StarWarp Concepts Joins Ebook Distributor Draft2Digital

Last year, major publishing news was made when it was announced that e-book distributor Draft2Digital had acquired competitor Smashwords and, over time, would migrate Smashwords’ client publishers into D2D’s ever-expanding stable, while also making Smashwords available to D2D’s clients as a new selling venue. (Smashwords now basically serves as D2D’s storefront.)

Well, good news, everyone—as of this month, StarWarp Concepts has joined the Draft2Digital family! In addition to our existing presence on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Smashwords, you’re now able to purchase SWC’s e-books through Everand (the subscription-app imprint of Scribd), Gardners (in the UK), Tolino (in Germany), and Vivlio (in France).

(Just a reminder: Our titles also remain available through e-tailers DriveThru Fiction and DriveThru Comics, as well as the SWC Store.)

And hey, all you librarians looking for quality books for your patrons! Our titles can be ordered through OverDrive, Baker & Taylor, Odilo, Bibliotheca, BorrowBox, Palace Marketplace, and hoopla.

Bonus news: In a couple of weeks, StarWarp Concepts will be participating in Smashwords’ annual Read an Ebook Week sale, running March 3–9, where you can purchase our titles at 25% off!

So, get to reading!

Price Changes for Pandora’s Print Titles

Last year, as book lovers may have heard, the ongoing global supply problem reached the publishing shores in the form of higher costs caused by paper shortages. That, in turn, meant every publishing company had to increase its prices even on titles already in print, and unfortunately that includes StarWarp Concepts and its backlist of Pandora Zwieback titles. 

So, here’s how things are shaking out, effective immediately:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 and Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2 have both shifted from $14.95 to $17.95 US and £14.95 UK, with European and Australian prices also adjusted. (We’ll also be adjusting the prices in the SWC webstore shortly.)

We’ve also had to remove The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 from bookstore sales and distribution, and make it a StarWarp Concepts exclusive, which means it’ll remain in print but be available only from our webstore and at the conventions attended by the SWC Crew (once we start getting back into those). Due to the fact it’s a 52-page full-color comic, its printing costs have become just too high to maintain wider availability.

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, just to remind you, features stories by yours truly and acclaimed writer Sholly Fisch (whose latest series, The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries, launched last week from DC Comics), and art by Eliseu Gouveia(The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, Carmilla), comic legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School). Cover art and color are provided by Henar Torinos (La Mala Estrella).

Of course, these changes don’t affect the prices or availability of the digital versions of the Pan books, or of the Pan Annual—those prices remain as is, and you’ll still be able to purchase and download them from online retailers (and from StarWarp Concepts, naturally).

I apologize for the bad news, but with prices going up everywhere, SWC has to change with the times if we want to stay in the publishing game—and we certainly do, considering the projects we have in the works!

Price Changes Coming for SWC Titles

Well, I suppose it was inevitable (like Thanos!) that the supply chain and printing paper availability problems that have been plaguing the world as much as the Covid pandemic would catch up to us at ’Warp Central. 

Starting late last year, StarWarp Concepts’ wholesaler, Ingram Content Group, and its printing arm, Lightning Source, began steadily increasing the prices of paper and production costs in the U.S. and abroad, and recently they informed us that our prices needed to be adjusted soon if we still wanted to be compensated for sales (and not wind up owning them money).

And so, in the coming weeks retail price changes will be going into effect for all SWC titles. E-book prices, however, are unaffected by this decision, and will remain as they are (unless the price of download fees suddenly goes up, too).

Sorry about the bad news, but in this topsy-turvy world these days, the old adage of “adapt or die” has never been truer—and since we have no plans of shutting down operations, “adapt” it is.

Thanks for understanding!