Gentlemen Bastards 4 and 5 bought by Del Rey

[Brian G Turner]

Scott Lynch tweeted that Del Rey have bought the rights to the Gentlemen Bastards books 4 & 5:
https://twitter.com/scottlynch78/status/393436681870655488

Excuse my ignorance, but does this mean Lynch is, or is no longer, working with Gollancz?

Also, spidey sense tingles over the fact that Lynch has described this as a 7 book series - but does this mean no publisher has yet bought the rights to all 7 and that 6 and 7 are still up for grabs?

Am surprised if so, as thought he was a more popular author than that. Then again, I'm highly confused about the relationships between UK and USA publishing houses, so perhaps this is USA news only?

 

[thaddeus6th]

That would seem a bit weird, for the reasons you outline.

The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of the best books I've ever read. It does start a bit slowly, but the middle and end are fantastic.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I have the first two books in paperback (the US versions), and they were published by Bantam Spectra.

I know nothing beyond that. My guess would be that it is a USA thing only, but who knows. I'm with you on books 6 & 7 though. Why doesn't anyone have the rights to those? And if they just got the rights to 4 & 5, why not the remaining two?

 

[williamjm]

Scott Lynch tweeted that Del Rey have bought the rights to the Gentlemen Bastards books 4 & 5:
https://twitter.com/scottlynch78/status/393436681870655488

Excuse my ignorance, but does this mean Lynch is, or is no longer, working with Gollancz?

Also, spidey sense tingles over the fact that Lynch has described this as a 7 book series - but does this mean no publisher has yet bought the rights to all 7 and that 6 and 7 are still up for grabs?

Am surprised if so, as thought he was a more popular author than that. Then again, I'm highly confused about the relationships between UK and USA publishing houses, so perhaps this is USA news only?

He does say in the post you linked to that it's just the US rights so it won't change the UK rights. I don't know whether Gollancz have the UK rights for all the 7 proposed, but it wouldn't be too unusual for UK and US publishers to have bought rights for different numbers of books at different times.

I know nothing beyond that. My guess would be that it is a USA thing only, but who knows. I'm with you on books 6 & 7 though. Why doesn't anyone have the rights to those? And if they just got the rights to 4 & 5, why not the remaining two?

Presumably they're waiting to see how books 4 and 5 sell (or perhaps how fast they are written given the delays in the writing of book 3) before they decide to commit to paying him for 6 and 7.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Yep, spoke to an editor at Del Rey - they have 4 and 5 for the US. Gollancz continues the UK publishing. I never asked whether Gollancz have bought up to 7, but I seem to recall Scott Lynch telling me that his original contract was just for 3 books anyway, and he seemed mightily relieved to have finally completed it. I suspect he would rather not have the pressure of an additional 4 books under contract, and is trying to continue at his own pace, on the grounds that selling a book 6 and 7 shouldn't be hard so long the series continues as is.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Is there any word on an expected publication date for the next book?

 

[Brian G Turner]

Thorn of Emberlain? Not sure am afraid. I'll see if I can get Scott Lynch in to answer that directly.

 

[williamjm]

Is there any word on an expected publication date for the next book?

I've heard reports from a recent book signing that the book is progressing well and they're hoping for late 2014/early 2015, but given what happened with Republic of Thieves I think they're hesitant to commit to a particular date.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Great, thanks. Just wondering if there were any rumors flying around about it.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Is there any word on an expected publication date for the next book?

The date keeps being put back. Fingers crossed for 2017!