Gollancz buy world rights to Matador title...

Matador announced that author Michael J. Ward has been offered a two-book deal after successfully self-publishing his game book The Legion of Shadow, the first in the DestinyQuest series, earlier this year.

Marcus Gipps, editor of Gollancz – the SF & Fantasy imprint of the Orion Publishing Group – has bought the world rights for the first two books in the series in a good five-figure deal, a move that was announced on 12th September 2011. Gollancz will republish The Legion of Shadow in May 2012 as a £14.99 trade paperback. It will feature the original self-published version, plus extra material and a brand new mini-adventure. The brand-new second book of the series, The Heart of Fire, will follow in November 2012.

DestinyQuest echoes the popular interactive game books that were a publishing sensation in the 1980s. Series such as Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy sold millions of copies and allowed readers to become directly involved in determining the path of the story, either by rolling a dice or by choosing the next actions of the character from a range of options.

"DestinyQuest has been a true labour of love so it thrills me to have this opportunity to take the books and the franchise to the next level,” says Michael, who spent 2 years on his game system.

The book, which was published in February 2o11, was an immediate success with gaming press and blogs nationwide, garnering an endorsement from GoreZone magazine, inclusion in SciFiNow and rafts of positive feedback from gaming websites like Fabled Lands, Fantasy Game Book and The Little Metal Dog Show. Over 1,800 copies of the book have been sold to date.

Ward joins a number of previously self-published authors, such as David Moody and Kit Berry, and he said he was looking forward to joining the list.

“I’m very grateful to everyone at Matador. I couldn’t have done this without them!” Mike says of his success.

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