OUT NOW: The Audible.com Edition of The Coldest War

Hooray!  Calloo, callay, oh frabjous day!

Thanks to alert and super considerate reader Steve Halter, I can confirm that The Coldest War is finally out in the wild.  The Audible.com edition of Milkeed #2, the sequel to Bitter Seeds, is now available!  It went up this morning at Audible.com, and it also appears (this morning, as of January 17) on their “Just Added” page.  And right on schedule– as I posted here last month, the original release was slated for December, but the narrator, Kevin Pariseau, had a scheduling conflict that required moving the release back a few weeks.  January 17 was the target date provided to me by Audible, and they hit the mark.  Audible.com has been a very enthusiastic supporter of the Milkweed books, and I can’t wait to give it a listen.

It’s been a long time coming, so it’s a great feeling to know that The Coldest War is finally making its way into the world.

See?  I told you guys it was a real book.  (But who could blame you for experience moments of doubt, given all the delays?)

This is the audiobook release, but there’s also the hardcover/ebook edition coming in July.  It is rather strange to have the audio edition out before the hardcover, but then again, this book’s journey to publication has ever been anything but normal.  But I reckon anybody reading this already knows that.

Below the cut, I’ll reiterate the current release schedule for all editions of the Milkweed books, insofar as I know it at the moment.

So here’s the most up-to-date publication information I have at the moment:

January 17, 2012:  The audiobook edition of The Coldest War is now available from Audible.com!

May, 2012 [shipping April 24, according to online sources]: The mass market paperback edition of Bitter Seeds hits shelves (Tor)

I just reviewed the galley pages for this one, and sent them back to my publisher last week.  So it’s well along the publication path — there’s nothing more for me to do on this particular book.  I’m excited about this, because it contains not one but TWO bonuses.  In addition to a sneak peek excerpt from The Coldest War, it also contains “What Doctor Gottlieb Saw”, a short story set in the Milkweed universe.  It’s sort of a murder mystery set at von Westarp’s farm, starring my favorite precognitive sociopath.  Since it takes place in the multi-year gap between the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Bitter Seeds, it seemed perfectly natural to include this story in the paperback edition.

December, 2012 July 12, 2012:  The UK release of Bitter Seeds (Orbit UK)

This will also contain bonus material of its very own.  I just carried out a very fun and interesting interview with the good people at Orbit; the transcript of our Q&A will appear in the UK edition of Bitter Seeds.

July 17, 2012: The US hardcover and ebook edition of The Coldest War will appear in the wild (Tor)

This book has been through editorial revisions, copyedits, and galleys.  Meaning it’s also past the point in the publication process where I contribute to the process.  (And, of course, we know it already has snazzy cover art in place.)

There are very very minor differences in wording between the audio and hardcover/ebook editions of this book.  That’s because Audible.com worked from the copyedited manuscript, while the other editions will be produced based on the galleys.  And because I’m an incessant tinkerer, I made minor corrections to the galleys after the CEM went to Audible.  The changes are all very minor, and have no effect on the plot or story.  All it means is that Kevin Pariseau had to do his best with some sentences that were clunkier than usual.

December 21, 2012: Mayan Calendar Apocalypse (Cthulhu; various Elder Gods)

I confess to being less excited about this than the other stuff on this list.

February 2013: The UK edition of The Coldest War hits shelves (Orbit UK)

April 2013:  The US hardcover/ebook edition (Tor) and the UK edition (Orbit UK) of Necessary Evil will be released simultaneously.

And that’s the state of things at the moment, at least insofar as I can talk about it… 

I’m ready to burst with more news, but I can’t share anything else quite yet.  But very soon, I hope!

In the meantime, I hope those who decide to give the audiobook a try enjoy the heck out of it.  Thank you to everybody who has waited so patiently for the sequel to Bitter Seeds.