NEWS | Neil Gaiman Signs 5 Book Deal + New Sandman!

The biggest news from Comic Con so far is that Neil Gaiman will be penning what a Sandman Zero volume for Vertigo to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Sandman. I personally refuse to call it Before Sandman. Check out the below video for more details.

Publisher's Weekly is reporting that Neil Gaiman has just signed a new contract with his long-time publisher HarperCollins for 3 novels and 2 picture books. Here's a bit form PW:

Both picture books will feature a new character created by Gaiman, a little panda named Chu, that is known for having an outsized sneeze. The first book, Chu's Day, will be illustrated by Adam Rex; it is set for January 8, 2013.

The other three titles in the deal will include a middle-grade novel called Fortunately, the Milk, which will feature art by Skottie Young and which HC calls "an ode to the pleasure and wonders of storytelling itself." Gaiman will also write a sequel to the 2009 book Odd and the Frost Giants (also published by HC), which features characters from Norse mythology. The third novel in the deal will be a middle grade book, and is currently untitled.

Also, Gaiman recently discussed the novel he just finished:

On the plane to the UK I finished writing the new novel. I'm not sure right now if it's going to be called Lettie Hempstock's Ocean or not. I think it's a good book - or at least, I think it's a real book, and I'm proud of it, and whether it's good or not will be up to other people to judge. Despite the protagonist being about 7 years old for most of the novel, it's a book for adults. Or at least, I think it is.

Whether this is the aforementioned Fortunately, the Milk under a new title or not isn't entirely clear since he above says the book is meant for adults, but given Gaiman's popularity with the younger generations it could go either way depend on how his publisher seek to position it. Lettie could also be the yet untitled book as has mention the title isn't necessary final yet. No release dates have been given for the new novels, but I'd bet on Fall 2013 or possibly Summer.


I'm certainly up for more adventures of Odd, which was originally going to come out a year or two ago. The best news would have been on the sequel to American Gods, which Gaiman admitted he was originally trying to write before Lettie Hempstock took things over. Some day we'll get more shadow.

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