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This Kingdom Supports Indie Stores With Extras

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Happy Thursday!

Tor is dedicated to supporting the independent book stores. They are vital for the book community, and we all benefit is they flourish and stay in business.

To that end, Tor is offering preorder incentives to independent book stores.

Promotional images for the book stores showing an art print and a keychain.

How does this work: the independent book store signs up for promotion and receives 15 key chains and 15 art prints in addition to the hardcovers. If you preorder a hardcover from one of those stores, you get a keychain and an art print at no charge.

The art is by Candice Slater and it is beautiful.

Candice's art: a landscape showing the river with a medieval bridge over it, a magical city, and Maggie and a furry friend looking toward the reader. The colors are soft and warm, rich yellows and oranges.

You can’t zoom in on it, because the file is too large to upload, but it is stunning.

Close up of Maggie and a friend.

As you can see, these are gorgeous. But because the economy is slumping, it is understandable that some indie stores want to have enough preorders before they commit to the promotion.

We are trying to connect readers and bookstores.

If you are an independent book store participating or interested in this promotion, please post a comment on this post with your store’s name, address, and how people can preorder (website, etc.)

If you are a reader looking to get these extras, please check the comments for the store near you. Once we have enough, we will make a list of stores and post it on the website. We have a limited reach, so if you do not see your favorite on the list, give them a call. This kit is on Edelweiss and the Kit ISBN is 9781250438478.

Supplies are limited. This is not a hard sell. I’m not trying to create a sense of urgency. We get paid the same whether or not the readers takes advantage of this offer. It’s just Tor printed a set number of these, so once they are gone, they are gone. Please be aware.

In other news, we’ve received the arcane editions of HL and there will be a giveaway next week. So if you’ve missed out, we will be giving away one full set.

Itsy bitsy snippet from Maggie #2 in honor of the book stores and those of you who have ever done research in a library pre-computer datatabases.

Hazing

“My lady?”

I looked up from the ancient book and blinked a few times, trying to get my eyes to focus.

Luminary Korin stood in front of me, his face a picture of polite anticipation.

“Yes?”

“May I borrow a moment of your time?”

I straightened and winced at my aching back. I’d spent the last five days going through the Chronicler’s collection. The paper catalogue was a nightmare invented by a sadist. Everything was cross-referenced, nothing made sense, and just as I thought I was getting the hang of it, it threw me some kind of bizarre curveball. Trying to find anything was pure torture.

Lorekeeper Orso offered no help, and I suspected he enjoyed making me work for every crumb of knowledge. This was some kind of weird academic hazing, and I had no idea what I had done to deserve it.

I picked up one of the catalogue cards I’d copied and showed it to Korin. “Does this make any sense to you?”

He opened his mouth.

“Don’t you dare, Scholar heathen!” Orso’s voice rang out.

How did he even know? He was in the back room copying the decaying scrolls.

Korin gave me an apologetic glance. “Professional courtesy prevents me from aiding you in this matter. Our two Holy Orders are at once related and at odds. You might say we are siblings, and we must respect each other’s fences.”

Back to work for me and happy commenting to you.

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Comments

  6. I have not had the *pleasure* of searching by card. As long as I remember there had always been at least a primitive digital catalog 😆

    Thanks for the update – the art is beautiful!!

    Reply

  7. When I was getting my masters in Library Science one of my professors said, “there are two kinds of librarians- those who want to be a gate and “protect” the resources by making access limited and those who want to be guides and make resources accessible.” The conflict is real.

    Reply

  8. Yay for independent book stores!
    And does that mean that the Arcane Society editions are ready to ship to those of us who bought them? 👀

    Reply

    • According to Arcane, the box is being shipped in April 2026. Very confusing since when I ordered in October it initially said shipping was expected in November 2025…

      Reply

      • They corrected that to November, unless you were ordering additional items…but I would really ask them currently for update.

        Reply

      • Did you order the Penn Cole add-on at the same time? if you did, they will send both together to save on shipping. If want to change that, I would say email the help desk. They have always been good with me whenever I needed to change something.

        Reply

    • This is the US publisher endeavour, so yes.

      This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is published by Tor UK in the UK and the Commonwealth. We don’t yet have official details for their special surprises and events, but we will let you know as soon as we are allowed to share.

      Reply

      • Good to know this is US only. I was hoping for a UK store, their independent ones are really good when it comes to special stuff like this. Being in Germany, I can forget about anything but imports anyway.

        Reply

  11. Yay! I would love to preorder from an independent bookstore! So long as they are willing to ship (obviously, I’d pay shipping), I would rather order from them, instead of Amazon. I have no bookstores near me.

