Liaden Universe® InfoDumpling: Call to Action!

Dear Friends of Liad, and all the Ships at Sea:

Those of you who have been with us for a long time recall that our former publisher made signed editions of first-run hardcovers available to readers by pre-order only. A good number of you used to take advantage of this, and from time to time (to time to time) we hear from some of you, wondering when this will be available again.

Well. . .we and Uncle Hugo’s Bookstore have an idea about that, just in time for GHOST SHIP. But we need your help.

The scheme: Baen will tip-in (which is to say, they’ll bind in a special, extra page) signature sheets for GHOST SHIP, to meet pre-orders only. The orders will be placed with, and filled by Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore in Minneapolis, one of the great indie SF bookstores in the country. Sharon and Steve will sign as many signature pages as there are pre-orders to match.

The catch: Baen needs a guarantee of at least 100 pre-orders; it’s not cost-effective to bind in the extra page for less than that number.

This is where you — yes, YOU; we know who you are — come in.

We need a preliminary count, so we can show Baen that this Crazy Idea is gonna work, and to give Uncle Hugo’s an idea of what they’re getting into, here.

So! The Call To Action!

If you — if you really, truly, cross-your-heart-and-hope-to-die will order a first-run hardcover of GHOST SHIP signed by both authors, please send an email to this special address — ghost_shipATkorvalDOTcom (where The Usual replaces AT and DOT) and tell us how many you’ll buy.

NOTE: Cover price for GHOST SHIP is $25. Uncle Hugo’s offers a flat $6 shipping fee in the US; two GHOST SHIPs travel for the same six bucks as one GHOST SHIP. Overseas orders will have to have their postage figured on a case-by-case basis, just like we’ve been doing here at the Confusion Factory.

If we get promises for at least 100 signed copies of GHOST SHIP, the project will go forth. If we fall below that number, no copies will be available. If we go above that number — that would be awesome.

We know that this is a lot of info, so below is a recap in bullet-points:

*If you will buy a signed copy of GHOST SHIP by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (no fibbing, now), write to ghost_shipATkorvalDOTcom and *say so* BEFORE APRIL 1, 2011

*If you have questions about this Crazy Idea, write to fledglingATkorvalDOTcom

*This is a preliminary count only. Do not sent shipping info to this address. See next point.

*Once we have a count, and assuming that count equals or exceeds 100 books, Uncle Hugo’s will set up a pre-order webpage. We will publish the URL of this webpage in all venues available to us, just like we’ve posted this InfoDumpling. You will have to go to this page and ACTUALLY ORDER your book(s). Your credit card will not be charged until your book has actually shipped.

*If the initial promise does not meet the 100 book mark, there will be no signed copies available.

*Signed copies of GHOST SHIP will not (that’s NOT) be available directly from Lee and Miller.

Phew.

Thanks so much for listening, and for your support of our work across the years.

Sharon and Steve