Lone Wolf - New Books and Old

[MongooseMatt]

Two things we wanted to let Lone Wolf fans know about...

First up, softback versions of the solo gamebooks are on their way, starting in September, and following a book a month thereafter. These will be available by mail order and via hobby distribution.

Second, we have started to withdraw the collector's hardbacks from sale to make way for them. Volumes 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, and 16 have already been withdrawn, and the rest will be following soon. From that point, they will only be available as a part of the various megadeals.

If you are after a copy of any of the hardbacks, we can only suggest that you act as quickly as possible. If you are after one that has already been withdrawn, drop me a line at msprange@mongoosepublishing.com, and we will work something out with you - don't worry, we won't leave you in the lurch!

 

[lastbesthope]

And will the paperbacks be free of the errors that plagued the hardbacks?

LBH

 

[Cal Phoenix]

If you have already purchased a mega deal, will we still receive the hardcover editions of books 18 and on?

 

[MongooseMatt]

If you have already purchased a mega deal, will we still receive the hardcover editions of books 18 and on?

Of course.

 

[RatedRWolf]

I have a question too. With the CE withdrawn and reserved to Megadealer's, what will future paperbacks include? Only the main adventure or the bonus adventure? Some years ago you stated that the paperbacks wouldn't have any bonus adventure inside, because this was what made the CE "collectible" in some sense, but now that the scenario has deeply changed I hope the paperbacks will show exactly the same content of the CEs...

 

[Oiseau]

And, will it still be possible for non-Megadealers to purchase hardcover books 17-28 when/if they come out ?

 

[Eternalknight]

Email sent Matt. I missed 15 and am worried I won't be able to get it now!

 

[WritingWolf]

Just to echo Oiseau on that one Matt - I'm not a Megadealer (never had that amount of cash available all at once) so I've purchased all the hardbacks as they have come out. Are the unpublished ones gonna come out as a hardback first for awhile and then withdrawn with the paperback coming out a few months later?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Just to echo Oiseau on that one Matt - I'm not a Megadealer (never had that amount of cash available all at once) so I've purchased all the hardbacks as they have come out. Are the unpublished ones gonna come out as a hardback first for awhile and then withdrawn with the paperback coming out a few months later?

That is correct. You may need to be quick, but they will all be available on their own for a while at least.

 

[Ningauble]

First up, softback versions of the solo gamebooks are on their way, starting in September, and following a book a month thereafter. These will be available by mail order and via hobby distribution.

You just made my week! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[WritingWolf]

Thanks for that Matt - I'll keep an eye out for them!

 

[RatedRWolf]

I would be grateful if I had an answer about the contents of the paperbacks... :wink:

 

[MongooseMatt]

The paperbacks will not have bonus adventures - there is no reason for the softbacks to have them.

 

[RatedRWolf]

The paperbacks will not have bonus adventures - there is no reason for the softbacks to have them.

Well, you can say YOU have good reasons not to put them in the paperbacks (I respect it, although I have a different opinion), but I'd never say something like that. Italian paperbacks, which unfortunately stopped at number 4, had them, could we say there was no reason? Even now that le CEs have ben drastically limited, could you say that there's still a reason to make paperbacks so different from (and less interesting than) CEs?

The only thing I can say is good luck. I'm quite pessimistic, but good luck anyway.

 

[Greg Smith]

There reasons I stopped buying the collectors editions were (in order):

1. The price.
2. The cost of postage from Mongoose (the only supplier) - which is still the price.
3. The mistakes.

The only reason I would buy the paperbacks would be the bonus adventure. I already have at least one version of each in paperback.

 

[RatedRWolf]

I completely agree and that's why I'm not optimistic about it: CEs are much more expensive than they should (30$!), and many potential customers simply cannot afford the price, but could really choose to take advantage of a complete paperback edition. Nevertheless, a simple reprint of a 20 year old book (yes, there are some little changes, but how many? very very few, and the more you go on with the series, the less they are) is completely unuseful for the old fans, imho, and which new fan can they attract?

Not including the bonus adventures in the books, if maybe not a fiasco, would be at least a wasted opportunity.

 

[MongooseMatt]

Italian paperbacks, which unfortunately stopped at number 4, had them, could we say there was no reason?

Well, the fact they stopped at Book 4 is an indication as to why...

CEs are much more expensive than they should (30$!),

I am afraid they are not - they are cheaper than they should be. We make very little on the CEs and, when you factor in time needed for editing, layout and art, nothing.

You will still have a chance to pick up the CEs when they come out, we are just not going to keep them in print forever. With paperbacks, we can do that, but something else has to give - in this case, book length.

At the end of the day, we either have to change what we are doing, or say there will be no more Lone Wolf books - and we don't want there to be no more Lone Wolf books...

 

[RatedRWolf]

Italian paperbacks, which unfortunately stopped at number 4, had them, could we say there was no reason?

Well, the fact they stopped at Book 4 is an indication as to why...

They clearly stopped because there was no reason to reprint the whole series without any insurance of seeing it completed with the last four books, and probably the lenght of the project has been another important factor.

I believe you when you say the CEs are cheaper than they should, and I'm sure you aren't making huge amounts of money on them, but we must calculate it with our wallets: 30$ for a (more or less) 20 years old reprinted book are far more than a 2012 standard purchaser can spend. I'm sad to see my collection stopped with book 12, but I'm not sure I'll buy paperbacks without bonus adventures, and it seems I'm not the only one. If at least there were some sort of convenient 13-20 Megadeal...

 

[MongooseMatt]

They clearly stopped because there was no reason to reprint the whole series without any insurance of seeing it completed with the last four books, and probably the lenght of the project has been another important factor.[/quote]

Well, those are two possible reasons. There is another...

I believe you when you say the CEs are cheaper than they should, and I'm sure you aren't making huge amounts of money on them, but we must calculate it with our wallets:

Which is why we try to reach a balance - it is not as if we are sitting behind pots of money, illicit gains from hawking solo gamebooks...

Incidentally, I am not sure why you think you cannot collect books beyond Book 12 - they will all eventually be made available for megadeals only, but there will be a good time when they will be available for everyone. And if you are after one or more of the books that have already been withdrawn, get hold of me straight away (msprange@mongoosepublishing.com). We kept some back specifically for those of you who may have missed a volume or two...

 

[WritingWolf]

Hi Matt

As long as the CEs keep coming (which it sounds like they will) then I'm happy - just let us know in advance so we can get a copy

Just out of curiosity, how long is each print run?

Thanks