    I am refraining from asking about any of those special editions that may have been mentioned. The time will come soon enough, but I am really curious! 😄

    Thanks for the snippet and have a good day! 🤗

    Reply

  12. I sent this to my local indie bookstore. Hopefully, they will put their name in the comments.

    Indie bookstores are the best!

    Reply

  13. Yay! Giveaway! ^_^. Those old boxes of catalogue flip cards… if they ever got out of order or not put back… let’s just say: bless the Dewey decimal system.

    Reply

  17. I have a hardcover preorder in from B&N, but happy to re-order from Houston area bookstores: Blue Willow or Murder by the Book. I hope they are on the list.

    I’ve read the ARC but still need that beautiful hardcover! And the art!

    Thank you for Maggie 2!

    Reply

  18. As someone who researched pre-computer catalog, I can say my method worked well for me, and freaked out the library staff at my college, which was a win-win for “doing it my way” me!!
    – use the card catalog to find where the book section I needed was located.
    – find and pull the books from the shelf and sit on the floor directly by those shelves. Dragging books to a desk and then finding nothing useful was a waste of time.
    – startling other students and the library staff when they were not expecting someone sitting on the floor to do research – put the book back directly if it held no useful information, copy quote information and stack useful books next to me – gave me great (and dark) amusement.

    I would be interested in the list of indie bookstores! Hoping there are some near Chicago north suburbs! While I do like B & N for the fact that they are “brick and mortar”, and only order through Amazon when the writer gets the benefit of being an associate, I would like to support independent stores – shop local!! 📚

    Reply

    • I used to do that too, Jean. I almost got stepped on a time or two before the person realized that I was sitting on the floor. One time I sneezed and startled the person who was around the same area.

      Then my mom, the party pooper, suggested I get a table and bring the books to the table. She helped carried some of the books to the table.

      Reply

    • Yup, me too. There was something awesome about sitting there, literally surrounded by books. I do miss that now that I’m well out of school and the digital age has taken over.

      Reply

  20. I was just telling my husband earlier this week that I needed to preorder at my local independent bookstore. I just went on their website and ordered! Included the Kit ISBN just to make sure!!

    Reply

  22. Thank you for supporting indies!

    My store has the preorder kit ordered! Love Your Shelf, Bellingham, MA and we ship! The preorder is on the landing page of the website. I set up the preorder to choose the keychain or the print, as I had no idea how many orders I’d get and wanted to have something for everyone. If we have enough items everyone will get both items. So your order will get you your first choice but you may get both. Right now we are at 10 preorders.
    https://loveyourshelfusedbooks.square.site

    Reply

  23. Any chance the keychains and art prints might be offered through House Andrews? I know it’s a big ask, but…. preciousssss…..

    Reply

  25. I knew the Dewey Decimal system inside and out, now things are on the computer and, although I love technology, my brain revolts as it isn’t Dewey. I feel for the stories character.

    Reply

  26. Candice’s art is breathtaking. I love the the the light.

    I don’t miss card catalogues at all, same with microfiche, but I do like libraries and bookstores, there’s something so nice about finding new, interesting things.

    Reply

  29. Are there any indie stores in Canada that will have this? Or US stores that will ship it to Canada (or even a US forwarding address)?

    Reply

  30. Does anyone know what a ‘shelf talker’ is? All I can picture is a tiny little Mod R sitting on a shelf saying ‘this is a great book. Buy it. Buy copies for all your friends. You’ll love it’.

    But I’m sure she can’t be on every shelf at the same time all over the world? Can she?

    Reply

  31. As part of my university classes to become a librarian, I had to manually type catalog cards. There are so many things that had to be perfect… colons and semi-colons and periods. Fortunately, when I got to my first job, it was all on computers and I never had to make them. I remember searching the card catalog in high school and it was fascinating to me. Probably why I became a librarian.

    Reply

  33. My childhood library was an old Carnegie Library, now long gone sadly. My college library was an arcane maze with metal shelving that was 2 levels high and had tiny metal staircases to access the upper sections of the stacks. My late brother once told me he found a book of maps that dated back to the Revolutionary War. The library has been replaced and the new one is now over 40 years old! They both had card catalogs.

    Reply

    • It’s a folded piece of fancy paper that hangs down on the shelf to hopefully draw more eyes to a book or series. A staff review tucked in the shelves would also be a shelf-talker.

