The Library Of Lost Books: Krabat

My quest to track down a favourite book of my youth (as covered at some length yesterday) was one of the inspirations behind The Library of Lost Books.

The Library of Lost Books? That sounds quite intriguing Scott, tell us more.

It would be my pleasure.

During my six years at Waterstone's I kept a list of books that customers and booksellers were often asking for but which were, for one reason or another, out-of-print. I had some vague notion of finding a way to make the most popular titles available once more but that wasn't an easy thing for me to set up as a retailer.

Once I became a publisher I started looking into the idea more seriously and came up with a number of different ways of doing it, including a subscription model and a digital-only imprint, all of which I rejected. I just couldn't find a way to make it work.

Until now.

Will the backing of HarperCollins I have just launched The Library of Lost Books. This is an ebook and print-on-demand imprint that will, over the coming months and years, reissue some wonderful 'lost books' in the hope and expectation that they can find a readership.

Print-on-demand, for those who don't know, is a way of making books available without having to print thousands of them upfront and store them in a warehouse hoping for orders to arrive. POD technology enables you to print one copy at a time as and when someone places an order.

So, if you order a copy of one of the LoLB titles from Amazon it will be printed just for you, probably that day, and then be dispatched to you from either the printer or Amazon's warehouse. Same goes for any online retailer. If you are a bookshop and order some copies from HarperCollins as normal then stock will be printed for you and sent within a couple of days. Simple really.

POD books are pretty high quality. You can't get the fancy finishes - embossing/shiny bits - that you find on many paperbacks but apart from that there is little difference really. And it is the insides you are really bothered about anyway, I hope.

The series launches with four titles, the first of which is a new edition of The Satanic Mill, the book I waxed lyrical about yesterday. Only, it is now being published under its original German title of Krabat.

I have published many books over the past few years and am proud of each and every one of them but none means more to me personally than this one. The fact that I have been able to re-publish the favourite book of my childhood is a very big deal and I cannot wait to introduce it to a whole new audience.

At the time of writing you won't find many copies of Krabat in the shops but that will change if you go into your local and ask them to get one in. You will be able to order it online from most of the usual places - they may report a slightly longer wait than for a normal order but they should be able to provide it pretty quickly. Once a few people have ordered it they will soon make sure they keep it in stock, and even if they don't the whole POD system should ensure that readers aren't kept waiting too long.

Or you can bypass the whole print thing entirely by downloading it as an ebook. We have priced the Library of Lost Books digital editions at £2.99. A bargain. You can get Krabat on Kindle, iBooks and pretty much anywhere else that sells ebooks.

I think we have come up with a cracking cover for Krabat, one that really does Otfried Preussler's spooky novel justice, and I am sure that it will impress a whole new generation of readers. And don't just take my word for it, here's what Cornelia Funke, author of Inkheart, said about it:

"Krabat has been one of my favourite books as a child, one of those unforgettable stories you return to as a grown up to be equally enchanted once again. It is the kind of fantasy story that feels so real that you find the whole world in it."

I hope my posts over the last couple of days have tempted some of you to try out this amazing book. If you do order a copy then do please let me know what you think.

Comments

[Rob]

I'm loving this idea; The Library of Lost Books - how very 'Shadow of the Wind!' Any ideas where I can track down an epub or pdf for a Reader?

[Rob]

Never mind - got one! Am only just learning about e-books, sorry!

[Rob]

...or maybe not - I've been nailed by Waterstones's 'territorial restrictions' (I live in Holland). I thought the Net was designed to bring us all together! How difficult can it be to buy and download an e-book online?

Any suggestions? - I have a Sony Reader and live in mainland Europe. Discuss.

[Scott Pack]

Hello Rob,

Delighted that you are so keen to read it. Let's see if we can find a solution.

Is KoboBooks any good?

http://www.kobobooks.com/search/search.html?q=krabat&

Let us know, and perhaps my friends on here can help with suggestions as well.

[Rob]

Looks promising - I'll wait until I get home and d/l it straight onto my Mac. Will let you know...

[Mike French]

Brilliant idea - hope this does really well Scott :-)

[Caroline Smart]

Well done HC for backing your passion. I hope it proves a financial winner and means that lots more great titles can be dusted down and placed in the Library of Lost Books. It really is refreshing to see this type of publishing.

[PK Munroe]

Very good idea, and enjoyed yesterday's spooky story. Are you open to suggestions for other lost titles? If you can get the rights to the Uncle series of chidren's books by JP Martin, I'd bet these would do very well for you.

[Jo]

You are such a salesman. I've brought a copy and look forward to reading it. Now, if you could publish the Tim and the Hidden People series I'll love you forever.

[Rob]

Ok - thanks for the tip, Scott. Have successfully d/ld a copy. Will subject the book to the 'kids test' tomorrow. The current favourite in our house is Robert C.O'Brien's 'Mrs Frisby and the rats of Nimh' (or 'The secret of Nimh' as it was also published under.) That was one of my favourite books as a child also - isn't it great how great books are so timeless..?!

[Jane]

Fantastic notion. I wish you every success, I look forward to placing an order with you - Silent Spring anyone?

[Christiane]

I wonder if this is the old translation by Anthea Bell? Amazon should really mention the translator - it's an important piece of information.

[Kevin Quinn]

Excellent idea! Just downloaded Krabat via iBooks on my iPod Touch, and I'm enjoying it immensely! Thanks for the tip.

[Michael Beattie]

Thanks for making this book available in this form, it's such a classic. And Christiane, I think Anthea Bell's the only one to have translated it to English. -MB

[Greg M]

So, I was super excited when I saw this... and then I lost it because I am from the US and I currently am staying in Spain for a few months. I was really hoping I could download this to my Kindle (much searching brought me to this page) so I could read it on some of my lazy nights. You by chance have any suggestions of what I could do? :)

[jason]

http://postalbookproject2012.blogspot.co.uk/

Very similar project to the library of lost books.