Black Library 2017 News/Rumours Thread : Xmas Advent

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**reds8n**

He's got the IF versus orks hardback due out in Jan next year -- already written and turned in, apparently.

So guessing it's just scheduling issues -- he's also got a short story in the Warhammer World exclusive HH collection.

**BobtheInquisitor**

He may also be able to read the writing on the wall. Many Black Library authors seem to be diversifying these days.

**warboss**

Which author was the one quoted about a year ago or so as defending the changes to BL's sales strategy (the novellas, audiobooks, hardcovers and larger format books released later through 3rd party stores like Barnes, etc) as financially successful?

**BobtheInquisitor**

Aaron Dembsky-Bowden, alias the Dead Blue Clown.

**warboss**

Ah, thanks.. I guess that isn't the reason then as it is a different person. Is he still doing 40k novels? I'm not up to date anymore after they stopped showing up regularly at my local store. The last one I skimmed through ("reading" would be inaccurate) was Damocles a few weeks back and only one of the stories was good IMO. The rest of the book felt like a 300 page advertisement for Knight and Riptide kits.

**Harriticus**

warboss wrote:
Ah, thanks.. I guess that isn't the reason then as it is a different person. Is he still doing 40k novels? I'm not up to date anymore after they stopped showing up regularly at my local store. The last one I skimmed through ("reading" would be inaccurate) was Damocles a few weeks back and only one of the stories was good IMO. The rest of the book felt like a 300 page advertisement for Knight and Riptide kits.

Yeah it's pretty crazy how fast it all collapsed. I remember 2011-12 my local Barnes and Nobles had posters advertising Black Library on the front window, and you went in and they had a whole shelf dedicated to them. These days you walk in and there's maybe 1.5 row of a shelf devoted to BL, all books that came out 4-5 years ago. The days of NYT bestsellers are long gone.

**BobtheInquisitor**

He is working on publishing something more mainstream. I think he still writes for BL regularly because he has a kid to feed.

Graham McNeill has written for a few other tie-in franchises, and Gav Thorpe has his own fantasy series out now. Sarah Cawkwell seems to have moved on to other series. William King has his own fantasy books. I'm sure most authors hope to see BL as a stepping stone, but even the ones who wrote for a regular paycheck seem to be looking around more.

**BrookM**

He's got a ton of stuff going on at the same time, I think those may be more rewarding right now.

**Alpharius**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
He is working on publishing something more mainstream. I think he still writes for BL regularly because he has a kid to feed.

Graham McNeill has written for a few other tie-in franchises, and Gav Thorpe has his own fantasy series out now. Sarah Cawkwell seems to have moved on to other series. William King has his own fantasy books. I'm sure most authors hope to see BL as a stepping stone, but even the ones who wrote for a regular paycheck seem to be looking around more.

Especially as those coveted "New York Times Best Sellers List" labels are much harder to come by now via BL stuff...

**BobtheInquisitor**

BrookM wrote:
He's got a ton of stuff going on at the same time, I think those may be more rewarding right now.

Abnett strikes me as one of those authors who will write for just about anyone, whether or not he needs to. He reminds me a lot of Alan Dean Foster, who had a bestselling series of his own yet wouldn't turn down writing schock movie novelizatiojs.

**Prestor Jon**

Harriticus wrote:
warboss wrote:
Ah, thanks.. I guess that isn't the reason then as it is a different person. Is he still doing 40k novels? I'm not up to date anymore after they stopped showing up regularly at my local store. The last one I skimmed through ("reading" would be inaccurate) was Damocles a few weeks back and only one of the stories was good IMO. The rest of the book felt like a 300 page advertisement for Knight and Riptide kits.

Yeah it's pretty crazy how fast it all collapsed. I remember 2011-12 my local Barnes and Nobles had posters advertising Black Library on the front window, and you went in and they had a whole shelf dedicated to them. These days you walk in and there's maybe 1.5 row of a shelf devoted to BL, all books that came out 4-5 years ago. The days of NYT bestsellers are long gone.

It's BL's own fault. They started out strong with the HH series and then killed off their momentum by slowing down the release schedule of the novels, using multiple formats, pumping out peripheral stories that were limited editions, in different formats and short stories. I stopped gave up on the series shortly after I picked up Legion. Lately it seems like they release more anthologies than novels. Whenever they get to the Siege of Terra I might buy some of the books again, unfotunately my excitement for the series turned to apathy years ago.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Alpharius wrote:

Especially as those coveted "New York Times Best Sellers List" labels are much harder to come by now via BL stuff...

I still don't understand BL's thinking there. Turning down free prestige and publicity is just nuts.