      Reply

  37. I am a retired librarian who did not love cataloging but one course (Dewey classification system) was required. Post employment as a reference librarian and director of a small academic library, we decided to do a full inventory which had not been done in ever. I learned so much about catalog cards while pulling cards for books which no longer were to be found. The tracings at the bottom of the cards included subject headings, additional authors, illustrators or other special notes all had separate cards in the subject catalog which also had to be withdrawn from the catalog in addition to author and title. Our collection used the Library of Congress subject headings. In attempting to find books on home renovations for a customer, I found them under “dwellings, care and maintenance of” as an example of the accurate but perhaps less than user friendly description. Also part of the cataloging was the physical description such as size of the book. I always wished it included color of the book since I had customers who would ask for the green book on stamps that I checked out before. Switching to an online catalog was wonderful to me but to a significant number of our customers, they mourned the loss of the physical catalog the feel of the cards, the spidery handwriting with added entries at the bottom of the cards, the smell of the paper. They had mastered the arcane knowledge of the catalog and they were saddened by its end.

    Reply

  38. Omg. Yes I remember doing my undergrad research with the card catalogue and annually updated indexes of the major journals. Since I also worked in the library, I also remember switching a lot of the older books from Dewey decimal to library of Congress coding and then updating that damned card catalog. And I was there long enough that I got hired between semesters to help create the computer database of our card catalog, too. On the university’s mainframe of course. I came back for grad school and left again about the time personal computers were really becoming useful. With their floppy disk drives and almost nonexistent memory hehehehe. At least grad school research was so much easier as there were major databases to search. And then hurry up and wait for your research to make it to you. I do not miss those days.

    Thanks for the neat snippet! I would happily preorder from Book People in Austin or Blue Willow in Houston.

    Reply

  41. I would love to take advantage of getting the special book and all the goodies. Hopefully Full Circle in OKC is on the list.

    Reply

  44. We’re getting a set in Nashua, NH at Balin Books. One note, though–if you want the swag, definitely mention it. We’re short-staffed (by the owner’s choice) and not all of our staff thinks to check.

    Reply

    • Order online at Balinbooks.com or call the store at 603-673-1734 (We have multiple phone numbers listed, but this is the one I have memorized.).

      Reply

  46. Love the snippet. William & Mary’s Library could be a nightmare for graduate students. Some floors were Dewey and some were Library of Congress. When I used the catalog, I had to note what filing system applied. The College was in the process of changing systems so that a book returned in one system would disappear for a while to be re-cataloged in the other. I loved that library anyway – yes, I am an English major.

    Reply

  48. As someone who not only used a card catalog for years and also helped convert it into a digital format I feel her pain.

    Thank you for the snippet and also supporting independent book stores as well as artists.

    Reply

    • It’s always cool to see how many librarians and library staffers post here. Remember using the old cards for years and years as scratch paper?

      Reply

  49. Hopefully an indie in Ohio will participate. My favorite is Book Bus Depot as their profits support books for local students. as an avid reader a bookstore who gives their profits to promote reading in their community will always have my support.

    Reply

    • Posted with the permission (and encouragement) of the owner Eileen who graciously got right on it when I asked if she could secure this kit for the BDH of Southern Oregon!

      Reply

  51. Thank you for the snippet. I remember how card catalogs smelled! And how they worked, too lol. Now that I just told the BDH my age, I am going to slink back to my ancient bog witch hut and reminiscence about the old days with my neighbor the cave man, we went to high school together👩‍🦳👵😆

    Reply

  52. I love this news letter. Many thanks for going this.
    Your books are wonderful and I have been reading and listening to them for years. They make travelling easier to do and when work gives you time when you do not need to think, it is an another adventure you can listen too. Many thanks to your books. I really enjoy them. I hope to read many more.

    Reply

  53. I already asked my favorite neighborhood Indie bookstore to preorder a copy for me. But I dont think we have 14 other IA fans around to justify the bundles. They sure do look pretty though 😍

    Reply

  54. Oh, do I ever remember the Dewy decimal system. I had to learn it when I was in high school (rural Missouri) and had to go to the library. What a pain in the rear. The card would say one thing, but the book wasn’t there since it was either checked out or put back wrong.

    When I went to college in St. Louis, the library was about to switch over from the Dewy decimal, but they had not gotten around to it until I graduated. It was always such an interesting time to wander around in a huge library trying to find history books and references for papers. Thank goodness the medical school library wasn’t part of the main campus library.

    I was so happy when I was getting my master’s and doctorate degrees that I could look up references online and print everything out. So much easier and faster to do than wandering around for hours looking for books and having to write everything down.

    The pain of the library old ways is very real for all of us in the BDH who went through it. 🧐😄📚📖📜

    Reply

    • Wash U? SLU? I’m from semi-rural Missouri, myself.

      I remember the pain of switching from Dewey Decimal to Library of Congress, too. I muchly prefer LC, but had nightmares retroconning (student worker). Then there was the joy of trying to explain to students what was where and why there were two systems.

      Then there were microfilm, microfiche, microcards and microprints. And they each took different readers and you couldn’t print and . . . and now you can. (If you have the equipment.)

