Email from readers is always a pleasure
to receive. We enjoy responding
to inquiries and comments, and do so as diligently as possible, when
possible. Some questions are asked often and you'll find the answers posted
below. DUE TO THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EMAIL LEE
RECEIVES, please do him the favor of scrolling through this page before
sending an email. Your answer could very well be here.
The 17th Reacher novel, A WANTED MAN picks up after the end of WORTH DYING FOR and will go on sale on the following dates:
US & Canada: Sept 25, 2012 (hardcover)
UK: Sept 27, 2012 (hardcover)
Australia & New Zealand: September 27, 2012 (trade paperback)
The 16th Reacher novel, THE AFFAIR is now on sale:
US & Canada: Sept 27, 2011 (hardcover); March 27, 2012 (mass-market paperback)
UK: Sept 29, 2011 (hardcover); March 27, 2012 (mass-market paperback)
Australia & New Zealand: September 29, 2011 (trade paperback)
If you're wondering when the next Jack Reacher novel is coming to your
country, Lee's literary agency posts an up-to-date list of foreign publications; just
click on the book jackets for details. There are no on-sale dates
(sorry), but at least you'll know what publisher does or will publish each title.
To keep up-to-date on tours and novels, the best way is to sign up for The Reacher Report. These reports are
electronically published
on an irregular schedule (when we have breaking news, we'll get that to you
fast).
Jack Reacher in the movies?
This is our #2 frequently asked question (the first being "When's the next
book coming out?") A series of Reacher movies would be great, right?
Lee Child at the Rogers Little Theater in Rogers, AR, on Oct. 28, 2011.
June 27, 2011: One Shot the movie release date set for February 8, 2013, so says
Deadline.com.
June 17, 2011: It's a GO!!! Tom Cruise has been signed to play Reacher.
"One Shot" begins shooting September 27, 2011, in Pittsburgh. Christopher McQuarrie to direct, based on his screenplay. For more info: Deadline.com.
What Entertainment Weekly thinks.
Lee is thrilled and can't wait to see the final cut.
Don't forget Lee has spent equal time on either side of the page/screen divide and understands better than most
that changes are necessary and inevitable. And like Reacher he doesn't favor half-measures...if we're going to
have a movie, then let's have a movie star in it! There is only a small handful of genuine global male stars.
All are great actors—you don't get to be a star if you don't have the chops—but Cruise might well be
the best of his generation. And again, Lee has been around actors forever—Laurence Olivier was still in his
sixties the first time Lee worked with him—so he's a pretty good judge.
Plus, from an author's point of view, it's more exciting to see a new and fresh vision. Lee doesn't want to see a
literal translation. Without comparing himself to Bob Dylan, he wonders what Dylan wanted to hear when someone
covered, say, "All Along the Watchtower"...a tribute clone, or Jimi Hendrix? Lee thinks the Cruise/McQuarrie
interpretation will build on the books in the same way.
July 15, 2010: The
latest news is Paramount Pictures has secured Christopher McQuarrie (Oscar winner for The Usual Suspects) to
write a new screenplay for "One Shot." Story centers on a Dirty Harry-like investigator (not, as reported, a cop—this is still Reacher)
who seeks the truth behind what seems
an open-and-shut murder case after a trained military sniper is arrested for shooting five random
victims. McQuarrie may also direct but that has yet to be confirmed.
December 2010: Lee got a call from producer Don Granger at the movie studio, and things seem to be very positive
and optimistic ... we're very close to seeing One Shot greenlighted, he thinks. Christopher McQuarrie's screenplay
is an absolute knockout, he says ... and they had a preliminary casting conversation. Details are still confidential,
of course, but some very interesting names were mentioned. Fingers crossed.
FYI, Lee has always figured as long as Hollywood leaves the novel-writing to him,
he'll leave the movie-making to them. He did not work on the screenplay
nor is involved in choosing the cast, not even who plays Reacher. If you're an
actor hoping to score the lead role, please have your agent contact
Paramount Studios and, fingers crossed, we'll see you on the big screen
soon!
Why name him "Reacher" and how
the heck do you pronounce it?
Can I read the novels
out of order?
