Little, Brown Books for Young Readers will release Stephenie Meyer’s first new title in almost two years–both in hardcover and a free online edition. Entitled The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, the novella will sell for $13.99 with a 1.5 million copy first printing.
The release from the author of the Twilight series will have two unusual features. First, $1 from every purchase will be donated to American Red Cross International for Haiti relief. Secondly, fans can read the entire book for free online from June 7 to July 5 at this site. At her personal page, Meyer explained how actors for the upcoming The Twilight Saga: Eclipse adaptation have already read the book–burning the copies after they finished reading.
Here’s more from the site: “Melissa (Rosenberg, the screenwriter) had a ton of questions about what exactly was going on in Seattle, how Victoria managed things, what Riley was like, etc. I let her read what I had then, and later gave the whole thing to the director, David Slade. David asked if Xavier, Bryce, and Jodelle (Riley, Victoria, and Bree) could read it as well, so all the parties involved would end up having a really strong foundation for their characters before the cameras started rolling. I was pleased that this side of the story would make it into the film and was looking forward to including it in the Guide (Keeping it confidential: [Pictured] is Jodelle next to the bucket of waterlogged ashes that were once the pages of her copy of the Bree manuscript.)”
Press release embedded after the jump.