Though Gordon Dahlquist‘s debut THE GLASS BOOKS OF THE DREAM EATERS didn’t fare particularly well in the US, the opposite looks to be true in the UK, especially after a successful campaign of publishing the book in serial format. Now Penguin, the book’s UK publisher, came up with a twist on train and tube marketing by asking thirty people – including the author – to take copies of the book and meet at Paddington Station at 9.30 a.m. “We’re going to jump on the tube and do a bit of flash-mob reading in a carriage. Although we’re probably committing some kind of felony that the Anti-terror police will string us up for,” said publicist Colin Brush to UK SF Book News.
The online publication also is impressed by the look of the hardcover, which weighs in at a hefty 752 pages and is jacketed in glassy hi-gloss blue. “‘The jacket is extra glossy because we silk-screen printed onto ‘Staufen Gloss Clear PVC’ 140 micron. So, PVC, instead of the usual jacket paper,” said production editor Amanda Gordon. “Was it difficult to achieve? I’d say that it was a different process to our usual jacket printing, and took longer because of the different materials, but in principle I don’t think it was that difficult, just different.”