Del Rey and LucasBooks Announce Extension of Star Wars Publishing Contract and New Multi-Book Series

(From the Official Star Wars Site:)

Maintaining a relationship that began more than 30 years ago, LucasBooks and Del Rey are slated to publish another 45 Star Wars titles from 2009 through the end of 2013. The titles will include 35 novels and 10 nonfiction books.

Since 1976, when Judy-Lynn del Rey took a chance on an unknown movie called Star Wars and published the tie-in novel to unprecedented bestsellerdom, Del Rey Books has published a wide range of Star Wars titles, including movie and video game tie-in novels; original series and stand-alone novels; as well as character guides and non-fiction film books. Every hardcover Star Wars novel from Del Rey/LucasBooks has been an instant New York Times bestseller, and 2008 saw Star Wars in the #1 spot twice on the New York Times list with Revelation, the eighth book in the recent Star Wars: Legacy of the Force series, and with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, the tie-in to the upcoming video game from LucasArts. In 2007 alone, the total number of Star Wars books printed under the Del Rey/LucasBooks imprint was over 1.5 million copies.

"Our relationship with Lucasfilm is treasured," said Gina Centrello, President and Publisher of the Random House Publishing Group. "We are extremely proud of our Star Wars publishing program, which is the cornerstone of the Del Rey list."

Howard Roffman, President of Lucas Licensing, said "The legacy of Star Wars publishing began with Del Rey. "For more than 30 years they have been a superb partner with an unflinching commitment to keep Star Wars fans informed, entertained and enthralled."

Among the titles launching in 2009 are the first three in a new Star Wars multi-book, multi-author story arc following directly in the footsteps of the Legacy of the Force series. The nine-book, three-author series, Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi, will break new ground by being the first multi-book Star Wars series to be published all in hardcover. The series, which will be published over the space of three years, will launch in April 2009 with Outcast, by Aaron Allston; the other two authors planning and penning the nine novels will be Christie Golden and Troy Denning. Also to come is The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, to be released in 2010 in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of that film, along with a continuation of the hugely successful series of Star Wars Essential Guides.