As you might recall, one of projects I’ve been working on for my Patreon supporters is a serialized version of The Echo of Memory, which is a heavily revised take on my first published novel.
The book was first published in 2004 as Black Fire by James Kidman, and there was a paperback edition from Leisure and a signed Limited Edition hardcover from Cemetery Dance Publications, but it’s been out of print since then.
Now that my Patreon supporters have given me the opportunity to tackle this one again, I’m restoring my preferred title and my real name for all future editions.
So far, there has been a ton of fine tuning and some serious excising of unnecessary material through Chapter Twenty, but something really surprising happened in the following section:
I discovered a bunch of chapters that really, really, really were NOT needed.
The reason why this happened is actually rather simple: the first finished draft of the novel was only 50,000 words, but in the early 2000s, that wasn’t long enough to sell the book as a novel to a trade publisher.
A good friend gave me some tips on how make the story zig and zag, to add more words and stretch things out, and that added material got me to the word count needed to sell the book to Leisure, but…
None of what I added really helps the story.
And my rule these days is simple: if the material doesn’t develop the characters or move the story forward (and preferably it does both things), out it goes.
So, yep, this will be one of those very rare “Author’s Preferred Editions” where stuff is being CUT out instead of crammed back in, and I’m certain you won’t miss the things I’m editing out.
Reworking this section is taking me a little bit more time that expected, but I’ll have some more news to share soon, and I thank everyone again for all of your support!
Orders can now be placed through Cemetery Dance Publications and they will have free US shipping and the books will be signed for a limited time only.
Orders via Amazonwon’t be signed, but on the other hand Amazon can have a copy of the book with the amazing Vincent Chong cover artwork in your hands in two days or less, so that’s pretty tempting, eh?
As you might recall, this new edition of Weak and Wounded follows the revised and expanded edition of More Than Midnight. Between now and the end of the year, Dreamlike States and Lost and Lonely will also all receive the same treatment: revised, expanded, and with new Vincent Chong covers for their first appearance in trade paperback.
Here are my advance copies of all four trade paperbacks, so you can see what the complete “set” will look like once completed:
I’m pleased to report the Limited Edition and Lettered Edition of The Zombie Who Cried Human will be shipping from Cemetery Dance Publications in the second half of August!
“So It’s Come To This: A Poetry Chapbook” by Brian James Freeman will be my third Patreon-only chapbook, and it should ship around the end of July.
These Patreon exclusive publications are now labeled “LetterPress Publications [Private Printing]” on the title page and include this notice on the copyright page: “This is a Private Printing by LetterPress Publications for Brian James Freeman’s supporters on Patreon and has not been designated for sale through any retail channels.”
Each chapbook is “housed” in a custom-printed envelope with a fine linen finish and the LetterPress Publications logo printed on it in silver metallic ink. To make these chapbooks a little different from others I’ve seen, the inside-covers will feature some kind of artwork or faux marbling, sort of like illustrated endpapers. Each chapbook is also signed and hand-numbered.
Well, it’s been quiet around here because I was really busy with the LetterPress Publications launch of Revival by Stephen King when I got a kidney stone on May 14! Which then went silent until last Saturday when it came roaring back while I was in the mountains camping in the middle of nowhere… and it tormented me until yesterday morning when I finally passed the little bugger! What fun!
So, I missed out on doing a bunch of the promotions I had planned for Revival, and it goes without saying that nothing all that productive (except maybe thinking up some new swear words while dealing with the extraordinary pain) has been done in the past week!
But, that lost time cannot be called back, and all I can do is focus on getting things done in the here and now, so I returned to my laptop yesterday afternoon, ready to catch-up on a bunch of things… only to discover the R key on my keyboard had decided now was the perfect time to just stop working.
It turns out, when your company is called “LetterPress” and the book is called Revival, you use the R key a lot… ha…
For now I’m pasting in my Rs as I need them (take that, Paul Sheldon!) and a replacement keyboard should arrive later today. It’s been a long time since I replaced anything in a laptop, but this is supposed to be easy. We’ll see. 🙂
Anyway, it’s been one of THOSE weeks, but luckily I’m surrounded by very talented people who have kept on working, and thanks to them you can now see the full cover for “So It’s Come to This,” my next signed Limited Edition chapbook that will be published exclusively for my supporters on Level Two and above on Patreon as of the end of the day today! (That means if you’ve been thinking of signing up, today would be a great day!)
As a bonus, I thought I’d also show off the “faux marbled endpapers” that will grace the inside-cover of the chapbook to make it a little different than most chapbooks you see published:
Lots more updates to come in June! Thank you again for all of your support!
The new trade paperback edition of More Than Midnight is shipping to Level Six and higher supporters on Patreon this week, and orders through Cemetery Dance Publications are being fulfilled as well. Orders via Amazonwon’t be signed, but on the other hand Amazon can also have a copy of the book with that amazing Vincent Chong cover artwork in your hands in two days or less, so that’s pretty tempting, eh?
As you might recall, this is actually a newly revised and expanded edition of More Than Midnight. Between now and the end of the year, Weak and Wounded, Dreamlike States, and Lost and Lonely will all receive the same treatment: revised, expanded, and with new Vincent Chong covers for their first appearance in trade paperback.
