Solaris Books: a round up and an announcement

It's been an exciting couple of years here at Solaris Books: we've welcomed a new member of staff to our growing family, had a bumper year of award nominations and wins, and yesterday announced details of an incredibly exciting next step in the future of our publishing. So, with convention season wound-down for the year, we thought now would be a perfect time to look back at some of our personal highlights of the year:

Back in May we were delighted to introduce the newest member of Team Solaris, Lydia Gittins, our new PR and Digital Promotions Assistant, who quickly established a "book fort" on her desk in which to ensconce herself. Having already introduced her back in May we asked for her reflections six months on:

"I was so thrilled to be invited to join Solaris Books, I'd been a big fan of the imprint for several years ,and to then be given the opportunity to work closely with some of my favourite authors on their books is still just incredible to me. I love that every book Jon commissions or collection he edits is different from the last, so that every campaign we work on is a fresh challenge, and in 2015 we have some titles that I can't wait to share with everyone."

It's also been another fantastic year of award nominations for Solaris Books and we can't even begin to express our gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to read, nominate and vote for books this year: thank you

Here are this year's titles, which join our rapidly growing list of award winners and nominees:

End of the Road, edited by Jonathan Oliver (BFA for Best Anthology winner, Shirley Jackson Award for Best Anthology nominee and WFA for Best Anthology nominee)

Ack Ack Macaque, by Gareth L Powell (BSFA for Best Novel winner)

Dream London, by Tony Ballantyne (BSFA for Best Cover Artwork winner to artist Joey Hi-Fi)

The Eidolon, by Libby McGugan (BFA for Best Novel nominee)

Fearsome Journeys, edited by Jonathan Strahan (WFA Best Anthology nominee)

The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Hugo for Best Editor Short Form nominee)

To celebrate and to thank our readers we're throwing a flash sale on all our award winning and nominated titles from across the years: until December 3rd get the above eBooks, and many more, for just £2 directly from the DRM-free Rebellion Store.


Finally, as we hinted at in our introduction we have some really exciting news from our parent company Rebellion Publishing, who yesterday signed off on a fantastic new acquisitions plan for our front list publishing. We're delighted to be sharing the fantastic news that with immediate effect Solaris Books will be looking to sign new headline talent for our 2016/17 line-up to stand alongside our international bestselling authors, including Gail Z Martin, James Lovegrove and Rowena Cory Daniells. 

Since Rebellion Publishing acquired Solaris Books in 2009 we've been delighted to continue to publish an innovative mix of new and traditional science fiction, fantasy and horror from both established authors and exciting new talent, with a commitment to promoting diversity in genre publishing. A full trade announcement about the acquisition drive can be found here, but for now we leave you with a final statement from Solaris Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Oliver:

 “It’s been an incredible year at Solaris, both in terms of new talent and bestsellers. James Lovegrove’s godpunk series came to a thrilling end with Age of Shiva, only for him to kick off a brand new series with World of Fire. Gail Z. Martin returned to the Solaris fold with her terrific urban fantasy series, Deadly Curiosities, demonstrating why she continues to be one of our bestselling writers. We saw more from newer talents such as the incredible Dave Hutchinson, with his deeply prescient novel Europe in Autumn, and welcomed back the talents of such great writers as Steve Rasnic Tem with Blood Kin, Gaie Sebold with Shanghai Sparrow, and Emily Gee with The Fire Prince. We are committed to producing the best in genre fiction, publishing works that are entertaining, trilling and though provoking. I’m excited by what’s to come and the expansion in our commissioning remit means that we will be able to bring an even greater diversity of fiction to what is already a strong list.”

L-R: Jonathan Strahan and Jonathan Oliver at the World Fantasy Awards


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