The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance: Pre-orders are Open!
You may now descend on our store and place your pre-orders for Schlock Mercenary: The Scrapyard of Insufferable Arrogance. Yes, you may also order sketch editions. This is the fifth book in the series, and follows directly after The Blackness Between. You may also pre-order empty slipcases for your five Schlock books, and boxed sets of all five books, Schlock Mercenary: Munitions Canister I. For a limited time, you can even get a boxed set with a sketched Scrapyard in it.
I worked harder on this book than I did on any previous collection of Schlock. I recolored every last image, and have posted some examples of the recoloring. As always, I created a bonus story exclusive to the print collection. This time it's called "Hot Commodity," and it tells a little bit about how Schlock learned to invest his money.
If you want a numbered, customer-choice sketch edition of "Scrapyard" you should know that Sandra will only let me do 1000 of these. They cost an additional $10, and the form will let you select the character you want me to put in the back of your book on the blank sketch page.
The slipcase is a real treat. I've been wanting to do one of these since 2007, and when the folks who do my printing sent me the blank mock-up I was thrilled. It's similar in size to the slipcase for the new D&D4e books, but it's much heftier, made of dense 1/8" thick stock. We took a proof of the image they'll be using to wrap the box and did our best to wrap the blank box with it for some early photos. The fiddly-bit in those mock-ups? Totally included with your purchase.
If you want a complete boxed set, we can only make 500 of them. That's because we're down to our last 500 copies of Under New Management. Yes, we'll be reprinting that book eventually, but we're going to run all the way out first.
We get asked a lot of questions each time we open pre-orders. More and more of you are buying books for the first time with us, so I shall endeavor to answer some of these questions in advance.
Q: When will my order ship?
A: We take delivery of books and slip-cases during the week of May 18th. But then we need to build boxed sets, I need to sign and sketch books, print tens of thousands of dollars of postage, and we need to organize the shipping party. This process usually takes three weeks. We plan, therefore, to have your books in the mail on or before June 8th.
Q: What is a sketch edition?
A: The last page of each Schlock book is blank. For sketch editions we stamp a number (225/1000, for instance) on that page, and then I sketch a picture in Sharpie marker on it. And now your book is completely unique. Collectible, even.
Q: Can I pick my number?
A: Not this time, no. We did that at conventions last year, but it got... complicated.
Q: Will you sign my book for free?
A: All books are signed.
Q: How much does it cost to have you sketch in a book at a convention?
A: I sketch for free at conventions, but the books are not numbered. I figure it's the least I can do, since you've usually spent between $30 and $200 just to get in to the convention, and hey... you bought a book, too.
Q: When is the Book Launch Party?
A: Saturday evening, May 23rd, at CONduit XIX in Salt Lake City. I'm the Artist Guest of Honor, and they've graciously given me one of the meeting rooms for throwing this particular party.
Q: I have a question you didn't answer! OH NO!
A: Post it in the comments and we'll get to it. You can also email schlockmercenary at gmail.com if you've got specific questions about your order. Please be patient, though. We get a lot of questions in the first 36 hours or so, and Sandra answers them all individually.