Here are my advance copies of all four trade paperbacks, so you can see what the complete “set” will look like once completed:
“So It’s Come To This: A Poetry Chapbook” will be my third Patreon-only chapbook. Complete details will be posted here when it’s published in July, although my incredible supporters on Patreon already have a pretty good idea of what they’re getting themselves into! 😉
Here’s the cover artwork:
For those who haven’t heard my spiel before, my first love in life is writing stories, and Patreon allows me to post those stories directly for readers who dig my work, which really is quite awesome.
Because I really like to “make” things, I’ve created different Rewards Levels, for every type of supporter, which you can read all about on the JOIN page. I would love to see you there, if you’re interested. Every little bit helps, and I’m extremely grateful for all of the support I’ve received from readers these past two years. Thank you!
Since October of last year I’ve been putting together plans to do a little more with my personal press, LetterPress Publications, beyond just publishing my own chapbooks and books for my Patreon supporters — although LPP will still do that! — and I want to share some important information with you today since I’ll be making a pretty big announcement for LetterPress Publications tomorrow, May 15.
A LITTLE HISTORY:
I’ve worked at Cemetery Dance Publications full-time since 2002, and I’ll be there for as long as Richard will have me, but something has been missing these past fifteen months.
My wife and I worked together at CD from June 2006 until February of 2018, when she jumped at an opportunity with a company closer to where we actually live that we just couldn’t pass up. (Home is actually 90 minutes from the CD offices — it’s a long commute, and even longer now without my partner in crime!) But with our kids, our future plans, and everything else, this fantastic new job was a no brainer for her.
Yet… no longer working with her to juggle all the books and logistical planning and everything else we face as a team at CD has left a big hole in my day to day work life.
Luckily, unlike a lot of the difficult problems people face in real life, there was an easy solution to this. I like publishing books. She likes publishing books. We even already have a little press all set-up for publishing my rewards for my Patreon supporters, which has been a ton of fun these past two years.
So, starting this month, LetterPress Publications will be branching out from a personal press to an actual small press, publishing deluxe special editions of works by my favorite authors. We’ll be working together again… in the evenings… and on weekends… for one book this year, and then three to four books per year after that, if all goes well.
Although I cannot get into which specific projects just yet (watch LetterPressPublications.com for the big news!), I think you’ll be very pleased with what we have planned.
Maybe even more importantly, if you want to be among the FIRST to be notified about any news and announcements — including of this first book by a New York Times bestselling author who is hugely popular among horror collectors — please go to the LetterPress Publications website and sign-up for our FREE MAILING LIST. Thank you!
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR MY PATRONS ON PATREON:
If you’re concerned about the future of my Patreon page or my writing, please know I’ve been juggling the behind the scenes drudgery for officially launching LetterPress Publications as company that sells products to the public (which includes some extremely mind-numbing stuff with the state and local governments, the IRS, my credit union, my accountant, and my attorney that luckily only needs completed once — I hope!) since October of last year.
So I’ve been pretty busy already, but still getting my Patreon work done for the most part. (The serial novel The Echo of Memory is a bit behind schedule, but that’s because I’m too hard on myself about whether a chapter is ready to post! That said, more chapters are on the way soon.)
More importantly, the actual labor of running LPP is the same kind of tasks I’ve handled day in, day out at Cemetery Dance Publications since 2002, just on a much smaller scale since it’ll only be 1 or 2 books in production at a time.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR LONELY ROAD BOOKS:
No changes there. That’s still a side project for Richard Chizmar and me, and we’re still working on books for this year and beyond. The Night Eternal by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan to name one, and a final William Peter Blatty signed Limited Edition to name another.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CEMETERY DANCE PUBLICATIONS:
Well, there’s a better than slight chance I’ll get ribbed by Rich, Mindy, Dan, and New Dan for a while. “Oh, there goes Mr. Big Shot Publisher!” That sort of thing.
On the other hand, I can change all of their passwords for the website and the order management software until they stop it, so… 😉
Yeah, this isn’t going to change anything about my work at CD. Everyone there is incredibly supportive of each other’s hobbies, side ventures, creative projects, and the things we do to find personal fulfillment.
If you have any questions or concerns, please always feel free to get in touch! My CD email address remains brianfreeman@cemeterydance.com and my new LLP email address is… well, I don’t know yet. Still working on that, but I’ll post it when I have one!
Best,
Brian
P.S. Here’s the LetterPress Publications Logo, just so something shows up on social media when I share this. 😉
I’m extremely pleased to report the trade hardcover edition of The Zombie Who Cried Human has been published and is shipping now, and it really turned out beautifully. Glenn Chadbourne’s artwork brought Boy Zombie and his entire town to life… so to speak… and I’m really pleased by how this came together.
WHAT AGE RANGE IS THIS FOR?
I’ve been asked what age range this book is for, which is a great question. My answer is simple: it’s for kids of all ages who are prepared for the style of artwork and the nature of the story. If you’re actually purchasing this for a child, give it a pre-read — like you would for any book you get them — and make sure you think it is appropriate based on their interests. If not, set it aside in your forbidden closet of mystery until they can find it on their own!
Just a reminder that anyone who wants to qualify for the next exclusive signed Limited Edition chapbook I’m publishing for my Patreon supporters just needs to sign-up for Level 2 or above by the end of the month!
This chapbook is going to be a bit of a surprise and different from the previous ones, and I don’t want to ruin the fun by saying too much, but I just have to show off the cover artwork because I love it so much:
More updates to follow soon, along with more free chapters of my serial novel, The Echo of Memory.
