Orbit, a damned fine SF&F imprint, has had a record year, recording their highest sales since their inception in 1974 and taking a huge chunk of the UK SF&F books sales for 2006. Frankly I’m not surprised; I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with Orbit for many years and they consistently come across not only as savvy publishers with an enviable stable of writers – including Iain M Banks, Ken MacLeod, Charlie Stross and Juliet E McKenna – but as folks who are also into what they do, which is something I always appreciate in a publisher (hey, it’s why we love folks like Fantagraphics too – that enthusiasm is always apparent to fans and is, I suspect, part of the reason for their success). Trudi Canavan’s excellent fantasy novels Priestess of the White and Last of the Wilds were standouts for 2006 – as I noted here a few months back, both books charted in the top ten Times bestselling hardbacks. That’s for all hardbacks, not just SF&F, which makes it all the more impressive since that sort of ranking for SF&F writers is usually the preserve of the likes of Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman.
2007 is already shaping up to be a terrific year for Orbit’s many readers too – not only is this fine British publisher going international, they have some cracking books lining up, not least of which is one by a recent guest of the blog, Charlie Huston. Charlie’s first Joe Pitt novel, the superb Already Dead, will get its UK debut in February courtesy of Orbit (and thanks to them for helping put us in touch with Charlie for that interview) meaning both book and comics readers can enjoy Charlie (read both, I say). I know a certain Mike Carey has also been busy beavering away on his third Felix Castor novel for Orbit (I’ll be in book begging mode as soon as proofs for that are available, believe me) and one of the UK’s best SF writers, Ken MacLeod, has a new one coming up, which I’ve heard is stunning, even by Ken’s already high standards. So well done to the Orbit team and long may this strong showing for the best SF&F writing continue. How long before some more of these writers are snapped up for comics projects?
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