A website is being initiated (www.zartarbia.com) to coincide with the launch of the first book. The site will contain information, games, downloads, and a rather interesting competition – the prize is a semi-precious Locket of Fire and Water produced by Swarovski. Only two of these lockets will be made, one for the competition and one for Swarovski to display at their collector events. This prize, valued at several thousand pounds, is likely to be extremely popular with Swarokski collectors, book collectors and children alike. If you’re not lucky enough to win the coveted first prize, there are 100 second prizes of limited edition hardback book up for grabs. The hardback book will contain a collection of the illustrations from the first novel, but this time in full colour. Each of these limited edition hardbacks will be hand signed by the author.

There will actually be a total of 200 of the colour illustration hardback books produced. The second 100 will be used by the publisher as couresy copies, primarily for the author’s friends & family. However, I have been fortunate enough to secure a courtesy copy, which will be offered as an exclusive Book & Magazine Collector competition prize in a future issue of the magazine. With such a small print run, and the fact that the only copies available to the general public will be via these two competitions, the hardback book is set to become a highly desirable item.

We’ve been given special permission to print this article prior to the book’s official launch.

The real scoop for Book and Magazine Collector is that the first print of Isabella Zophie and Le Cirque de Magique has yet to be released! Indeed, Book and Magazine Collector has been given special authorisation to print this article prior to the October 1 st public announcement of the book. The first of the series will be officially launched in the author’s adopted homeland of Spain on October 9 th. The Spanish launch will use the English version of the novel, as the event is primarily aimed at the expatriate community. The UK launch will follow on October 23 rd.

Posters, postcards, and bookmarks are being produced to encourage young readers to make a purchase. These will no doubt also be popular with older readers hoping to compile a complete Isabella Zophie collection. The publisher has advised me that there will be a number of signing events following the UK launch, although details are still to be confirmed at the time of writing.

The second book in the series is due for release in spring 2005, with the remaining books being released at approximately six month intervals. The relatively quick-fire release of the subsequent titles should maintain interest in the series from both young and old. Although I’m not at liberty to mention specifics, I can divulge that Pen Press has other interesting cross-collector promotional items planned for future books.

There has been a glut of self-published children’s novels recently. Not all of these have made the grade, and a number have rapidly faded in terms of collector interest. The Zartarbia Tales, however, certainly has all the ingredients of becoming a highly collectable series. The competition is likely to generate a large amount of initial interest. The fact that the print runs of the review, first print and limited edition hardback copies are so small, is likely to result in a large amount of collector interest in each of these versions. The series has already attracted the attention of an undisclosed Hollywood Producer, resulting in the author producing a screen treatment of the first book. Whether any major publishers will express an interest in the sequence remains to be seen, but with the first print being available at £5.99, for once, you don’t have much to lose.

Stewart Webb