Retailers to get special editions of new Cassandra Clare

Simon & Schuster Children’s is creating special editions of the new Cassandra Clare novel for retailers, with hardbacks and paperbacks for both Waterstones and WH Smith.

Lady Midnight is the first book in The Dark Artifices series, a trilogy that is is part of the Shadowhunters series and a companion to six-book series The Mortal Instruments. It will be published in the UK on 8th March.

As well as the paperback edition (£12.99), S&S has printed a limited edition hardback for Waterstones [pictured], with a cover cloth and gold foil (£16.99). It includes extra content, written by Clare, and has already sold out on pre-order.

S&S has also created two royal paperback editions; one for Waterstones and one for WH Smith. The Waterstones paperback is sprayed a midnight blue colour, whilst the WH Smith version includes fan artwork. Both are priced at £12.99.

Jane Griffiths, senior commissioning editor for children's fiction, said: “All the retailers we talked to about Lady Midnight were so excited about a new series from Cassie that we wanted to be able to give each one something special for their customers. We know that Cassie’s fanbase are completely engaged with the Shadowhunters world and always looking for extra content that expands on Cassie’s fantastic novels, so every special edition offers the fans something unique to do just that.”

To promote the book S&S is bringing Cassandra Clare to the UK for a book tour in April.

Last month, US fantasy writer Sherrilyn Kenyon filed a lawsuit against Clare for allegedly copying elements of her Dark Hunter series. Clare’s lawyer later said Kenyon had a "basic misunderstanding of copyright law".