The Book is announced!

The Book is announced! 

Yes, I do mean my long-awaited book about Furahan wildlife; for me, this is not just a book, but 'The Book'. 

Before anyone becomes overexcited, let me start by saying that it is not available yet; you will probably have to wait until November to get your copy! 

The publishing process is advancing nicely and has now reached the stage where The Book is announced to booksellers. This means you can search for it on booksellers' websites, but it will not be mentioned in every country yet. Because Crowood Press, the publisher, is in the UK, UK sellers and sites are first to mention it. I recommend 'speculative biology furaha' as a search term to find it quickly. 

Mind you, the official price has not been settled yet, in spite of you may see! 

Here are the cover and accompanying text, with thanks to Dougal for the praise! 

 

Click to enlarge; copyright Gert van Dijk

"On the planet Furaha, Gert van Dijk creates a biosphere on a new world along with its solar system. Evolution on Furaha found solutions to life’s problems that remained unused on Earth. There are in-depth accounts of habitats where marshland mixotrophs use bioluminescence to catch animals, where four-sided radial cloakfishes swim in tropical waters and where tetrapters flitter through the air, using radial flight. With over 180 stunning illustrations, this is a book that all fans of science fiction, biology and science will enjoy, and that will inspire artists to think beyond the limitations of our own planet. 

 'Major works on speculative biology are rare but Furaha is a welcome addition to the genre and gives a well-considered account of life on another planet, along with stunning illustrations. This is a must-read book, which I heartily recommend.’ ~ Dougal Dixon The father of speculative zoology"

'The Book' has found a publisher!

Just a short update on the progress of The Book. 

When I discussed this subject matter last, in my August post, I wrote that I was making some progress with getting acceptable colours from Amazon's self-publishing programme. My conclusion at present is that printed lighter colours are quite reasonable, but that dark portions come out dull and lack detail. It turned out that I included more dark portions in my paintings than I was aware of, so many paintings became disappointingly lacklustre. Light colours were much closer to what I had in mind. I also saw some self-published Amazon books that I liked, but I was never really satisfied with how my own paintings looked. I therefore decided that I would try to find a suitable publishing company again. I therefore sent off a proposal, along with synopsis and sample images, as requested. 

Well, I am happy to say that I have signed a contract with a UK publisher! 

I will not say much more now but can add that books from this publisher are readily available internationally, including through firms such as Amazon. I can also add that the actual production of a book takes a lot of time, so the projected publishing date is the third quarter of 2025. 

I know, it’s a long wait, but it's not as long as it has taken me to produce The Book. Should you ever wish to produce a book yourself, my advice is to just write a text and NOT add over 180 illustrations. Anyway, I aim to produce two more posts about feet in this blog in 2024 (one, certainly); that should help a bit!