Here is the final cover for ELEPHANTS IN THE NEWS, very similar to that used in the mock-up shown to the publisher back in 2005, when the working title was “Pachyderms in Limerick”.
In a classic good news/bad news situation, the publisher has already sold out of all their Australian stock even before the book has been released. That is clearly good news, especially if they are prompted to do a reprint. The bad news is that my own order of books got passed over in the rush to fill orders from bona fide customers. Thankfully, there were a few remaining boxes in a warehouse in New Zealand and, even as I write this, 144 elephants are flying through the air over the Pacific Ocean, somewhere between New Zealand And California. My plan was to have ordered twice that many copies, but fingers crossed that there will be at least some elephants waiting for me in San Francisco when I return next month.
For those of you who live in Australia and New Zealand, you should see this cover appearing on the shelves of your local bookstore starting on April 4th. If you want one, it might be a good idea to pick up a copy as soon as you see it, because they wont be able to re-order, at least in the short term. Otherwise, it can be ordered ONLINE right now from the Pan Macmillan websites in both Australia and New Zealand, or from Piccadilly books. (Note that the cover graphic used in these online catalogs isn’t the FINAL version).