Egmont plans new Minecraft titles

Egmont is to release two new Minecraft books this year, including the first fiction title in its tie-in roster.

The publisher will release Minecraft: The Survivors’ Book of Secrets in June (hardback, £5.99), and Minecraft: Exploded Builds: Medieval Fortress in October (hardback, £12.99).

The Survivors’ Book of Secrets, the first fictional Minecraft title (above), is said to contain the collective knowledge of the Survivors, “an underground group of Minecraft experts”.

Sue Allan, Egmont’s publishing director for brands and licensing, said the book contains “real insider information for dedicated fans”, including tips on what players should stock in their arsenal, how they should stalk enemies and how to beat opponents in hand-to-hand combat. It is aimed at the core Minecraft age group of eight plus, fans who are “desperate for more information, particularly insider information”.

Global brand director Eleanor Fletcher said Egmont started to write The Survivors’ Book as a non-fiction title, like all of its previous Minecraft publications, but decided that the first draft was “a bit dry . . . we needed a ‘master voice’”.

The second new title, Minecraft Exploded Builds: Medieval Fortress (right), is a guide to building a medieval castle, with information on how to build turrets, throne rooms and dungeons. Every build is illustrated with an “exploded” view, enabling readers to see which blocks have been used to make the structures.

The two books are Egmont’s first original Minecraft titles since 2014. Last year the game’s developer, Mojang, was bought by Microsoft for $2.5bn (£1.54bn). However, Fletcher said the takeover did not affect Egmont’s publishing plans. “We were already working with Microsoft on ‘Halo’ [Egmont has published two books based on the X-Box game “Halo”], so there were no problems,” she said.

“Coming up with a new Minecraft book takes time because of how closely Egmont works with Mojang,” she explained. “We sketch out ideas, then we have brainstorming ideas with Mojang in Sweden and will often come out with different ideas or new angles.”

The books are created by Egmont’s Minecraft team, led by senior editor Stephanie Milton, which creates illustrations based on builds within the game. They are then rigorously tested, both in-house and externally.

“Curating books of this quality takes longer than normal licensing publishing [because of the extensive testing that is necessary],” added Fletcher. “We have got a book planned for publication in 2017 that was mooted in the very first meeting with Mojang, back in 2013.”
Allan said: “We are very passionate about our Minecraft books. We are the only official publisher of Minecraft titles, so we have access to Mojang—that makes our publishing unique.”

Egmont has not yet finalised its marketing strategy for Minecraft, but plans for this year include an “exploded builds” tour, live events at gaming festivals, national press coverage and video and digital advertising. There will also be point-of-sale promotional material for retailers and library suppliers.

Egmont’s Minecraft series launched in 2013 with four handbooks: The Official Beginner’s Handbook, The Official Redstone Handbook, The Official Construction Handbook and The Official Combat Handbook. Blockopedia followed in December 2014.

Its most successful tie-in title in the UK was The Official Construction Handbook, which has sold 620,152 copies for £2.96m to date, according to Nielsen BookScan. Blockopedia is the second most valuable title, selling 187,070 copies for £2.86m, due to its high average selling price of £15.31. Total sales of the Minecraft books have topped eight million copies worldwide, according to Egmont.