Shadow Slave
Physical Release

October 6, 2026 is the official release date and preorders can be made up until that date!

The simple answer is that it will be available wherever Amazon can ship, as they have the most global reach of any of the retailers our distributor (Simon & Schuster) sells to. It may also eventually get picked up by wholesalers in other territories outside of North America, but we have no direct control or really ability to influence that outcome. Becoming a massive bestseller is always the best first step though. Worldwide shelves are beyond our control. Simon & Schuster is based out of North America and we only have certain rights in our deal concerning how we can distribute which I can't disclose.

Yes, all of North America. Indigo, for instance, carries and sells all Simon & Schuster distributed titles and is Canada's largest book retailer.

Preorders. In general, preorders get stores excited to take risks on new titles and authors and place bulk orders for stocking shelves. Placing a preorder is most valuable through Barnes & Noble if you live in North America or Amazon if outside of North America. And of course, sharing the sales link wherever you can also helps get the word out!

There is no exact target, but the better it performs the more we'll be able to push through the entire series. We want to and plan to publish as many books as possible. Hardcovers in retail are wildly expensive, especially editions with all the bells and whistles, but we believe this series has legs.

It's possible. If the preorder buzz is high enough, some retailers out there sometimes like to do a special limited run of a certain cover, like with comics.

It isn't formatted yet or printed yet, so don't worry. Everyone will get the same final edition when it get's printed later this year! Even the listed page count on retailers is just an estimate at this time.

Each volume will go through professional copy edits and stages of proofing. Beyond that, the author is passionate about his prose / style and neither us nor Guiltythree have any desire to alter that.

The mask is the most iconic image from the series. Both us and Guilty felt it was crucial to include. It's important to remember that in the end covers exist to sell books, and beyond wanting the existing SS fans to love this, we need it to appeal to the random shoppers out there. We always consult with Barnes & Noble, our distributor, and other retailers on if they like covers (as in the end THEY decide to purchase copies for shelves) and the big retailers are drooling over every aspect of this cover. Their words, not ours. When they react like that, we never like to make any major changes to art and just spruce it up a bit. The feeling out there in the industry is that this will pop on shelves. The feedback is already overwhelmingly positive from retailers. It all feeds to our ultimate goal of making Guiltythree a household name and getting the most sales as possible. As an example, Publishers Weekly, the premier publishing industry magazine in the US, already ran this article about the release. They NEVER do this.

Illustrations are not in our plans here, as this is for the retail hardcover market and not a limited run collector's edition or light novel. But this is a VERY high quality print. There will be custom chapter headers and end pages, illustrated dust jacket, sprayed edges, foil-stamped spine and case wrap, etc. Plus, there will be plenty of art in the webcomic!

Not in the first volume at least. The author does not want one included as it's supposed to be unknown, mysterious, and frightening, so a map would go against that purpose.

We haven't yet designed the sequel covers, but our goal with a series like this is always something that looks great in a group. What we've done for the Hardcovers of He Who Fights with Monsters coming out is a good example. We can't say they will be continuous, but they'll all feel like they belong together.

Our aim for Volume 2 is around 4–6 months after Volume 1! Essentially, the next retail sales season. Then the same for Volume 3, 4, etc.

It is our aim, but certain volumes as written have to be split in order to make printing possible. Beyond the costs of printing a book that is too long, shelf space is limited and that makes it tougher for stores to be willing to take a risk on order copies for their shelves. Our goal is to give the author the best opportunity to sell the most copies.

Yes, usually PB follows by around 9–12 months, as hardcover is the premier edition.

They should all be beween $30–$40 USD, depending on length.

That would typically be limited run deluxe special editions not intended for retail. We don't have the rights to those but can certainly look into it for the future! However, doing that right now would cannibalize sales from the retail edition, which is what can make SS a household name!

That will be up to Guilty, but hopefully we can work something out!

We are working with Webnovel to try and figure that out. It's up to Guilty and his ability to travel as well. We are hopeful that NYCC 2026 might be possible.

We only have the rights to English, so can't speak to any languages beyond that. Webnovel or Guilty would know those answers.

Our aim is sometime in 2026. Beyond that, I can't give any guarantees yet as we are doing everything in our power to make sure it's great and as well-received as Dungeon Crawler Carl's WEBTOON has been. That means getting the best possible art teams and scripters picked out, which takes the most time. Hopefully, we can start showing teasers in the next few months.

It's a beloved series in the genre space where we publish most. We also are doing the webcomic, and so, it just came together as being a perfect fit for our catalog. Not to mention how passionate many members of our teams are about the story.