might be able to do revisions on the printed version of that book now, since it seemed likely that it would have to be revised anyway to work around the lack of some permissions for quoted material: and she wanted to make the other "tech-based" changes at the same time. However, the permissions problem was resolved, and the cost in making the other changes DD wants, in terms of production expenses and staff time, was more than the publisher wanted to lay out at this point. Bottom line: HMH is willing to publish revised editions at some later date, but not right now.

So DD decided to go ahead and make the revisions, and then publish the revised books independently, as ebooks. Those texts will then become the new versions when the publisher goes back to press on the printed books -- whenever that is. In the present economic climate, they don't seem to be in any big rush about it.

Side note: I don't know if DD's considered also publishing the revised books independently in paper form, since it means a lot of production work -- resetting the type, etc etc. For the time being, the ebook versions are going to be the only way the revisions will be presented.

[96bookworms]

Concerning what, exactly, the books will be revisingD's LJ post here (scroll down to her first comment)

My feelings on the revisions =D And this doesn't mean that I'm not excited!

While on the one hand, I am *really* excited about the revised editions, on the other hand, I am partially in complete panic over it! I am just sort of worried that the books will lose some of the dialogue that has made it what it is. Also, I sort of liked the "old-fashion-y" feeling of the first books. I, for one, wasn't really confused by much of the book, and I guess I just don't want the books to be different because of this. I don't want the plot to change, or seem to change, because of the differences.....

This doesn't mean that I'm not supporting the revised editions...I'll probably even buy them! I think that it will definitely bring some new readers to the series! But at the same time, I feel like their might be something that gets lost on the way......

[Lazy Leopard]

Also, I sort of liked the "old-fashion-y" feeling of the first books.

It'll be interesting to see original and revised versions side-by-side. I guess it's really quite difficult to give a book an up-to-date feel without also running the risk of putting in something that dates it very quickly, at least if you're setting it somewhere approximating the Real World(tm). Set somewhere just slightly in the past, or at a more or less fixed point in history, and it doesn't matter much if time marches on and things in the story start to date.

Trouble with YW is that each book has been set pretty much in the present day at the time each book was written. That means there are some differences in detail between books (particularly the early ones) that are a bit jarring if you read them one after another. I figure fixing those will probably make a big difference to the longevity of the series. Also, it'll be another excuse to re-read them.