Email from readers is always a pleasure
to receive. We enjoy responding
to inquiries and comments, and do so as diligently as possible, when
possible. Some questions are asked often and you'll find the answers posted
below. DUE TO THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EMAIL LEE
RECEIVES, please do him the favor of scrolling through this page before
sending an email. Your answer could very well be here.
What's the next Jack Reacher novel? When will it
become available?
PLAY DIRTY was the working title for what's now called NOTHING TO
LOSE. Here are the on-sale
dates:
UK, Europe and the Open Market: The Bantam UK hardcover of NOTHING
TO LOSE (the 12th
Jack Reacher novel) went on sale March 24, 2008; the mass-market paperback
of BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE
went on sale March 10, 2008.
Australia: The Bantam trade paperback (as large as a hardcover, but
with a soft cover) of
NOTHING TO LOSE and the mass-market paperback of BAD LUCK AND
TROUBLE go on sale April 1, 2008.
New Zealand: The Bantam trade paperback of NOTHING TO LOSE and
the mass-market paperback of
BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE go on sale April 4, 2008.
US and Canada: The Delacorte hardcover of NOTHING TO LOSE
goes on sale June 3, 2008;
the mass-market paperback of BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE went on sale March
25, 2008.
South Africa: The Bantam trade paperback of NOTHING TO LOSE
went on sale March 27, 2008, and the
mass-market paperback of BAD LUCK AND TROUBLE went on sale only a day
later, on March 28, 2008.
If you're wondering when the next Jack Reacher novel is coming to your
country, Lee's literary agency posts an
up-to-date list of foreign publications; just
click on the book jackets for details. There are no on-sale dates
(sorry), but at least you'll know what
publisher did or will publish each title.
To keep up-to-date on tours and novels, the best way is to sign up for The Reacher Report. These reports are
electronically published
on an irregular schedule (when we have breaking news, we'll get that to you
fast).
Should I read the Reacher novels in any particular
order?
Lee wrote the Reacher novels so you could start the series with any one of
them. Really. No fooling.
Our suggestion? Read them in the order Lee wrote them (they were published in that order, too).
We believe the prequel (The Enemy) has more emotional impact after you've gotten to know Reacher
a bit better. We numbered them
on the BOOKS page for your convenience. There's also a printable list of all books
available for download in PDF format and Word.
Why are some Reacher novels in first person narrative
and others in
third person narrative?
Lee says writing in first person is more natural for him. But writing
in third person gives him more freedom when building suspense. With
third person narrative, the suspense builds easily as the reader can
essentially see around corners and anticipate events about which
Reacher has no knowledge. With the first person narrative, the reader
can only know what Reacher knows. That's it in a nutshell. The
storyline dictates what narrative voice would suit best. Certainly, with
first person the story is more graphic and intimate as we're inside
Jack's head. So far in the series, Killing
Floor, Persuader, and The
Enemy are in first person narrative. Die Trying, Tripwire, Running
Blind/The Visitor, Echo
Burning, Without Fail, One Shot,
The Hard Way, Bad Luck and Trouble, and 2008's Nothing to Lose are in third person.
Why did Lee choose to make Reacher an ex-MP?
Lee wanted Reacher to be 1) suddenly downsized from something; 2)
suddenly adrift in a world he wasn't familiar with; 3) accustomed to
doing things in a rough-and-ready and very non-civilian way. So a
previous career in the Army made sense, because it would explain all of
the above. He made him an ex-MP because 1) he needed some forensic and
detective-type skills; and 2) the Navy Seal or Special Forces thing had
already been done. He made him an officer purely because he felt that
although an Army-insider might see an NCO or Warrant Officer type as a
more realistic choice, a higher rank might give Reacher better
networking capabilities when calling on old buddies for help. It's been
mentioned that Army personnel undergo the type of officer candidate
school training which eliminates the mavericks, but Lee was hoping
Reacher would be regarded as "the one that got away."
How does Lee do his research?
We have a handy answer to
this question from when Running Blind/The Visitor was released in 2000.
How many languages is Lee Child published in? How can
I find out if a Reacher novel is published in my language?
At last count, Lee is published in 43 countries and 30 languages worldwide.
Lee's literary agency posts an up-to-date list of foreign publications; just
click
on the book jackets for a list of all publishers.
Sorry, but the publication dates are not included on this page. Try
Googling for the publisher's website, which should have all the info on
which titles are available.
If you're a publisher and would like to inquire about rights to the Jack
Reacher novels, please
send an email to Madeleine
Buston at DarleyAnderson.com.
Jack Reacher in the movies?
This is our #2 frequently asked question (the first being "When's the next
book coming out?") A series of Reacher movies would be great, right?
Paramount Pictures holds the option on the Reacher novels and plans to
co-produce the movies with an impressive group of Hollywood notables. At
present, they haven't chosen which of the novels to make into a film first,
nor confirmed a director, nor any of the actors. When they do, we'll be the
first to let you know, right here. Whatever you read elsewhere, you can
ignore. If anyone has the scoop, it's Lee!
FYI, Lee figures that as long as Hollywood leaves the novel-writing to him,
he'll leave the movie-making to them so he won't be writing the screenplay
nor involved in choosing the cast, not even who plays Reacher. If you're an
actor hoping to score the lead role, please have your agent contact
Paramount Studios and, fingers crossed, we'll see you on the big screen
soon!
I'm a reader, writer, or reporter. How can I get in touch with Lee Child and/or Team
Reacher?
