Founded in 1974, Orbit UK is a British publisher of Science Fiction and Fantasy, producing upwards of 80 titles per year. Their sister imprint, Orbit US, was established in 2007, and currently publishes approximately 40 titles per year.
From their website:
“We are committed to attracting more readers to Science Fiction and Fantasy. Whether you’re an existing SFF reader, read it in the past and have given up, or never read it before, if you love imaginative fiction, you’re in the right place.”
With the use of high quality paper, eye-catching artwork and interest-piquing titles, I believe they are well on their way to meeting that goal. And here’s what I really love – they publish quickly. A prime example of this is the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks. The first volume, The Way of Shadows, was published in October of 2008, quickly followed by Shadow’s Edge in November, and Beyond the Shadows in December. This is a great marketing strategy, and one that was nearly unheard of in the industry prior to 3 years ago. Not only does it mean keeping a new author prominent on the shelves and fresh in readers’ minds, but shorter wait times between installments. Everyone wins! (Note: Not all Orbit titles are published this quickly, but you generally don’t have to wait long – a few months, as opposed to a year or longer).
While browsing through the Orbit US Publishing Schedule, I came across some exciting titles set for publication later this year (These dates may change). Synopses for each of the novels listed below can be found here.
The Poison Throne & The Crowded Shadows – Celine Kiernan
April, 2010 July, 2010
Lord of the Changing Winds & Land of the Burning Sands – Rachel Neumeier
May, 2010 June, 2010
The Bone Palace – Amanda Downum (follow-up to The Drowning City, published September, 2009)
August, 2010
And finally, The Black Prism – Brent Weeks
August, 2010
To learn more about this publisher, view Publishing Schedules for the UK, US and Australia, and read extracts of upcoming titles, visit the Orbit Books website.