**Looky Likey**

The higher profit margin of direct sales of over priced limited editions I would guess, I wouldlike to see the numbers to see if it worked.

**BobtheInquisitor**

Looky Likey wrote:
The higher profit margin of direct sales of over priced limited editions I would guess, I wouldlike to see the numbers to see if it worked.

ADB suggested it did work, but that was a while ago and he is awfully quiet now.

Can you imagine what would have happened if Scholastic stopped regular distribution of the Harry Potter books after Prisoner of Azkaban and insisted readers buy Goblet of Fire direct for $40?

**Pacific**

tinfoil wrote:
reds8n wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Macragges-Honour-The-Horus-Heresy/dp/1784960691/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_y

So now Neal Roberts is a co-author? Interesting.

It appears BL is scrambling to shore up Dan Abnett's projects. Have we heard any solid reasons or explanation for why Abnett is no longer producing GW stuff? Gaunt's Ghosts is languishing, as is the Eisenhor/Raven,or trilogy. What's going on? I know he had some health problems a few years ago. And that he's taken on a lot of non-GW projects. Has he broken with Black Library? (I confess, I've stopped trying to keep track of Black Library plans, so I may have missed some news on this.)

Dan is currently doing a story in 2000AD weekly entitled 'Grey Zone' which is just about to come to an end, but he's done several other stories over the past few years as well as penning the 'Flash' comic.

I also saw his name down as the script writing in the opening credits of the Alien: Isolation video game.

He did a Tomb Raider novel as well last year, so he has certainly been a busy guy!

**BobtheInquisitor**

Also, BL's direct sales are most likely all going to customers who picked up the series when it was widely accessible. How will they pick up new customers now?

**Ozymandias**

How does GW? BL seems to be going the same route. Shame, really, I very much enjoyed the HH series.

**Knockagh**

I have heard this line that Dan has been doing 2000AD for ages now. It's like the lambs went to 'another farm' story. I smell a rat.... I think the Abnett has had a falling out with big old GW.

And yes, what is the deal with ADB the former golden bol@ocks of the firm? Since the decidedly mediocre talon of horus came out he seems to have gone very quiet which is really really odd he seemed to be on such a roll....maybe they are building up to some amazing the or maybe they are slaughtering them in a dungeon somewhere under their shiny new head quarters?

**warboss**

BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Also, BL's direct sales are most likely all going to customers who picked up the series when it was widely accessible. How will they pick up new customers now?

I would say only the most hardcore BL readers would continue their patronage by switching to direct. My guess (obviously colored by my own experience and that of the only two other BL readers I know) is that more casual customers cut back as the months slipped by with delayed releases and occasionally tapered off completely for some (like in my case and the two others I know). It's subjective but we all went from buying a few books a year to buying NO books for a few years. YMMV. I guess GW and therefore BL is happy to increasingly milk their most productive cash cows whereas the rest of us have been culled from the herd.

**BrookM**

BL is also going direct? Well gak, seeing as they don't allow for Paypal they're even more than ever a no-go now. It also explains why the FLGS isn't stocking the latest novels any more these days.

**warboss**

BrookM wrote:
BL is also going direct? Well gak, seeing as they don't allow for Paypal they're even more than ever a no-go now. It also explains why the FLGS isn't stocking the latest novels any more these days.

Sorry, what I was referring to was the change a few years back to delay releases to third party for months to get more direct sales from them. My FLGS stocks BL books but I don't know how current they are or if GW puts them on a "must restock" list like some of their items. I used to buy the novels though at the local bookstore. I have zero knowledge of anything more recent or upcoming.

**CalgarsPimpHand**

Really it's the same formula slowly being applied to every facet of GW: direct only wherever possible, shovelware and DLC wherever possible, bleed them for every ounce of new material and recycle old gak at every opportunity.

I was buying HH books religiously for the first 10 or so. I gradually stopped when I realized that a) they had no intention of moving the story so basically everything they put out could be skipped without missing a thing, b) the ratio of decent novels to absolute bolterporn turds was getting out of control, and c) their release schedule was being screwed with to keep me from ever getting the book I wanted in the cheapest possible physical format.

Then I bought Talon of Horus, on the strength of ADB's name alone (whose other novels I absolutely love), and I couldn't help but get the feeling that the whole thing was a giant Black Legion advertisement, with every story beat straight from the marketing department. That's probably the last thing I'll ever buy from BL.