Lee wrote the Reacher novels so you could start the series with any one of
them. Really. No fooling.
Our suggestion? Read them in the order Lee wrote them (they were published in that order, too).
We believe the prequel (The Enemy) has more emotional impact after you've gotten to know Reacher
a bit better. We numbered them
on the BOOKS page for your convenience. There's also a printable list of all books
available for download in PDF format and Word.
Why are some Reacher
novels in first person but others in third?
Lee says writing in first person is more natural for him. But writing
in third person gives him more freedom when building suspense. With
third person narrative, the suspense builds easily as the reader can
essentially see around corners and anticipate events about which
Reacher has no knowledge. With the first person narrative, the reader
can only know what Reacher knows. That's it in a nutshell. The
storyline dictates what narrative voice would suit best. Certainly, with
first person the story is more graphic and intimate as we're inside
Jack's head. So far in the series, Killing
Floor, Persuader, The
Enemy, Gone Tomorrow, and The Affair
are in first person narrative. Die Trying, Tripwire, Running Blind/The Visitor, Echo
Burning, Without Fail, One Shot, The Hard Way,
Bad Luck and Trouble, Nothing to Lose,
61 Hours, Worth Dying For
are in third person.
Why did Lee choose to make Reacher an ex-MP?
Lee wanted Reacher to be 1) suddenly downsized from something; 2)
suddenly adrift in a world he wasn't familiar with; 3) accustomed to
doing things in a rough-and-ready and very non-civilian way. So a
previous career in the Army made sense, because it would explain all of
the above. He made him an ex-MP because 1) he needed some forensic and
detective-type skills; and 2) the Navy Seal or Special Forces thing had
already been done. He made him an officer purely because he felt that
although an Army-insider might see an NCO or Warrant Officer type as a
more realistic choice, a higher rank might give Reacher better
networking capabilities when calling on old buddies for help. It's been
mentioned that Army personnel undergo the type of officer candidate
school training which eliminates the mavericks, but Lee was hoping
Reacher would be regarded as "the one that got away."
How does Lee do his research?
We have a handy answer to
this question from when Running Blind/The Visitor was released in 2000.
How can I find out if a
Reacher novel is published in my language?
At last count, Lee is published in 95 countries and 40 languages with 50 million copies sold worldwide.
Lee's literary agency posts an up-to-date list of foreign publications.
Sorry, but the publication dates are not included on this page. Try
Googling for the publisher's website, which should have all the info on
which titles are available.
If you're a publisher and would like to inquire about rights to the Jack
Reacher novels, please
send an email to Madeleine
Buston at DarleyAnderson.com.
Contact
Lee Child & Team Reacher: EMAIL contacts & MEDIA downloads
We delete any rude commentary, business propositions, and inappropriate
correspondence. We also have to
delete all email with extensive ideas for novels or which include whole or
parts of unpublished stories or novels (Why? See FAQ below). All other
email is forwarded to Lee. Due to Lee's writing and tour schedule it's not
always possible for him to respond which is why you'll hear from Webmaven
Maggie (Lee's jack of all trades). Lee will get back to you if time permits
but we hate to interrupt him when he's writing (because if we could only
convince him to write TWO books a year, we'd all be much happier!)
With hundreds of emails coming in each week, we do our best to reply in a
timely fashion and apologise in advance if the reply is tardy or, due to
overzealous spam-blockers and/or the mysteries of the ethernet, you never
receive a reply.
I have an idea for a novel. Can Lee read it/write
it/help me write
it?
If you have a great idea, you should write it yourself and reap the
reward. Please don't send any unpublished work or story ideas. Lee will
never see your email—his lawyer has sent us strict orders to cull any
such requests.
What's the best way to get my books signed?
If you can't make it to an event listed on the Appearances page, you can request a signed bookplate from
Webmaven Maggie (please include your snail mail address).
We have new instructions for getting your books signed, thanks to the support of Partners & Crime Mystery
Booksellers in New York City. You may mail books to Partners & Crime or purchase them from the bookstore. Here’s
how it works:
1) Contact P&C via email: partners@crimepays.com with "Lee Child" in
the subject line OR call them at 212-243-0440 after 12 noon ET any day.
