I divided most of my time this week between working on the Nightbane Survival Guide (coming along nicely), plotting our release schedule for the rest of 2009 (and even some tentative 2010 releases), and coordinating the production of the next 5-6 books. The latter included writing contracts, sending emails, talking to staff and freelancers, reviewing manuscripts, determining weak spots in the books and the schedule, plotting covers, choosing interior artists, assigning art, and a bunch of other technical things that go on behind the scenes to get books into production.
Big plans for the rest of 2009
Wow, do we have a lot of cool, new books planned for the rest of the year. And I think we can honestly get them all out! In fact, there are a half dozen additional titles I’d like to see added to our schedule, but that’s probably crazy. Hmmm, then again, I have been accused of being a crazy, haven't I?
As long as new books and backstock titles continue to sell, our cash flow stays strong, and we can keep grinding out books without sacrificing quality, I believe Palladium will be in good shape. Heck, at this pace, we should have our best year in six or seven years. Fingers crossed.
You can read all about them in much more detail in the May 22, 2009 Press Release getting posted later this evening. Not only does it offer the lastest, detailed description of upcoming titles, but it lists the titles we have planned from June thru December! We may add or substitute a few titles, but the schedule you’ll see is pretty darn solid.
Rifts® World Book 13: Lone Star™ will be back in print – available from the Palladium online store as a Print On Demand edition. Cat. No. 825, 176 pages, $20.95 retail. It is at the printer and ships June 2.
Nightbane® Survival Guide is in final production. I’m deep into the final editing and rewrite. Personally, I love the book. It has a lot of meat and new material about the Nightbane, theories about their origin, the Underground Railroad and other factions, Nightbane Morphuses, Contacts, a fully fleshed out adventure and more! I expect to finish the editing and rewrite over the holiday weekend (yes, I’m working, but that’s okay, I took it easier after the Open House for a week and I hope to squeeze in a movie or two.). Nightbane® Survival Guide is 160 pages, $20.95 retail, Cat. No. 735, and ships June 19. Oh yeah and the artwork for it . . . whew. In final production.
The Rifter® #47 has been plotted out, Alex and Wayne are editing away, and art will be assigned by next week. It contains an impressive, big adventure for Rifts® Chaos Earth in this issue that should please a lot of people and will have surprising consequences on Rifts Earth in the October issue of The Rifter®. 96 pages, $11.95 retail, Cat. No. 147, ships July 9. In production. Note: We are not doing a Swimsuit issue this year as the charm of it seems to have worn off. Let us know if you want to see it back next year.
Rifts®/Phase World®: Fleets of the Three Galaxies™ is in final production too. Jason Marker turned in his final edit, I’ve reviewed it (looks darn good), I assigned the cover this week, and will be assigning the interior art next week. 128 pages, $16.95 retail, Cat. No. 880 – ships July 20 -- lots of spaceships.
Mysteries of Magic™ Book One: The Heart of Magic is also in actual development. I’ve taken the idea in bit of a different direction than Mark Hall's original vision for a single book, turning it into a series, but I can build soooo much more on Mark’s excellent manuscript and give Fantasy fans a series of epic books that they deserve. The first book is 80% Mark Hall and is a compelling read with some surprises I think Fantasy fans will enjoy. 96 pages – $16.95 retail – Cat. No. 472. This is the first in a series of magic books for the Palladium Fantasy RPG®. July is our target date. Note: Mark Hall, if you read this, give me a call over the weekend or next week sometime as I'd like to bounce some ideas off of you about this series.
Jason Marker is pumped up about the Robotech® UEEF Marine Sourcebook, cleared the ideas for it with Tommy Yune earlier this week, and tells me he’s starting on the writing this weekend. I loved his outline for the book. Cat. No. 553, manga size, final page count not yet determined but probably 128-192 pages, $12.95 retail and an August or September release.
Rifts® Dimension Book™ 12: Dimensional Outbreak™ and Rifts® Dimension Book™: Heroes of the Megaverse® (Minion War™) are my next two big projects, and we have NOT forgotten Warpath™: Urban Jungle™. In fact, our ideas for it as a series are expanding, which is why we may make it a Fall release rather than a Summer release.
I have been lining up artists for all of the above and much more, all week, as well as taking care of other business.
With continuing fan support we should be able to make these big plans a reality and continue to produce the books YOU want from Palladium at a good clip.
Heck, you should see some of the manuscripts and ideas coming in that are probably 2010 fare. Man oh man, Palladium is on a roll.
Keep the faith, spread the word about our games and sourcebooks and keep those imaginations burning bright
Have a fun and safe holiday weekend.
Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
Publisher, Writer, Game Designer & Fan Boy
© Copyright May 22, 2009 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Palladium Books®, Phase World®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Megaverse®, Nightbane®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars® and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. Heroes Unlimited™, Beyond the Supernatural, Dead Reign, Warpath, Shemarrian Nation, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.
Robotech® and Robotech® The Shadow Chronicles® are Registered Trademarks of Harmony Gold USA, Inc.