**reds8n**

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/27/iraq-war-vet-is-not-amused-by-video-game.htm

BUFFALO, N.Y. (CN) - An Army veteran claims a science fiction novel and video game are based on real events from his Iraq war memoir, "House to House."
David Bellavia claims defendant Henry Zhou's book "Flesh and Iron" took the names, descriptions and experiences of real soldiers from his nonfiction book and used them in a book for a science fiction series, the "Warhammer 40,000 Novels."
Sega and others then based the "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" video game on the infringing book, Bellavia claims in his May 21 federal lawsuit.
Bellavia, an infantryman, claims "Flesh and Iron" bears a "striking resemblance" to his memoir, published by the Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, in 2007.
Zhou's book was published by The Black Library in 2010, and distributed in the United States by Simon & Schuster.
All of the publishers, including the Free Press, are named as defendants.
"Descriptions, characters, plot lines, names and events were taken directly from the original work," Bellavia claims.
He wrote his memoir with John R. Bruning, a military and aviation historian. Bellavia says his 2006 contract with Simon & Schuster granted the publisher "the right to exercise or license certain subsidiary rights," but those rights "did not include the right to publish derivative works."
He accuses the publishing giant of fraud, breach of faith, breach of contract and other offenses.
"Simon & Schuster, and its division, Free Press, are internationally well-known for their superior expertise and knowledge in publishing literary works for authors around the world," the complaint states. "As a result, Simon & Schuster has a great degree of bargaining power when entering into publishing agreements with authors seeking to publish their first work."
Bellavia says Simon & Schuster failed to protect his work from misappropriation, and profited from the infringing piece of fiction.
Named as defendants are Zou, Simon & Schuster, Free Press, Games Workshop PLC, Games Workshop Ltd., The Black Library, Relic Entertainment, and Sega of America.
He claims that the defendants "deceived reasonable consumers into believing that the stories told in the infringing works are fictional and created by Zou, when the stories are actually descriptions of real war-time experiences of U.S. Army veterans, some of whom died or were wounded while serving their country."
Bellavia won a Silver Star for his actions during some of the most intense fighting in the Iraq War, according to his biography page on Simon & Schuster's website.
He demands destruction of the infringing works, an accounting and injunction, and punitive damages for copyright violations, aiding and abetting, fraud, breach of contract, breach of faith, deceptive trade, and tortious interference with contract.
He is represented by Ryan Gellman with Colucci & Gallaher, of Buffalo.

...soo...yeah.

Little surprised this is happening/still going now.

There's been talk about this -- with regards to the plagiarism at least anyway -- for quite some time indeed.

**Stormwall**

reds8n wrote:
http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/05/27/iraq-war-vet-is-not-amused-by-video-game.htm

BUFFALO, N.Y. (CN) - An Army veteran claims a science fiction novel and video game are based on real events from his Iraq war memoir, "House to House."
David Bellavia claims defendant Henry Zhou's book "Flesh and Iron" took the names, descriptions and experiences of real soldiers from his nonfiction book and used them in a book for a science fiction series, the "Warhammer 40,000 Novels."
Sega and others then based the "Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine" video game on the infringing book, Bellavia claims in his May 21 federal lawsuit.
Bellavia, an infantryman, claims "Flesh and Iron" bears a "striking resemblance" to his memoir, published by the Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, in 2007.
Zhou's book was published by The Black Library in 2010, and distributed in the United States by Simon & Schuster.
All of the publishers, including the Free Press, are named as defendants.
"Descriptions, characters, plot lines, names and events were taken directly from the original work," Bellavia claims.
He wrote his memoir with John R. Bruning, a military and aviation historian. Bellavia says his 2006 contract with Simon & Schuster granted the publisher "the right to exercise or license certain subsidiary rights," but those rights "did not include the right to publish derivative works."
He accuses the publishing giant of fraud, breach of faith, breach of contract and other offenses.
"Simon & Schuster, and its division, Free Press, are internationally well-known for their superior expertise and knowledge in publishing literary works for authors around the world," the complaint states. "As a result, Simon & Schuster has a great degree of bargaining power when entering into publishing agreements with authors seeking to publish their first work."
Bellavia says Simon & Schuster failed to protect his work from misappropriation, and profited from the infringing piece of fiction.
Named as defendants are Zou, Simon & Schuster, Free Press, Games Workshop PLC, Games Workshop Ltd., The Black Library, Relic Entertainment, and Sega of America.
He claims that the defendants "deceived reasonable consumers into believing that the stories told in the infringing works are fictional and created by Zou, when the stories are actually descriptions of real war-time experiences of U.S. Army veterans, some of whom died or were wounded while serving their country."
Bellavia won a Silver Star for his actions during some of the most intense fighting in the Iraq War, according to his biography page on Simon & Schuster's website.
He demands destruction of the infringing works, an accounting and injunction, and punitive damages for copyright violations, aiding and abetting, fraud, breach of contract, breach of faith, deceptive trade, and tortious interference with contract.
He is represented by Ryan Gellman with Colucci & Gallaher, of Buffalo.

