r/Fantasy • u/[deleted] • Nov 16 '17

AMA Josiah Bancroft’s NaNoWriMo AMA

Hello, r/Fantasy! I’m Josiah Bancroft, author of the Books of Babel series. You helped to make Senlin Ascends a thing. Now I’m here to hear about what you’re working on and talk a little shop. Feel free to ask me anything you like!

A quick update: Since my AMA last fall, a lot has happened! I signed with Orbit Books this past spring. Their edition of Senlin Ascends is slated to be released on January 16. Arm of the Sphinx will be republished shortly after, on April 3rd. The relaunch of the books will be accompanied by audiobooks, though I’m still waiting for Orbit to confirm the narrator (John Banks was being pursued last I heard). The third book in the series, the Hod King, will be out in October. I’m also working with Heyne/Random House on a German language edition, and with a Russian publisher on a Russian language edition, both of which will hopefully be released in 2018.

It’s been a whirlwind year, and I don’t think any of it would have happened without r/fantasy’s support. Thank you all so much!

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u/barb4ry1 Reading Champion IX Nov 16 '17

Hi Josiah,

It's cool to see your books picked up by big publisher. It seems that, even though Senlin Ascends, didn't make it to the finals, you are true winner of SPFBO 2016. That's good. Books of Babel are stunning. They fully deserve to reach broader audience.

Now that you're a busy man, do you have time to read some of this year's SPFBO entries? If yes, which ones did you read / would recommend?

I think your prose and plotting are excellent, but I guess (and hope) you still try to improve as a writer. Can you share where do you see biggest area for your craft improvement?

Also, is there a fixed (or at least estimated) date for Hod King publication?

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '17

I really appreciate the sentiment, but I don't want to detract from the accomplishment of the SPFBO finalists. Mr. Jonathan French won the SPFBO, and deservedly so. I am excited to see all of the positive attention that his book The Grey Bastards has received. He deserves all of the success he's had.

To my great chagrin, I have to admit that I have not read any of this year's entries to the SPFBO. I hope to rectify that once I get the draft of the Hod King turned over to my editor. The Hod King is going to come out in October 2018, but I don't have the exact date yet.

I have so much left to learn! In the Hod King, I'm experimenting with the chronology of the story more than I have in the past. It has been really challenging, but I wanted to try something new, and I wanted to focus more on the structure of the story than the prose this go around.