New print deal: Three books with Del Rey

Scott Sigler signed a three-book deal with Ballantine Doubleday Dell to publish ALIVE

I’ve been hinting at an announcement for a few weeks now, and this is it: new print deal. I put out five books with Crown Publishing and loved both the process and the people. Tha Shiv was an excellent editor for my work. But, time marches on and it’s time to try something new. The books discussed below are YA, and Crown doesn’t do YA, so my agent went out and wrangled a new deal.

Executive Editor Mark Tavani at Ballantine Bantam Dell bought World Rights to a science fiction trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler. In the first book, ALIVE, a young woman awakes trapped in a confined space with no idea who she is or how she got there. She soon frees other young adults in the room and together they find that they are surrounded by the horrifying remains of a war long past … and matched against an enemy too horrible to imagine. Further adventures will follow in two more books, ALIGHT and AWAY. The books will be published under the Del Rey imprint. The deal was made by Byrd Leavell at Waxman Leavell. For rights information, please contact Denise Cronin at dcronin@randomhouse.com.

This is a big deal and adds to what @ARealGirl and I are doing with Empty Set Entertainment. Empty Set will be putting out the audiobooks for this trilogy. We’re pretty damn excited about the whole thing.

I’ve had a chance to talk to Mark Tavani on the phone, and I can’t wait to get to work with him. He also acquired and edited Justin Cronin’s THE PASSAGE trilogy, among many other books. He’s a made cat in the publishing industry. I travel to NYC next week to sit down with him and the Del Rey / Ballantine Bantam Dell team. We will be planning evil things together, as new partners do.

WHY DIDN’T YOU DO THESE BOOKS YOURSELF, ‘CAUSE SELF-PUBLISHING?
I’ll blog on that at a later time, after I’ve delivered GFL Book V to ARealGirl Herself. I simply don’t have time to break it down right now. In a nutshell, we already put out a lot of content on our own. ALIVE has a chance to be a big deal, and we thought it was a better fit with Big Publishing. I’m one of the “hybrid” authors out there, doing both self-pub and working with a major. Since I’m done with Crown (for now, at least), it’s good to keep a foot in both camps. Again, I’ll blog about it more later.

For now, I have to finish GFL V and deliver it for you Junkies, then get to work with Mark.

We do not have publication dates for the ALIVE trilogy at this time.

And, on a deeply personal note, Del Rey published the Anne McCaffrey DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN series, books that were hugely influential on my development as a writer. I love those books more than words can say. I know the publishing space is completely different now than it was then, but to have the words “DEL REY” on a spine of one of my books is going to be a “is it dusty in here?” moment. Different world than 1967, when DRAGONFLIGHT came out, but still, it is one of the things I dreamed about as a bespectacled, scrawny little kid making stories on my grampa’s old Royal typewriter.

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About The Author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler is probably stalking you right now, looking for a way to steal your soul and sell it at the local Five-And-Dime.

Comments

  2. v_quixotic

    More YA stuff?

    I thought you were a mean motha… er, melonfarmer.

    What happened to “… if you’re easily offended, turn it off now PUSSY!”

  3. Jonathan

    Hey Scott,

    Cogratulations on this deal. You’ve earned it.

    I noticed that Infected is on sale on Amazon and was wondering whether this version is identical to the audio one from podiobooks, as I would like to hop between audio and text.

  5. Amiko

    Not quite what I was expecting, Scott, but I’m happy that you are happy.

    Is The Crypt book two still on the list somewhere or is all hope lost with this one?
    If it won’t be out by the 10th anniversary of book one I will cry.

    1. scottsigler

      @Amiko: I’m happy, excited and optimistic that this is an ideal fit for the stories I’m telling. THE CRYPT Book II is in the works, as is EARTHCORE. We hope to have ALIVE and ALIGHT delivered to Del Rey on August 1, which might give us time to work on CRYPT 2 later this year.

      1. Michael Grace

        Dodged a bullet on the this one. Almost asked the same question, glad I decided to read though the tread. Would hate to bring the wrath of the FDO. Might spam block me or something….

        1. scottsigler

          @GeeRace: Don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking without you even saying it. Part of the Evil Powers™ kit I got at the Army/Navy Surplus store a few years ago (it was in a back roo, Waaaayyyyy in the back).

  6. Edward J. Cunningham

    I am sure you will tell us first thing, but when will ALIVE become available as a paper or digital book? I assume that the podcast audiobook will come out on this website sometime after it is published. (If I’m wrong, please correct me.)

    Anyway, congratulations! It sounds like it won’t be long before you will have to change your acronym from FDØ to either CDØ or PDØ. (That’s Current Dark Øverlord or Present Dark Øverlord.)

    1. scottsigler

      Edward: We don’t have a publication date, but a ballpark is June 2015 (hardcover and eBook). The podcast will probably start a month before the book hits stores.

