This year I’ll be going to several conventions—JordanCon, Phoenix Comicon, ConnectiCon, and SpoCon (among others not yet announced). Last year I started doing convention exclusives, which I’d been wanting to do for a while—something to make it worth the effort for people to go out of their way to come see me.

This year’s exclusive is an Ace Double-style hardcover of “Firstborn” and “Defending Elysium.” Check out these photos:

The technical term for this kind of book layout is tête-bêche meaning “head-to-toe,” which indicates that the book has two front covers and no back cover; flip the book upside down to get the other story. When you reach the end of one story, the next page is the last page of the other story, upside-down.

Anyway, I’ve been wanting to get these novelettes out in print form for a while, and due to their length putting them together seemed like the best idea. Plus I’ve always thought Ace Doubles were cool. (These were classic SF novels put out in tête-bêche paperbacks by the publisher Ace.)

The “Firstborn” cover reprises Donato Giancola‘s excellent illustration that he painted for the Tor.com version, and the “Defending Elysium” cover features an illustration by Dragos Jieanu (check out his website and his DeviantArt profile). (If you like his stuff, consider donating to the Chance for Life Foundation, a Romanian charity he supports.) The cover design is by Isaac Stewart, and the book design is by Peter Ahlstrom.

I’ll bring these to every convention I can this year, starting at JordanCon. The cover price is $17.99. If there are any left at the end of convention season I’ll make them available on my website, but con-goers get first dibs. There are a lot more than we had of the Infinity Blade books last year, so I don’t anticipate running out too quickly.

See you at the conventions! JordanCon preregistration closes April 1st, and the convention is April 19th through 21st.