Publisher and always-readable genre commentator Tim Holman reveals the full scale of the change that is sweeping through fantasy in his blog The Publisher Files. A lot has been made of how fantasy book sales are booming, but it now seems that the vast proportion of this is down to urban fantasy. Definitions are always hard to come by when you get into the sewers of genre classification, but I think what we’re talking about here is the books of, say, Charlaine Harris, which are burning up the charts in the UK on the back of True Blood, as opposed to traditional fantasy in an urban setting.

Not only that, but the trend is increasing. With sales of urban fantasy rising, Tim makes the point that it’s only natural that publishers will follow the dollar/pound/euro/whatever and buy less epic fantasy and more of the thing that most readers want.

Genres always move in cycles. Stories get tired and readers get jaded as publishers heap on more of the same. But for me, urban fantasy is really the new horror – the successor to the Stephen King-fuelled horror boom of the eighties, and drawing in some of the same kind of readers who walked away when that cycle died.

Which does cast an interesting light on next year’s World Horror Convention. The convention seems completely to have ignored urban fantasy and opted for a celebration of horror that is rooted firmly in the distant past, if the guest of honour list is anything to go by. At the least it’s a missed opportunity. At the most it’s a comment on why horror is perceived as a dying genre by many in the industry.

I’ve been heartened by the US response to the publication of the Age of Misrule books. Here’s another erudite review.

The UK publication date for my new series, Swords of Albion - Elizabethan spies vs Faerie, in a nutshell – has just been announced by my publisher Bantam for April 2010. The book is now available for pre-order at the usual sites.

And a quick plea to all UK readers, please don’t order the US version, if you can possibly resist. The global market is causing a headache for publishers with staggered releases (it’s not always possible to align publication dates around the globe) – and if everyone orders the US version on import, my UK sales will tank and my editor will give me a good kicking.

The Age of Misrule Omnibus has sold out in the UK, although copies might still be available at retailer level. The Omnibus was always intended to be a short-term special edition, but the publisher was overwhelmed by the initial demand.

The story will still be available in the individual volumes – World’s End, Darkest Hour and Always Forever. World’s End has just gone into its fifth printing so there should be loads of copies around.

A quick heads up to anyone thinking of purchasing Lord of Silence, which has been getting some very nice reviews – don’t wait too long.

The publisher, Solaris, is up for sale, and even if the company is bought, the new owners don’t have the rights to Lord of Silence. Though I haven’t seen any figures, I have a sneaking suspicion the initial print run won’t have been huge as Solaris won’t want any spare books sitting in the warehouse when the new owners come in or the doors shut for good.

I’ve already had reports of quick sell-outs in US book stores. I don’t know how many books are left, but it’s worth stressing that – in the immediate future – this book won’t be permanently available like Age of Misrule.

Ages since I’ve written a short story and two announcements come along at once. Typical. I’m very proud to be included in a new anthology of superhero prose tales, With Great Power! which will be published by Pocket Books in 2010.

Award-winning editor Lou Anders has put together a great list of fellow contributors, a mix of leading comic book writers (including some personal favourites) and f/sf authors who are comics fans. Here’s the full list: Matthew Sturges, James Maxey, Paul Cornell, Mike Carey, Mike Baron, Daryl Gregory, Gail Simone, Stephen Baxter, Chris Roberson, Peter & Kathleen David, Joseph Mallozzi, Marjorie M Liu, Ian McDonald and Bill Willingham.

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m a long-time comics fan, like many authors within the genre, and I’ve had comics published by Image and Caliber. Superheroes – so big in the movies – really is an untapped genre in prose form, though, and all credit to Pocket Books for taking the leap into this new area.