Mirabilis graphic novel

New news – and something we’ve been eagerly waiting for. Our publisher (David Fickling) tells us that he will be able to give us a firm release date for the first Mirabilis graphic novel “very soon” now, ie within a month.

The Winter book is about 190 pages long, so possibly Random House will want to release that in two volumes. Knowing how distribution can end up uneven across the country, I’d prefer it to be just one book. But as it’s full colour throughout and should be on fine quality paper, we’ve got to be aware of pricing. Better two volumes for £11.99 (guessing, there) than one great whopping thing with a price tag of £25 to frighten off all but the wealthy few.

The story is broken down into chapters, each 20-25 pages long like a regular comic book. In fact, I can tell you now what they are:

#1: “The World Turned Upside Down”
 #2: “The Wrong Side of Bedlam”
#3: “Standing On The Shoulders of Giants”
 #4: “Fire and Sleet and Candlelight”
#5: “The Darkest Hour”
#6 “Saints and Sinners”
#7: “A Ribbon Across the Sky”
 #8: “Saltwater and Ashes”
#9: “Everything Changes”

The way publishing works, even though the Winter book is almost complete right now, we’re still looking at next summer at the earliest before it’s on the shelves. So, if it’s up to me, we’ll release those chapters as monthly 25-page comic books in the run-up to the trade paperback edition. Not the internet sales model that the DFC tried, though; instead it would be published under licence to an existing comic book publisher.

Okay, given the niche distribution that “pamphlet comics” get these days, a release in that form is not going to make millions. But it would help build a good head of steam for the tp release - and, as a bonus, the revenue just from the monthly comic sales would probably more than cover production costs. Everybody wins.