Brian Keene Unveils His Small Press MAELSTROM

The downturn in the economy and significant shift of consumer interest to electronic readers has caused even mass market publishers to reorganize their business strategy. Most notable was Dorchester Publishing’s announcement to drop their mass market paperback line to focus exclusively on e-books and print-on-demand leaving many readers wondering what would happen to their favorite authors. The $7.99 price tag of Dorchester’s Leisure line made it affordable to pick up titles from less familiar authors while the $40-range trade paperbacks were reserved for the books we want to collect. Now, readers will have to chose between going digital or being more selective in their purchases, or perhaps a little bit of both. Enter Maelstrom, Brian Keene’s new line at Thunderstorm Books.

Although Maelstrom is aimed at the small press collectible market and will be priced at a salty $125, Brian Keene will make it well worth every penny. Maelstrom will publish books in sets of three, so that puts each book in the comfortable $40-45 range you find for many TPB. The first set will have a limited run of 250 copies making them highly collectible and all three volumes feature original artwork by Russell Dickerson. Not only will you get a novel and novella by Brian Keene, but also a novel by a new author endorsed by Keene himself. You’ll be able to purchase a name you know and trust, but also find a new author you may not have heard of yet.  Again, Keene is including many bells and whistles to make this an investment worth making, so this should appeal to his hardcore fans as well as new.

Find out all the details at Brian Keene’s website.

The first three-book set will be available for pre-order October 1st and are expected to sell out very quickly!