Robert Reginald (Michael Burgess)--News & Notes, August 2006

Dear Colleagues, Friends, & Fans:

It's been a busy couple of months. The Wildside Press/Amazon.com reprint project has taken up most of my time, but I do have a few new items to report.

Viva California!, my 106th book, should finally appear later this next month. This is an original anthology of seven previously uncollected historical accounts from 19th-century California, co-edited with Mary. Wildside is doing the honors--and thanks, Sean, for the cover design.

The Phantom's Phantom, a mystery set in Southern California in 1953, is now listed on Amazon.com for December publication. This is another Wildside book. Muchas gracias to John Betancourt.

Quaestiones, my third Nova Europa fantasy, was favorably reviewed in the July/August 2006 issue of Analog, and Trilobite Dreams, my short autobiography, was covered in the Sept. issue. Both of these were published by Ariadne Press in 2005 and '06, respectively. Thanks for the kind words, Tom Easton, and blessings also to Jorun Johns, my publisher.

Mary and I will be attending WorldCon in Anaheim, but only on the afternoon of Aug. 26th, at the Wildside Press table in the Dealers' Room. If you're there, please drop by to say hello. I'm the one with the hoary mien.

WILDSIDE PRESS/AMAZON.COM BOOKSURGE PROJECT

And now for a few words about this ongoing reprint program. We've gathered over a thousand titles thus far, about half of them public-domain reprints, and the first shipment was sent by Wildside to Amazon.com about a month ago. We're still waiting word on how long it takes them to process these materials. Stay tuned for future announcements!

The Project has now been extended into 2007. I'm handling the volumes that require clearance of rights, subject, of course, to John's ultimate approval. I'm also formatting e-texts for publication, and have begun preparing the front matter for both the print and electronic volumes that I submit. All of the books will be published under the Borgo Press imprint.

The program remains primarily a reprint one, with occasional originals to keep things interesting. I'm looking to acquire rights to any Borgo Press or Starmont House books that were either published or scheduled by those companies, plus the OP backlists of established fiction and nonfiction writers of any genre. While I strongly support new authors, this project is not intended as an entrance into the Halls of High Literature. 

Thanks to everyone for their support. If you have questions about the Project, please bug me and not John, and I'll try to get answers for you.

All best:

Robert Reginald
(Prof. Emer. Michael Burgess)
909-496-1162
www.millefleurs.tv