  7. mkaz

    Will you be releasing this as your usual week by week podcast for free? (After Pandemic and GFL V, of course…)

  9. Steve Travis

    As we have no content knowledge right now, can we just call it the AAA Trilogy or Del Rey AAA Trilogy? I would just call it the Alive Trilogy, but we all know it will be high quality and AAA would refer to the quality as much as the titles.

    Anyway, good luck on your new venture. I look forward to adding three new Scott Sigler hardcovers to my bookshelf. You almost have an entire shelf to yourself at this point.

  10. Robert Wright

    All Hail the FDO

    Sire, I am a little confused here. If you could please share your wisdom with someone as unworthy as myself.

    Is the Book “Alive” also the book “Flier” you have talked about in the past? Or is “Flier” somewhere out there still being tossed around and this “Alive” book/series is something new?

    Just wondering.

    All Hail the FDO,

    Robert.

  11. brain_dead

    So this is the mysterious Flier? I’m happy you found another deal, I just hope Del Rey Puts out hard covers just as sexy as those from crown. any Idea when we can put in for a preorder?

  12. Shadygirl

    Congratulations Scott! This is well deserved. I can’t wait to read what you have come up with this time. We will have a set of these on CB’s book shelf!

  14. Todd Taylor

    Awesome! Sounds sick…kind of a Hunger Games meets The Walking Dead vibe…just kidding. I’m sure this series will surpass either of those! Congratulations! Can’t wait…though I must…what to do in the meantime…

  17. jokerdas

    THIS IS AWESOME!!!
    Partnering with Del Rey is HUGE! I mean, they put out some of my favorite authors (Piers Anthony {On a Pale Horse was the first full novel I ever read-Loved reading ever since}, Phillip K Dick, Anne McCaffrey, Harry Turtledove, HP Lovecraft). It only goes that they partner with the FDO! This is big!
    Congratulations Scott! I sense this YA trilogy will be spun gold, just like the rest! The premise of the story sounds fantastic! Looking forward to it!

  18. Tony Downs

    Congrats on the new deal!

    Will this trilogy fall into your normal timeline of the sigler-verse like other novels have? or will it be a separate timeline?

          1. mkaz

            From your link…

            “The two-word form is better only in a construction in which not is part of a set phrase, such as ‘not only … but (also)’: Paul can not only sing well, he also paints brilliantly .”

  19. Mark Zaricor

    Congrats Scott! I look forward to reading them.

    From your description, I’m hoping this is a series that I can get my daughter to read. She’s not into football, so I can’t even get her to look at the GFL series, but this sounds more up her alley.

  20. Mae

    This is so great Scott! I know this is beyond huge, and I really hope this opportunity is hugely successful for you. (((Giant hugs))) from Scott, Lexi, and me!

  21. Michael Grace

    Congratulations!!!

    As I look at the TOP SHELF of my bookcase, half full of Scott Sigler Novels, wearing my Kraken t-shirt, downloading my Scott Sigler e-books to my kindle. I can’t help but selfishly think I had a small part in this. Dang it!! I’m going to have to make room on the second shelf..

    Congratulations again!

    “The Detroit Lions are on a collision course with a NFL title. The only variable is time”

  22. Shirley Bruce

    Congrats Scott. It is a well deserved arrangement. I can’t wait to read them. It’s sounds apocalyptic, which I love. I also enjoyed the Passage so I’m stoked to see this new adventure in your life. Well done. 🙂

  26. Wilbur

    Hell yea, I think that the Horror trend needs more people like S.S. So many of these so called authors are really just retards…So where does this horror story take place? Perhaps in Gym class, or maybe the locker room? Hahahahahahahah.

    1. scottsigler

      @Wilbur: That’s part of the unfolding mystery of the book. All I can say now is that the characters don’t know what’s going on, so you won’t know, either. It’s written so that you feel like you are with them, discovering what they discover.

    2. Wilbur

      Sounds to me like the, “Bad Lieutenant”, might be involved in this one. Oh, and how did you get so good looking? Care to share any of your secrets?

    1. scottsigler

      @ExoticKali: ummmm … how about I say “no comment” about babies right now, and you get back to me after you read ALIVE? #CuttingOutTheMiddleMan #YouWillGetItLater

  29. Allen Sale

    I’m hooked from the start. The Passage and The Twelve are bug crushers. Not on Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive level but still, the publisher name cred alone is good stuff coming from an OJ perspective. You already have a voice talent in place so I won’t get my “Scott Brick reads Scott Sigler” dream fulfilled yet. maybe someday. This deserves a drink. Proud to be a fan and ready to see where this ride will take us. Bring it!

    1. scottsigler

      @AllanSale: Thanks! ALIVE isn’t a “bug crusher” by any means, it’s going to be pretty slim by my standards and downright anorexic compared to Brandon’s tomes. It’s too far out to project, but the audio will probably be Phil Gigante (@ARealGirl and I dig him a lot), or, possibly, me, depending on scheduling and availability.

    2. BigJohn

      Scott Brick reads Scott Sigler…wow. That would be so cool. His readings of James Ellroy’s staccato style suits Sigler’s similar style very well.