Newsletter for June 2010

June 2010

To Fans of the Strongbow Saga:

Over the past several years I have received many emails from readers asking if and/or when the next book in the Saga will be coming out. I enjoy receiving emails from readers and answer every one personally, but I thought it might be helpful to post on this website some information about the rest of the series, as well as about another novel I’m currently working on that is set in the Strongbow Saga world.

Halfdan’s story obviously does not end with book three of the Strongbow Saga. My plan is for the series to be five books long, and I’ve already sketched out rough outlines for the plots of books four and five. Book four will begin shortly after the Viking fleet returns to Denmark from Frankia, and in it, Halfdan, with Hastein’s assistance, will begin his pursuit of Toke in earnest. Much of the story in book four will be set in Sweden and Russia. The Saga will be brought to its conclusion in book five, in which the final episodes of Halfdan’s quest for vengeance will take place in Ireland.

As to when book four is actually going to come out, for a long time that was a question that was impossible for me to answer. Under the terms of our contract, HarperCollins, the publisher of the first three books in the series, bought books one through three with an option clause that gave them a first right of refusal to buy the next book–in other words, I was required to offer HarperCollins the right to buy book four, and only if they turned it down could I seek out other means of publishing it. I submitted my outlines of books four and five to HarperCollins long before book three was released in 2008. However, for well over a year the publisher just sat on my proposal without giving me any definite answer, not agreeing to buy and publish book four, but not releasing their option on it, either. Finally, though, in late 2009 HarperCollins did agree to release its option clause, which means they will not be publishing book four, but which also means I’m now free to pursue it through other channels.

However, during the almost two year period when the fate of the rest of the Strongbow Saga was being held in a state of limbo by HarperCollins, I could not afford to go ahead and write the books since I had no way of knowing if I’d ever be able to get them published. So in the meantime, I have begun a separate novel that is set in Ireland around the year 840, roughly five years before the Strongbow Saga begins.Conducting the necessary background research for this novel has been very difficult and time consuming, and my work on it has also at times been slowed by my health, but my writing of it is now well underway, so I must press on and finish this book before I begin the actual writing of book four of the Saga. The title of this new novel is “The Beast of Dublin,” and a number of characters from the Strongbow Saga appear in it, including Hastein, Torvald, Tore, and Ivar the Boneless. This novel also introduces a new character, an Irishman named Conall, who will play an important role in the final novel of the Strongbow Saga.

I hope to complete the writing of The Beast of Dublin before the end of this year, and as soon as I’ve finished it, I promise to begin writing book four of the Saga. Once book four is completed–hopefully sometime during 2011–I will make it available to readers as quickly as possible. One positive effect on the publishing industry from the recession is that a number of new, smaller scale publishing venues have sprung up, some of which are based on publish-on-demand models, where the publisher only prints copies of a book as actual orders for them come in, versus making a large print run up front, which is quite expensive. Even Amazon has set up one of these print on demand publishing companies, and a big advantage of these smaller scale print on demand publishers is that a book can be brought out in print much more quickly than could be possible through the large, traditional publishing companies and methods (it’s not uncommon with the big publishers for it to take a year or longer to go from finished manuscript to published book, whereas with Amazon’s service, as an example, it can be a matter of as little as a few weeks).

So to summarize this overlong explanation of when or if the next book in the Strongbow Saga will be released, the answer is that I hope and will try to get book four out to readers sometime during 2011, but at this point that’s not an absolute promise, just a tentative plan and hope. As I have more definite information, I’ll post it on this website.

In the meantime, I have a request to you, the fans of the Strongbow Saga. There is currently a very real danger that HarperCollins will take the first three books in the series out of print. Anything that boosts awareness of the Strongbow Saga series among potential readers who haven’t heard of it–and unfortunately, so far the world is full of potential readers who’ve never heard of it–could help keep the series alive. So if you’re willing and if you love Halfdan’s story, spread the word about it. Save the Saga, and I will do my best to finish it for you.

My best regards,

Judson Roberts