Disney-Hyperion sent out a press release to talk about how many copies will make up the first printing of The Mark of Athena, as well as specifics on the release that will take place on October 2.
Riordan himself shared the release and his excitement via Twitter:
Official Disney press release for Mark of Athena: bit.ly/markofathena First US printing 3.5 million copies. My mind boggles.
— Rick Riordan (@camphalfblood) September 27, 2012
Disney Publishing Worldwide announced that the third book in the Heroes of Olympus series will have a first run made up of 3.5 million books. It will release simultaneously as a hardcover, an e-book, and an audio book (through Listening Library) on Tuesday.
These books will be added to the already 33 million novels by Riordan in existence across the United States, which only include his last three series (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Kane Chronicles, and The Heroes of Olympus). Subsequently, these books have been translated into 37 languages and sold across 36 countries.
Suzanne Murphy, the vice president and publisher at DPW, says, “This fall, Rick Riordan’s millions of fans will be asked ‘Whose camp are you in?’ and can profess their loyalty by joining the Greek camp (Camp Half-Blood) or the Roman camp (Camp Jupiter) at GreeksvsRomans.com.”
Rick Riordan has had a successful career as a writer, winning the Children’s Choice Book Award Author of the Year in 2011. He’s also a New York Times #1 best selling author for his children’s books, although he also penned the wildly-popular Tres Navarre series for adults, which went on to win the top three awards in the mystery genre.
Read the press release in full.
Need more ‘The Mark of Athena’ news?
Make sure you check out the book trailer for The Mark of Athena and an accompanying interview with author Rick Riordan, thanks to EW.
If you’d like to see Riordan while he’s on tour for MoA, you can check out the tour dates here. And don’t forget to find out exactly what to expect if you’re able to see him in person.
If you still need more, be sure to read up about his Twitter Q&A that he did last weekend where he talked about his new book, future projects, and a certain regrettable incident that happened to him in high school!