      I did my doctorate in ancient history, which as I told my students, was loads of fun, but a suicidal career choice, so I ended up in library school just as online databases were coming out. (ERIC & ABI/Inform anyone?) I took course called Automated Reference, where the professor had us build a mini library database – and it had to work. Another nightmare, but I ended up as a killer searcher as a result.

      I ended my career running a university library’s reference & research department and negotiating the contracts for all our electronic resources plus associated stuff.

      And now there are discovery services like OneSearch and Summon, Google Scholar and AI.

      I keep a saying attributed to Solon of Athens pinned on my bulletin board: γηράσκω δ’ αἰεὶ πολλὰ διδασκόμενος – I grow old ever learning many things. (Not sure if the Greek will post or not. If it ends up gibberish, my apologies.)

      I’m always learning something new here, either from House Andrews, Mod R or the BDH. (Not to mention the books 🙂 )

      Reply

      • SLU grad here! 😁 Got my BA in History with the emphasis in early American history.

        I thought about going to Washington University, but I liked SLU’s campus better.

        Reply

  55. Greetings!

    The above snippet is titled Hazing and it says it’s from Maggie #2. Did I miss Maggie #1 ? Has The full Maggie book /This Kingdom will not Kill Me been released? I recently moved across the country and I’m still confused.

    Thanks!

    Reply

  57. For BHD-peoples in Western North Carolina. Both Highland Books (https://highlandbooksonline.com/) Malaprops in Asheville (https://malaprops.com/search?q=ilona%20andrews%20kingdom) have TKwnKm (Tinkle? Twinkie?) up as a preorder but not the kit. I have contacted both of them but will order from Highland Books, my local. If you are local, they are both charming stores full of delightful bookish people.

    I love Tor even more now. Thank you House Andrews for highlighting the opportunity and making it easy.

    j

    Reply

    • Oh, sorry. I’m not an indie store. This is just my favorite local indie. Got too excited and read too quickly. Misunderstood! Love this promo, but am gonna order from K&W whether or not they participate!

      Reply

  64. Ah yes, the joys of the paper card catalog…. There was only one that I truly enjoyed. Many decades ago when all genealogy research was on paper, microfilm and microfiche, a library in Belleville had volunteers create an index card catalog of all the names in many many years worth of newspapers and put them into old card catalog file cabinets. The joys of pulling the long long drawer out and then leafing through the index cards to a surname that you were looking for and finding the exact date to pull was so satisfying.

    Reply

  66. I’m happy to support a local independent bookstore. I haven’t seen anything posted from the Seattle, WA area, but I’ll check back. 🙂

    Reply

  67. ~130 days till Maggie. W*****itttting! 🙂 P*tiently sitting here thinking about what it will be like to live in her head.

    Reply

  69. The art is beautiful!

    Also, I have to thank you for mentioning a vinegaroon in previous post because now I know that there is a spider like scorpion that shoots vinegar out its butt …that’s it. My brain just stops there! 😅😂

    We have a great indie bookstore in Beverly MA attached to a coffee shop. I need to go by and verify they are still there!

    Reply

  71. Please, please can some Canadian Indie store ask to join this for the promotion. Lol (I’m hoping some store owners , purchasers will see this )
    I’m in Alberta….just saying

    Reply

  74. This is beautiful! Makes me wish my shop carries new books! (I’m co-owner of a second hand bookshop in Eureka, CA.)

    Reply

  76. Alpine TX! I keep threatening to move there because i’m tired of the big city. Y’all should visit- near Big Bend, Fort Davis+observatory, and has a university. I wasn’t going to order the book in paper but as an ebook but I’ll get a hold of Front Street Books pretty quick and see about a paper pre order.

    Reply

  77. I was already planning on getting a copy of this beforeseeingthe gorgeous extras, and have now been tasked with pre-ordering one for my mom as well! 😉 If the BDH is aware of an indie bookstore close to Nevada, I would love a recommendation.

    Reply

  79. I sent an email to my local independent bookstore here in Bellingham Washington! Hopefully they will opt in! If there are other Bellinghamsters on this blog, send an email to Village Books in Bellingham to help this along!

    Thanks for the snippet!

    I remember the days of trolling through the card catalog!

    Reply

  80. Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO has ordered the preorder kit and will have swag available for our first 15 preorders! You can order your copy at the link below- please indicate in the comments that you would like the preorder swag!

    Thank you to Ilona Andrews for supporting Indie Bookstores!

    Reply

  83. (sad) our indie bookstore became a indie record store and the proprietor died and its not even that any more.

    Reply

  84. Hi, I’m sure this had been asked and answered before but how can I order a hard copy in Australia? and is there any possibility of getting these promotional materials in Oz?

    Reply

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