...soo...yeah.

Little surprised this is happening/still going now.

There's been talk about this -- with regards to the plagiarism at least anyway -- for quite some time indeed.

Will definitely be following this, especially if he is a Silver Star recipient. I wish I could say this surprises me but, for some reason it doesn't. (Keep us posted.)

**Wonderwolf**

Plenty of things like that.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/title-row-its-pulped-fiction-for-writer-paul-kearney-31155072.html

A Northern Irish writer's books have been destroyed after lawyers ruled its title was too similar to that of an American author's work.

Thousands of copies of Paul Kearney's fantasy novel Dark Hunters: Umbra Sumus were scrapped after publishers Black Library received a cease and desist order from lawyers for Sherrilyn Kenyon.

She said the title of Co Down man Kearney's novel was too similar to her Dark Hunter series which sold over 12 million books.

Kearney argued "there's no way there could be any confusion" as his work is science fiction, while Kenyon's is described as 'paranormal romance'. However, Kearney revealed the book could be published with a different title.

Though it seems BL simply complied with this C&D and didn't fight it.

**reds8n**

I have to say that whilst the similarities were pretty glaring when pointed out it did kinda read more as a homage/tip o' the hat kind of thing, rather than maliciousness.

That said the author had one or two more books released afterwards and then NADA so ....

Video game thing ..well .... can't really claim to have all that much knowledge of the game but I don't recall any similarities -- 40k setting aside.

Seeing as he's also suing his publisher wonder if they've previously dismissed complaints as not being worth it ?

Anyway..

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/12-months-of-40k

celebrate 1 year of 7th edition with a random selection of books, a "surprising"....

.. amount of which seem to be leftover/still available hardbacks and/or special editions.

Also some free wallpapers woo hoo !

**BrookM**

Flesh and Iron and the Space Marine game have nothing in common. The guy just smells money and is going to be a massive donkey-cave about it.

Flesh and Iron was a novel about a regiment of Imperial Guardsmen that specialized in boat operations on a world of jungles and rivers.

Space Marine is about space marines, unless the guy saw "Marine" and immediately thought of jarheads in space..

**warboss**

So this guy tried to liberate a Forgeworld from Orks in Iraq? And later was *spoiler alert!*

Spoiler:

I seriously doubt Space Marine had anything to do with his experiences or his own book. I can't comment about flesh and iron as I don't recall reading it.

**BrookM**

Flesh and Blood has a massive Vietnam vibe going, if you want the "IRAQ IN SPAAAAAAAAAAACE" experience you should read the Killing Grounds by Graham McNeil, which is just that.

**JonWebb**

Pacific wrote:
tinfoil wrote:
reds8n wrote:

http://www.amazon.com/Macragges-Honour-The-Horus-Heresy/dp/1784960691/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_y

So now Neal Roberts is a co-author? Interesting.

It appears BL is scrambling to shore up Dan Abnett's projects. Have we heard any solid reasons or explanation for why Abnett is no longer producing GW stuff? Gaunt's Ghosts is languishing, as is the Eisenhor/Raven,or trilogy. What's going on? I know he had some health problems a few years ago. And that he's taken on a lot of non-GW projects. Has he broken with Black Library? (I confess, I've stopped trying to keep track of Black Library plans, so I may have missed some news on this.)

Dan is currently doing a story in 2000AD weekly entitled 'Grey Zone' which is just about to come to an end, but he's done several other stories over the past few years as well as penning the 'Flash' comic.

I also saw his name down as the script writing in the opening credits of the Alien: Isolation video game.

He did a Tomb Raider novel as well last year, so he has certainly been a busy guy!

Dan has been writing for 2000AD for donkeys years mind you, along with the film and video game work he does. See arcs like Sin/Dex, ABC Warriors and Durham Red for some classic examples of his comic book work.

So, I wouldn't worry too much, though I have been missing the regular GG books from him, still waiting for the Sabbatine/Milo trilogy he promised me back in the day (Used to work for GW Maidstone and he would pop by for book signing and GMing Inquisitor and so forth). He's the last of the GW writers I still pick up these days, once upon a time I bought every BL book, but the quality dropped quite noticeably and the release schedule got a bit silly.

I did suggst him into jumping ship to write for PP back in the day, during an interview I did with him for my postgrad. He seemed pretty well placed with GW though, although that was a while ago and things are very different in the Ivory tower these days :(

Tempted to ask if he needs any painting these days, I did the Malus statue on his website as well as the Eisonhorn dio from the BL. Always nice to paint a character for its creator