Rosemary Kirstein

…in the list of authors I posted a few posts back.

I have no explanation for the omssion, other than that I was in a rush, and about to hurry off to the DayJob.

Anyway, it’s not too late to add Jo Walton books to your gift-shopping list!

Seriously, I just bought the Kindle version of Among Others. Even though it’s not out yet. Because sometimes the Kindle version comes out first, and I don’t want to wait. As soon as it’s released, zing right on to my Kindle reader.

I’m probably in no danger of having bought something for myself that someone else has bought me for Christmas, because if they buy it for me, they’ll probably buy the hardcover. Which I would be happy to have.

Over in the comments, Jo Walton and Michael_gr reminded me of some issues that came up when The Steerswoman was first released.

One of which was: Market it as science fiction, or as fantasy?

I couldn’t help wondering, at that time: If people think it’s fantasy, then when those who prefer fantasy realize somewhere down the line that it’s realy science fiction, will they feel cheated? But on the other hand, if people assume it’s fantasy, those who prefer science fiction won’t even pick it up at all!

And won’t this totally screw my sales numbers?

It’s a good question to ask, all these years after the first release. I wonder how much effect that ambiguity did have…

But what happened was this: Del Rey came down on the side of “Market it as SF”:

cover art by Richard Hescox

(See the original on the Northern Arts website, here. Where it is for sale.)

And the British publisher, Pan, went for fantasy:

cover art by John Higgins

(See the version on Higgins’ website, where you’ll have to click it from a list on the left.)

When I asked Pan why they made that choice, they said that they believed that women would especially like the book, and “more women read fantasy”.

That’s what they said, folks.

Anyway, I like both covers, for different reasons.