BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!

Phantom by Susan Kay

FORT LAUDERDALE,  AUGUST 2005:  Used paperbacks have been going on eBay for as much as $100 and hardcovers for $600.  A small army of 2400 fans has signed an online petition to put the former award-winning bestseller back into print, and a new Phantom of the Opera movie has been released. It’s a wonder that Bantam/Dell didn’t put $600, 2400 fans, and $153 million in box office receipts together and reprint Susan Kay’s Phantom when they had the chance. Deborah Greenspan, publisher of Llumina Press and a Kay fan herself, acquired the rights as soon as she found they were available. Inspired by the character of the Phantom and the realization that twenty million new “phans” might now want to know more about him, Deborah concluded that Kay’s book has a future as well as a past.   

The Phantom, as originally created by Gaston Leroux, often left the reader with more questions than answers. What kind of mother would mask her own child? Was the Phantom really a genius? Did Christine love him, or was she enslaved by him? Because it answers these questions and more, Kay’s Phantom sold over 80,000 copies in hardcover and over 600,000 in trade and paperback versions when first printed in the 1990s. Besides English language versions, Phantom was published in German, Japanese, Czech, Spanish, Danish, Dutch and Swedish. The original publishers were Transworld (in the UK), Random House, and Bantam/Doubleday/ Dell.  The novel won the prestigious British Romantic Novel of Year in 1991.

The popularity of Kay’s Phantom has never waned. In 2003, it was number one on Bookfinder.com’s out of print “bestseller list” for fiction.  Most libraries have lost their copies either to readers who can’t bear to part with the one in their possession or to “entrepreneurs” who steal the books from libraries so they can auction them off for exorbitant prices on the internet. There were so many complaints about this on the “phan” sites, that Liz McKendry was inspired to start an online petition to get the book back into print. When asked how she feels now that Phantom is going to be republished, her answer was emphatic: “I am THRILLED. I'm excited to finally own a copy and excited for everyone who will FINALLY get a chance to read it. I hope it sells like crazy and continues to stay widely available….It was tragically beautiful.”

Publisher's Weekly called Phantom "a powerful and moving tour de force . . ." and said that Kay "adds a new depth and perspective, moving well beyond the familiar boundaries of the story….Haunting and unforgettable, this is a book to be savored, a sensual and often poetic exploration of a man's internal conflict between good and evil and of a search for love amidst darkness and despair…"

Now, having acquired U.S., U.K., and Canadian rights to the story, Llumina Press has created a new imprint—Llumina Stars—and is moving fast to get this book into print.  For now, readers can reserve a copy from the first print run by pre-ordering the book on the Llumina site at www.llumina.com/Phantom.htm.    

Get your own book published at www.llumina.com.