Results tagged “peter jackson”

I love books.

I love signed books.

I love signed books that make people money.

For almost a decade now I have run The Signed Page, a small online signed books business that suddenly is not so small. It has been great fun watching it grow; it has been more fun meeting people from all over the world who share my love for signed genre books. I have even met a few of them in person and all have been true enthusiasts.

For cover price, I feel I’ve helped build some pretty nice libraries out there!

Last week I received an email from one of my customers. She has been there from almost the beginning and has ordered dozens if not hundreds of the signed books that have graced the website. She is a voracious reader but she genuinely loves collecting. In the email she reminded me of a book she had purchased and how it has been a great book but also a great investment financially. It was a first printing book that took the fantasy genre by storm, had a low print run, and now is quite rare to find.

If you do find it, it is going for more than $200 on the low end and $500 plus on the high.

That signed book is The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

My customer asked me if I had any forthcoming events that could yield a similar outcome—the combination of great read and financial investment.

So it got me thinking: What books are coming out this fall that might be read, sit still on one’s shelf for a few years and yet make them money?

Here is what I came up with!

I returned from San Diego ComicCon so energy-depleted (in a good way, since I spent all that energy talking to people) that I’m still catching up on the news coming out of the con. Therefore I’m just hearing what director/producer Peter Jackson had to say about two Del Rey titles to which he’s connected on the film side. For those of you who think that publishing types have all the fun, consider that although I am the editor on both of these titles, not only wasn’t I invited to any of Mr. Jackson’s press conferences, I couldn’t even carve out any time away from the Del Rey booth to attend any of his public events.

Be that as it may, we’d be so, so happy to have either of these films reach the big screen. I honestly don’t know which one to root for. Therefore, no rooting shall occur. This is just to bring any of you up to date on what Mr. Jackson is planning regarding J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series, which involves fighting dragons serving as the aerial forces in the Napoleonic Wars. (Click on the above links to read stories from theonering.net and Empire, respectively.)

And if you’ve never read His Majesty’s Dragon, the first novel in Naomi’s series, it’s available as a free download on the Suvudu Free Book Library. Try it today—the offer ends on August 18.

All great things must come to an end.

At least that end is a week away—and you can prepare!

Suvudu has offered its Free Library since March 2009, allowing readers to download eBooks of some of the best books in the genre. For five months people could download them for free on a number of different platforms.

Now those books are returning to their authors and publishers and in a week they will drop off of the Free Library.

That means you have a week remaining to download these fine books:

• His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
• Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb
• Settling Accounts: Return Engagement by Harry Turtledove
• Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
• Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt

One week remains for free downloads of those great books.

So what are you waiting for?

Get downloadin’!

The second half of this year has been the one I’ve been waiting for at the movie theater.

And all because of books that I love being adapted to the silver screen!

First up, The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Yes, I am a sap for romantic drama and if this movie can be adapted right it will assuredly be a favorite. I also have a minor love affinity for actress Rachel McAdams so… there you have it. The movie comes out next week. Time to get a date, I guess!

Second, The Road.

Unbelievably written book, post-apocalyptic fiction. Has some of the best literary writing I’ve read and has a torturous tear-jerking ending. The movie stars Viggo Mortensen and will be out in October.

And lastly, The Lovely Bones

This is the one I a most looking forward to! It is the story of a young girl who is murdered and must watch her family cope with her loss as they try to discover her killer. Director Peter Jackson and his wife Fran tackled this adaptation, and undoubtedly they will put their signature great stamp on it. Plus, Jackson’s vision of Susie’s heaven should be a beautiful wonder to watch on the big screen.

Happily, Jackson just released the first trailer for The Lovely Bones! Watch it HERE!

A warning: The trailer has a great deal of spoiler scenes in it.

What are you looking forward to?

Comic Con is many things, but it is definitely one large information dump of fresh news on the public!

Sometimes it isn’t even intended to be.

When I visited at the Random House booth a few days ago, I tried to take in all of their forthcoming titles. The publisher posts giant posters of their new and soon to be published novels and they are spread over a large set of booths that dazzles the eye. It is very cool to watch people slow as they make their way through the Random House aisle, their eyes gazing at new prospective reads.

Usually there are one or two posters that really stand out. This year it was the cover above.

In October 2009, Random House is publishing a hardcover omnibus containing His Majesty’s Dragon, Throne of Jade and Black Powder War by Naomi Novik. The books have only been released in the US as mass market paperbacks, so it was time they got the hardcover treatment that Victory of Eagles received. The cover of the book is, in my opinion, absolutely stunning!

What do you think?

In other news, director Peter Jackson spoke at Comic Con last night and mentioned that once The Hobbit films are finished he will be taking another closer look at His Majesty’s Dragon as a feature film adaptation.

