We've moved!

Having called The When Gravity Fails blog our home for many, many (man we're old) years at the start of 2015 we decided it was time for a change...

This blog was started back in 2006 by then owners Black Library, when Rebellion Publishing purchased the imprint in 2009 it came to sit alongside our other sister imprints Abaddon Books and 2000 AD, and the blog came with it. Then back in 2013 we launched a new, exciting YA and Children's imprint called Ravenstone which promises to bring the freshest and most cutting-edge titles to the market.

That's a whole lot of books going on, and we don't want you to miss any of our outpourings (from award-winning anthologies and novels, to classic pulp fiction, to literary genre mind-benders) so we decided it was time to bring all our projects in to one home.

While we're sad to see the blog go (and we promise we'll keep the old posts up should you ever want to see some of the weird and wonderful thoughts we've had over the years) we hope you'll join us in our new home where you can keep track of ALL our projects under one roof: www.rebellionpublishing.com.

Come over and we'll pop the kettle on.

Rebellion Publishing: DRM Free Since 2006

‘DRM Free since 2006!’ It falls some way short of being a sexy headline, but how do you compete with other publishers apparently news-worthy headlines about going DRM-free in 2014, when it’s been 8 years since Rebellion took that decision?

Rebellion Publishing may not be one of the instantly recognisable names in the UK book trade, but for fifteen years we've been the home of the British institution 2000 AD, and first published our perennially bestselling graphic novel collection, Judge Dredd: The Complete Case Files 01 back in 2005 (we publish volume 23 this summer). The following year we founded our first fiction imprint Abaddon Books. And in those pre-Kindle, pre-Twitter days, when digital rights management was something most publishers assumed was a music industry issue, Rebellion also started selling digital files for download with no DRM.

How was it that we took the step that most digitally-savvy publishers came to many years later? We had one big advantage, Rebellion is also a tech company, one of the leading computer games developers and publishers in the UK (our latest, Sniper Elite III, is out at the end of June). Our founders and owners Jason and Chris Kingsley understood how important ownership was for a digital consumer, how being able to buy something and keep it was a vital part of the trust relationship between publisher and reader, and gamer. You bought the digital copy? Well that’s yours to keep forever, and not just until you change device or operating system. It can be put  like this: we value the support of legitimate customers more than we hate the activity of people who steal from us.

In the years since 2006 we've acquired the SF imprint Solaris books; begun simultaneous publishing in the UK and North America; launched the children’s and YA literature imprint Ravenstone; started our standalone ebook shop rebellionstore.com to go alongside 2000adonline.com; and have seen our books feature on the best-seller lists time and time again.

So, as a leading publisher of comics and genre fiction in the UK it’s great to have had Tor and others join us in the DRM-free world. The others will be along soon, we're sure.

www.rebellionstore.com

Podcast XII

Hi all,

You're probably going to start getting dizzy with all the podcast updates. However will you keep up?

The twelfth podcast, A Pax in Time, Book Nine,* brings Desk Editor David Moore and Marketing Intern Colm Bannon in Close Contact with Abaddon Author Jonathan Green.

Jon's here to talk about the steampunk Pax Britannia universe, the recent release of the Ulysses Quicksilver Short Story Collection, about ebooks and Fighting Fantasy, and about the intriguing upcoming "audience participation" project Pax Britannia: Time's Arrow, in which the story will be told in several installments in ebook form and readers will be given the chance to vote on the direction of each new installment.

You can also just go here to look at the feed direct, or to subscribe using an RSS application, like Outlook.

Cheers,

David

*In fact, Time's Arrow is book eight. And if your mother had been obliging enough to tell you that "a stitch in time saves eight," we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. So I think we can take a good long look at her before we start pointing fingers, hmm?

International Steampunk Day (We Love Steampunk Detectives!)

As it's International Steampunk Day, we thought it might be a good time to mention that our sister imprint, Abaddon Books, has launched its first $0.99 ebook, with The Ulysses Quicksilver Short Story Collection!

Do you want to try out one of the world's longest-running steampunk series? These three short stories have been hand-picked by the author, from his earlier works, to provide the perfect introduction the world of Pax Britannia!

The ebook is available to download for 99 cents through Kindle (UK 69p) and iTunes (UK 49p).


This month also saw the release of Tim Aker's Dead of Veridon! his stand alone hardboiled detective adventure from the man who brought you Heart of Veridon showcases the adventures of disowned aristocrat Jacob Burn and his backtalking anansi associate, Wilson, as they investigate a strange plague infecting the city's underwater residents, the Fehn...

Tor.com have provided a cracking review of the book, praising Akers's 'superior world-building', his 'captivating' monsters and concluding that: 'Those who enjoy their steampunk tech with a high dose of technofantasy, their “punk” to be the criminal element in a corrupt society, and pulpy dialogue should pick up Dead of Veridon. Though if reading it at a beach, you may find yourself eyeing the water warily from time to time.'