We delete any rude commentary, business propositions, and inappropriate
correspondence. We also have to
delete all email with extensive ideas for novels or which include whole or
parts of unpublished stories or novels (Why? See FAQ below). All other
email is forwarded to Lee. Due to Lee's writing and tour schedule it's not
always possible for him to respond which is why you'll hear from Webmaven
Maggie (Lee's jack of all trades). Lee will get back to you if time permits
but we hate to interrupt him when he's writing (because if we could only
convince him to write TWO books a year, we'd all be much happier!)
With hundreds of emails coming in each week, we do our best to reply in a
timely fashion and apologise in advance if the reply is tardy or, due to
overzealous spam-blockers and/or the mysteries of the ethernet, you never
receive a reply.
I have an idea for a novel. Can Lee read it/write
it/help me write
it?
If you have a great idea, you should write it yourself and reap the
reward. Please don't send any unpublished work or story ideas. Lee will
never see your email—his lawyer has sent us strict orders to cull any
such requests.
What's the best way to get my books signed?
The easiest way is to bring them to an event listed on the website
Appearances page.
If you can't make it to any of Lee's appearances, the second best way is to
request a signed bookplate
from Webmaven Maggie (please remember
to include your snail mail address).
Lastly, you can mail your books to Lee for signature and/or inscription. In
order for everything to work smoothly, IT IS EXTREMELY
IMPORTANT THAT YOU FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS!
A) Send an email to www@leechild.com with the quantity of
books you would like signed (to save time, please mention you've read these
instructions). Webmaven Maggie will check Lee's schedule to determine his
availability. We cannot accept packages without prior authorization; we get
many unsolicited packages and your books could be lost among them if they
were mailed and we weren't expecting them.
B) Send the book(s) in a package that contains
all the following: a
pre-stamped, self-contained and self-sealing re-mailer, for each
individual book, with your name as addressee and Lee's as return
address. Please do not put clear tape over the stamps as the USPS will
refuse them.
Please note:
In the US, the return-mailing envelope you include MUST have real
postage stamps on it, not a postage meter tape. The U.S. Postal Service
will not process a metered envelope unless it is mailed from the same
origination point as that of the postage meter tape. For example, if you
include a SASE with a pasted-on return postage meter tape from a post
office in Houston, Texas, we will have to pay for the return postage
because the local post office won't accept the tape as pre-payment. They
only acknowledge stamps. We do not keep stamps on hand, so please do it
this way.
In the UK and Europe (and all members of the Universal
Postal Union),
you can send "International Postage Coupons" for the exact cost of each
return shipment. While we know this works when sending books from the
UK, we suggest you check with your local post office to ensure that it
will work from your country. To determine the cost of return shipping,
visit the United States
Postal Service website and calculate
first class postage for each package to be return shipped.
Do not send a crate of books unless that same crate contains a SASE for
each of the books inside. We cannot re-mail boxes. We can't send books
C.O.D., Fedex or UPS, and we absolutely can't take checks or money orders
for
postage. If you want your package insured, that is your responsibility.
C) Finally: stick a piece of paper in each book
at the precise page you
want signed, and let us know if you would like an inscription. You're
welcome to request a specific inscription but given some of the requests
we've seen, Lee reserves the right to inscribe as he chooses.
How do I get my hands on Lee's autograph?
Autographs come two ways: a signed bookplate or an autographed 5" x 7" photo
of Lee. They're real signatures, not printed ones, rest assured. If you'd
like a photo (or a bookplate), just ask Webmaven Maggie and send her your mailing
address; she'll take care of everything.
Is Lee Child Lee Child's real name?
It isn't the name he was born with. He says, "The performers' unions I
belonged to in the past
demanded a name change if there was a danger of confusion with an
established personality.
As a consequence over the years I worked under three different names, and I
saw how it was
often a valuable psychological boost, you know, new job, new name, personal
reinvention,
maybe this time things will work out a little better."
And this time, things did work out a little better. Which begs the
question, what's real, anyway? "Maybe ten people in the world call me
by the name on my birth certificate. Sometimes I can barely remember
what it is. Ten million people call me Lee Child. That's more real to
me than government paperwork."
There's only a few reasons why this might happen. HOW IT WORKS:
We use a double opt-in system to compile our mailing list. Using the
link provided here, you can access our
mailing list form. Once you've filled out the fields, checked the "I
want to receive mailings from LeeChild.com" box, and clicked on the
button which reads "Join Now", you should automatically receive an email
from us. This email will include a link, and ask you to click
on it to confirm your registration. YOU MUST CLICK ON THIS LINK (or copy and
paste it into your browser),
or your email address will not be added to our mailing list. Using this
double
opt-in system assures your internet provider that our email is not SPAM.
If you do not receive an email from us asking you to confirm your
registration, then it's possible that you mistyped your
email address, or your Inbox is over its size limit, or your
spam blocker is bouncing our email. We know we're not a spammer,
but in this day of overzealous spam blockers, your ISP might not. We try
our best, but sometimes we just can't get through.
Set your internal spam blocker, or ask your ISP, to allow email from
LeeChild.com@mail.vresp.com and
LeeChild.com both. If you have a problem viewing images and links in
the newsletter once you get it, this will solve that problem, too.
The last reason why you might not have received The Reacher Report is
the simplest. Maybe we haven't sent one out since you joined our mailing
list? We publish The Reacher Report on an irregular schedule and don't
like to flood your Inbox with unnecessary notices. They're infrequent
but well worth the wait! Thanks for your patience.