Peter Jackson. Directing a Naomi Novik tale. With flying dragons.

How can that get more awesome??

Make the movies, Peter!

Comic Con is the coolest place on Earth today.

And Middle Earth, for that matter!

I just partook in the 2009 San Diego Comic Con The Hobbit panel. I arrived early, as last year I arrived with five minutes left and the room was already full. Even forty minutes early to the room and with the masses still trying to enter the convention, the room was almost full.

Anything related to the forthcoming The Hobbit movie is incredibly popular, even on this second day of the con.

So, who was there?

TheOneRing.net put the panel on. Most of the information they shared they termed “speculative,” although the twinkle in their eyes spoke volumes at times. Keith Stern, the webmaster for Sean Astin, Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis, was also present, bringing private messages from Ian and Andy to the room. And as a special guest, the fantastic Richard Taylor, who owns and runs the Weta Workshop responsible for Peter Jackson’s CGI and creature design needs, came to tease the crowd with creative news from their studio.

So, what did those illustrious panelist have to say?

What secret information did they have?

The Fellowship of the Ring was a juggernaut, even before it was released in theaters—for many not very obvious reasons.

When I heard a movie adaptation of Tolkien’s epic work would be coming to a theater in three massive installments, there were several scenes I truly looked forward to viewing on the silver screen.

Above all scenes, however, was the Last March of the Ents found in chapter Treebeard.

I can’t explain why. It probably has something to do with growing up at the base of Mt. St. Helens in Washington State, out in the craggy mountain wilderness where Old Growth trees of various species more than five hundred years old still exist, their limbs gnarled and ancient, their boughs bearing streamers of rich dark moss. Even in a minor breeze the trees appear to move, made more alive than the forest around them. The Ents to me represent all that is good and clean where I grew up, all that is good and clean in the world.

When I first read Lord of the Rings I had just moved to Seattle for college. It was then I first encountered the Ents. Having seen the big city in all of its concrete and cold grey glory, I had a new appreciation for the plight of the trees. I discovered I missed the trees of my youth, still do if truth be told, and the Ents reminded me how wild and wonderful nature can be.

So when the Ents go to war against Isengard, there is just something about pissed off trees wreaking havoc against the establishment that appealed to my sense of cinema—and right and wrong.

Pissed off trees. Gotta love it!

From the moment the Fellowship of the Ring teaser trailer was released—revealing the fellowship led by Gandalf cresting a hilltop en route to Mordor—it was apparent the vast marketing potential the movie held. It had wizards, warriors, dwarves, elves, hobbits and so much more. George Lucas pioneered merchandising in the late 70’s and 80’s, proving money could be made outside of ticket sales, and like Star Wars, the Lord of the Rings movies had a diverse world to draw from and capitalize on in various marketing fronts.

Out of the numerous merchandising licenses New Line Cinema sold, Sideshow Collectibles piqued my curiosity right from the start. It proved, before Fellowship was even released, that it would succeed through quality and beautiful renditions of the movie’s characters. After all, the Lord of the Rings has been around for decades, its readership vast not only in age but in economic means, and Sideshow Collectibles hoped to capture that huge fan base. People were going to want well done figurines and statues to place in homes and workspaces. To miss out on all of that potential would be folly. Sideshow Collectibles rose to the challenge, crafting beautifully detailed polystone statues, toy figures, busts, masks, coins and so much more.

All but one facet from the movies—the Ents!

Sideshow Collectibles created a Treebeard bust. It was a large bust, standing more than a foot tall. But it’s not what I am looking for. Not exactly. I want Treebeard from the roots of his feet to the moss of his head, in respective size to the other polystone figures in the series. With the growing current political and cultural emphasis on being “green” and trying to make the world we live in more environmental friendly, I would imagine there would be a growing desire to have an Ent statue representing how we should be treating our world.

I think we all should get a polystone treatment of Treebeard. Or Leaflock. Or Skinbark. Or Quickbeam. Or any of the others! Maybe holding a boulder or crushing an orc or carrying Merry and Pippin. I want the birch and beech, oak and fir, chestnut and ash, the rowan and the linden. Bring them all out of the forest and into my living room!

So, a challenge to Sideshow Collectibles! Release the Ents!

After all, a wizard should know better!

It’s been over a year since Peter Jackson optioned the rights from author Naomi Novik and publisher Del Rey to create live-action movies based on the Temeraire novels. At the time only three novels were written and since then Novik has written two more.

Peter Jackson didn’t wait. He has now optioned Empire of Ivory and Victory of Eagles! Now we just need Jackson to finish his adaptation of The Lovely Bones and get on with creating real dragons on the silver screen! Can’t wait!