ON SALE: FEBRUARY 13, 2018!
So us Owls, as part of this wonderful book community, are here for fellow bloggers, readers, and authors. What good can we find in a sense of "community" if we don't step up when we have to? If we aren't there to pick someone up? So, in that spirit, we heard that Susan "Sooz" Dennard was having a little bit of an issue.
Now, I have to say, I'm so appreciative and beyond grateful for everything that Sooz does for the writing community, that I couldn't just stand back and do nothing. And like I said, every single one of us Owls were eager to help, no questions asked!
PRE-ORDER LINKS:
Barnes & Noble Exclusive Edition (with Bloodwitch chapter at the end!)
Schuler Books (order a signed copy!)
ADD TO GOODREADS:
So, if you'd like a little info over what the heck is going on in the first place, here's an explanation from Sooz's website:
SO WAIT…WHAT HAPPENED?!
I first had the idea to do Sightwitch in 2014, but every attempt to write it (and there were many) failed. I just could not get this story or Ryber’s voice to come. Fast forward to 2017, and my publisher asks, “Hey, what about that novella you’d mentioned forever ago? Want to do it to tide readers over for Bloodwitch?” And I was like, “Sure! Let me take a stab at it.”
Well, after 3 years of marination in my brain, the idea was THERE! And holy moly, it wasn’t what I’d thought it would be. Ryber’s voice was first person (surprise!), and she wanted me to tell her story via journal entries. Which…whoa. Then the more I wrote, the more I realized, okay, she’s an artist. She draws everything, so this story also needs illustrations. And wait — what’s this? Eridysi, that Sightwitch from a thousand years ago also wants a POV? And the story also wants world documents and small snippet from other people’s journals and oh boy, lots of illustrations.
Tor Teen, being fantastic, agreed to my off-the-wall idea, and over the next few months, we worked together to bring this story to life. BUT, what neither of us saw coming, was how much more time the production of a book like this would take. And that’s what happened.
Last week, I learned that there was a snag on the design and production end — that none of us could have seen coming — that meant Sightwitch wouldn’t publish on time. At least not if we wanted it to be as good as it can possibly be.
Which likely makes you think, SO WHAT? It’s just 3 weeks! Why all the panic, Sooz? But here’s the thing about publishing: it’s like a really complicated line of dominoes. Release dates are chosen waaaaaaaaaay in advance of a book, and they’re dictated heavily by bookstores. Does the store have shelf space that day? And if so, how many copies are they willing to buy for those shelves? And fancy store placement — what’s available and what is the story willing to do?
It’s all dictated by what other books are releasing, and publishers + stores spend a long time getting the perfect date that works best for everyone. These choices and negotiations take time, and they have to be done across all vendors. So…changing the date at such a last minute point in the game affects all of that. We’re still figuring out just how much it’s affecting it.
Then there’s advertising and promotional roll-outs that, again, were decided well in advance. Those are all thrown off. Tour dates. School visits. All set up, all dependent on availability. And bam — all thrown off course. Then there’s all the behind the scenes stuff, like the printings and the warehouses and on and on and on and on. To say this unexpected delay threw everyone into a panic, is an understatement.
Bless the people at Tor, who have been working around the clock to get it figured out while I sit here, a useless slub who can do nothing but watch as all our hard work comes apart at the seams.
I hate feeling useless. I hate feeling like I can’t fix a situation — and I know you all know that helplessness. It sucks. So…I’ve come up with a plan. To ask for your help. Which…I never do because I never want to impose. I’ve worked hard to build a relationship with all of you that’s founded on trust. You have come to me for writing advice and life advice and cool extra content for the past 5+ years, and I haven’t ask for anything in return.
But like I said last week: I can’t fix this on my own.
I’m still in the process of setting everything up for you all because, of course, this is all happening in real time as we scramble to pick dominoes back up. But the general gist of what I’m hoping you can do for me is all shared above.
Anything you can do to help me spread the word about Sightwitch, I will be so grateful for. Thank you. Truly.
We don't really want to step on any intellectual property toes, so we will just direct you to Chapter 1 as posted on the Tor Teen Blog.
Susan Dennard has come a long way from small-town Georgia. Working in marine biology, she got to travel the world—six out of seven continents, to be exact (she’ll get to you yet, Asia!)—before she settled down as a full-time novelist and writing instructor. She is the author of the Something Strange and Deadly series as well as the New York Times bestselling books Truthwitch and Windwitch, and when not writing, she’s usually slaying darkspawn (on her Xbox) or earning bruises at the dojo. She lives in the Midwestern US with her French husband, two spoiled dogs, and two grouchy cats. Learn more about her wild thoughts and even wilder cookie-addiction on her blog, newsletter, twitter, or instagram.
SO, WE REALLY HOPE THAT YOU CHECK OUT AND END UP LOVING THIS SERIES AS MUCH AS WE DO AND YOU CONSIDER PRE-ORDERING SIGHTWITCH, ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS, OR RECOMMEND IT FOR PURCHASE BY YOUR LIBRARY, AND HELP HER SPREAD THE WORD!
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