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Manchester Signing This Saturday

MANCHESTER DEANSGATE

A Super SF/Fantasy Weekender
Gary McMahon, Ian Whates, Conrad Williams, Mike Wild and Pat Kelleher
Saturday, 21 May 2011, 2PM - 5PM

Waterstones asks "Can Manchester contain this amount of SF and Fantasy talent?" It's an SFF and horror invasion as authors Conrad Williams, Gary McMahon, Ian Whates, Mike Wild and Pat Kelleher take over Manchester's Deangate Waterstones for an afternoon of signings and discussion.


Arrive early, at 1pm, and you'll get to see another great SF signing, the 'Deansgate Doctor Who Forum'. Waterstones says 'Join Terry Nation expert Alywn Turner, Doctor Who Big Finish audio play and Dead Ringers maestro Nev Fountain and that walking encyclopaedia of all things Gallifrey, David J. Howe, for a discussion-filled odyssey into all things Doctor Who.'

Further details can be found at the Waterstones Manchester Deansgate website, or at this number: 0161 839 1248.

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Also, check out this interview with Conrad Williams and this interview with Gary MacMahon at horror and dark fiction site The Black Abyss.
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Monday linkspost:-

Juliet E. McKenna, author of the Chronicles of the Lescarii trilogy and the upcoming Dangerous Waters, has been interviewed about editing, at the Writer, Revealed website.

Horror artist Will Jacques has posted a triplicate of Solaris-related interviews at his blog, The Ghastly Door, with Juliet E. McKenna, Gary MacMahon (author of the upcoming The Concrete Grove) and Vincent Chong, creator of many eerie book covers (including The Concrete Grove and Shine).

Our congratulations go to Abaddon Books author Scott Andrews who has had his apocalyptic novel, School's Out, optioned for a movie by Multistory Films!

Chaz Brenchley's new urban fantasy noir, Desdaemona, has received a sterling review from Jared Shurin.

The BookThing review blog has posted two reviews in quick succession, of the first and second novels in Gail Z. Martin's Chronicles of the Necromancer series. We hope you enjoy the rest of the series!

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Podcast #5 out now! Er, two weeks ago. Sorry.

Hey guys,

So you remember me saying we might just skip May and call the next one the June one, to catch up on ourselves? Well, we went right ahead and did that shit, and then took so long getting the blog out that it went up on iTunes in July. And then I forgot to blog about it. So you're hearing about it in August.

So, er. Yeah. Sorry.

At any rate, you'd already know this if you're subscribed to the 'cast via iTunes, but if not, the Fifth Abaddon & Solaris Books Pocast is now available to download and listen! Point your iTunes to this link, or search "Abaddon" (or "Solaris") in the "Search Store" box at the top-right corner of iTunes, to check it out. If you are subscribed, you probably already have it. If you don't, then I guess resubscribe to it or something? How should I know? Call Apple's helpdesk.

David, Jenni and Jon at Abaddon Books and Solaris Books assault your mind and brain with sounds and information in what a well-regarded authority* might have called "an hour jolly well spent."

In The Abaddon & Solaris Books Podcast #5: Pax Britannia Across the Pond, Jon demonstrates his versatility and leet interviewing skillz by interviewing two authors at once. Jonathan Green, author of Abaddon's Ulysses Quicksilver novels (the fifth Quicksilver book, Blood Royal, is out now), and Al Ewing, author of El Sombra and the brand-new sequel Gods of Manhattan, assume their places on Jon's metaphorical couch and talk about the Pax Britannia universe, the future direction of the series and whatever pops into their heads. You also have two readings: one from each author. In our increasingly regular on-the-spot feature, Jenni Hill interviews Rebecca Levene and Scott Andrews at the top-secret launch of Rebecca's The Infernal Game: Cold Warriors, also out now.

Now, I've totally let you down, length-wise. Because we had two authors, two readings, and a launch report, this has gone well over the hour. You may have to listen to this in a couple of sittings. Two meaty, rich, fulfilling sittings.

As always, we'd love to hear any feedback.

Cheers,

David



*We tried to get a quote from Jon's mum, but then I just made one up.

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• Not on iTunes, and have sworn to end your life rather than download a single Apple application? Here to help! Just point your RSS client here to download the feed without putting a penny in Steve Jobs' pocket. Keep an eye on the blog for updates, in case we change the host or something crazy like that.
  
• Bewildered by the term "RSS" and unsure what all this means? No problem, ignorant Luddite! Just follow the exact same link, click on the link to the mp3 of the episode you wish to hear, and you can listen right on your browser! Everyone's a winner!

SFXWeekender Tomorrow!

We're heading off to SFXWeekender tomorrow!

This time tomorrow I'll be driving a huge rental van somewhere along the M25, shouting at other drivers, The Bloodhound Gang blaring out of the stereo.

Then this time Friday I'll be nobbing with the stars of science-fiction and fantasy, getting on down and generally having a good time.

If you're coming, make sure and drop by the 2000AD/Abaddon/Solaris stand and say "hi." We'll be chuffed to chat.

I'll try and sling Twitter (@SolarisBooks) and blog posts up periodically over the weekend.

Cheers,

David