2) Let them know what books you’re sending, or which titles you’d like to purchase for signing. Include your phone
number and what hours are best to reach you. Someone from the store will call you back to confirm details, advise
on shipping (insured, trackable is best) and arrange return shipping and/or new book payment details.
P&C recommends you send insured and track your package, and include your return mailing address inside the box.
When sending books for signature, please stick a piece of paper in each book at the precise page you want signed,
and if you would like an inscription. You're welcome to request a specific inscription but given some of the
requests we've seen, Lee reserves the right to inscribe as he chooses.
To any address in the US:
P&C uses US Postal Service
Domestic Priority Mail.
Shipping charges (back to you):
1 or 2 books: $16.00
3 or 4: $20.00
Domestic insurance:
$0.01 to $100.00 = $1.23
$100.01 to $200.00 = $2.46
$200.01 to $300.00 = $3.69
$300.01 to $400.00 = $4.92
$400.01 to $500.00 = $6.15
$500.01 to $600.00 = $7.38
$600.01 to $1,000.00 = $7.38
$1.23 for each add’l $100.00 over $600.00.
To any address outside the US:
P&C uses US Postal Service
International Priority Mail.
Shipping charges (back to you):
1 or 2 books: $52.00
3 or 4 books: $65.00
International insurance:
$0.00 to $50.00 US = $2.30
$51.00 to $100.00 US = $3.40
$101.00 to $200.00 = $4.50
$201.00 to $300.00 = $5.60
$301.00 to $400.00 = $6.70
$401.00 to $500.00 = $7.80
$501.00 to $600.00 = $8.90
$601.00 to $700.00 = $10.00
$1.10 for each add’l $100 over $700.
How do I get my hands on Lee's autograph?
Autographs come two ways: an autographed adhesive bookplate or autographed 5" x 7" photo
of Lee. They're real signatures, not printed ones, rest assured. Send your mailing address to Webmaven Maggie, let her know whether you'd like a
photo or a bookplate, and she'll take care of the rest.
Is Lee Child Lee Child's real name?
It isn't the name he was born with. He says, "The performers' unions I
belonged to in the past demanded a name change if there was a danger of confusion with an
established personality. As a consequence over the years I worked under three different names, and I
saw how it was often a valuable psychological boost, you know, new job, new name, personal
reinvention, maybe this time things will work out a little better."
And this time, things did work out a little better. Which begs the
question, what's real, anyway? "Maybe ten people in the world call me
by the name on my birth certificate. Sometimes I can barely remember
what it is. Ten million people call me Lee Child. That's more real to
me than government paperwork."
Lee Child is the only name under which any of his writing has been published.
All of his novels and short stories are listed on the website BOOKS page, no exception.
There's only a few reasons why this might happen. HOW IT WORKS:
We use a double opt-in system to compile our mailing list. Using the
link provided here, you can access our
mailing list form. Once you've filled out the fields, checked the "I
want to receive mailings from LeeChild.com" box, and clicked on the
button which reads "Join Now", you should automatically receive an email
from us. This email will include a link, and ask you to click
on it to confirm your registration. YOU MUST CLICK ON THIS LINK (or copy and
paste it into your browser),
or your email address will not be added to our mailing list. Using this
double
opt-in system assures your internet provider that our email is not SPAM.
If you do not receive an email from us asking you to confirm your
registration, then it's possible that you mistyped your
email address, or your Inbox is over its size limit, or your
spam blocker is bouncing our email. We know we're not a spammer,
but in this day of overzealous spam blockers, your ISP might not. We try
our best, but sometimes we just can't get through.
Set your internal spam blocker, or ask your ISP, to allow email from
LeeChild.com@mail.vresp.com and
LeeChild.com both. If you have a problem viewing images and links in
the newsletter once you get it, this will solve that problem, too.
The last reason why you might not have received The Reacher Report is
the simplest. Maybe we haven't sent one out since you joined our mailing
list? We publish The Reacher Report on an irregular schedule and don't
like to flood your Inbox with unnecessary notices. They're infrequent
but well worth the wait! Thanks for your patience.
