Thursday, March 19, 2009

My new book, let me show you it.

I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I came home ... a box with author copies of my brand new reference book. Warning - some BSP ahead, but I hope the cute kitty pics make up for it.

It's an annotated guide to historical novels published between 2004 and mid-2008, organized by subgenre (traditional historical novels, epics, mysteries, romance, sagas, fantasy, alternate history, etc.), plus a detailed introduction, recommended reading lists, and four indexes. More than 2700 books are organized and described within.

The official release date is March 30th. You won't see it in bookstores, but you'll be able to find it on library shelves in the near future, as well as in the publisher's catalog.

As you can see, it's quite a sizeable tome. Note the fortress I call my TBR pile in the background; the book piles are two deep at present.

This is Tortie (we aren't real creative with cat names), my tortoiseshell cat, giving the book her official seal of approval. (She'll actually do this with any book pile that's cat-height.)

The list price is $65, which is typical for a 750-page reference book with library binding. For anyone who's concerned about getting your money's worth, you can think of it as $17.33 per pound if you prefer. The odd thing is it's heavier and larger than volume 1, despite being 70 pages shorter. Different printer, I expect, and different paper.

The original Historical Fiction: A Guide to the Genre (from 2005) sits next to its new companion volume, above. Tortie's brother Max doesn't seem overly excited about it, but since excitement for him involves hairballs and messy carpets, that's okay with me.

22 comments:

  1. Congratulations! (Tell Tortie to jump a little higher and give some books in that left stack an approving sniff, OK?)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I thought that one might catch your attention! (Thanks!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats! It looks a really handsome book. Tell me, you didn't mention it in your list, but have you included GLBT historical fiction in the book yet?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks! I don't have a separate chapter for historical fiction with GLBT characters or themes, but there are some examples scattered throughout the other chapters, and findable via the subject index. There's another book in the same series as mine that focuses on the topic, though: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Literature: A Genre Guide, by Ellen Bosman and John P. Bradford. My library has a copy - it's quite good, and it has a separate chapter for historical fiction. Worth investigating if you haven't seen it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cool, thanks Sarah!

    This is a good book too, even if it's a bit high brow and doesn't mention the more romantic books coming into the market.

    http://www.amazon.com/Gay-Lesbian-Historical-Fiction-Post-Secular/dp/1403976554

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:33 AM

    Congratulations Sarah! The book looks really impressive. Have you ever thought of writing your own historical fiction novel given how many novels you read and write about?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats! Looks very impressive. I should see if my library has your first book! I tend to live on another planet when it comes to some things.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Congratulations, Sarah. You must have such a feeling of accomplishment. The biggest payoff from all the effort and agony is seeing that printed copy for the first time!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow that is an awesome book... and What a STACK! :) I wouldn't mind having that TBR stack in real life, mine is just virtual.
    Congrats on your book!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:40 PM

    Congratulations! I've gotten so many reading ideas from your first book. Cute kitties, too.

    And that looks way too much like my own TBR colony...

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've nominated your blog for a Sisterhood Award. You can find details at http://pkmadsen.blogspot.com/2009/03/sisterhood-awardwatchmen.html. Thanks for being such a great place to visit!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, everyone!

    Erastes - thanks for mentioning that book, as it's not one I was familiar with. Pan Macmillan has published other book-length studies on various aspects of HF, but I rarely hear about them until much later. I need to start getting copies of their academic catalogs!

    Danja - actually (although I get that question a lot) I don't think I'll be writing my own historical novel anytime soon. Generally speaking, I suck at storytelling so would rather leave it to those who know what they're doing :)

    Marie and Lynn - truth be told, my TBR encompasses more than those piles (sigh) but those are the recent arrivals that aren't on shelves yet because I've run out of space. I think they multiply when I'm not home.

    And thanks for the award, PK! I've enjoyed your posts on CTT and didn't realize you had a blog - I'll go link it up, along with a bunch of others I've been meaning to list.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congrats, Sarah! I know you are thrilled.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Congratulations, Sarah! That's quite an accomplishment. What will you do with your free time now? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Heh. Judging by the area around my desk, I think my next project will be getting a start on Mt. TBR :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Of the 2,700 books, how many fall into each of the various categories?

    ReplyDelete
  18. At one point I had exact counts by chapter (because I had to count them = oy) but I can't seem to find where I put that info. The longest chapters cover traditional historical novels, romance, mysteries, literary fiction, and Christian fiction. Much shorter are multi-period epics, time-slips, alternate history, and historical fantasy. Sagas, Westerns, adventure, and thrillers are somewhere in the middle.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Congrats on the new book Sarah! I just looked it up at my library. They have3 book one, so I'm sure they will get book II. I will have to go spend some time there.

    Now don't write any more, you are just encouraging my addiction! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am so addicted to your blog. I wanted to let you know I have given your blog an award: http://albookworm.blogspot.com/2009/03/awards-or-i-have-wonderful-blogging.html

    ReplyDelete