The Jim Garraty Chronicles’ Hardcover is Now Available for Orders!

Thursday, September 17, 2026 – Orlando, Florida

Hi there, Dear Reader. I hope this Thursday finds you well, whether you’re easing into fall weather where you are or, like me here in Central Florida, still waiting for the thermometer to get the memo.

It’s a warm but breezy early autumn day in Central Florida. Currently, the temperature is 86°F (30°C) under mostly cloudy conditions, and there’s a north-northeasterly wind blowing at 8 MPH (13 Km/H). With 62% relative humidity, the heat index is 94°F (35°C). Today’s afternoon forecast calls for scattered light rain showers and a high of 87°F (30°C). It’s not “fall-like weather” as I’ve experienced it in Spain or New England, but at least the temperature is gradually changing here.

I woke up this morning to the welcome news that Kindle Direct Publishing had finished vetting the hardcover edition of The Jim Garraty Chronicles: A Life in Four Movements. I had been waffling about adding a third format of the omnibus; sales of the Kindle and paperback editions have been, shall we say, modest, and hardcovers are a tougher sell at a time when most folks are watching their book budgets. Still, KDP recommends offering books in multiple formats, and I have always liked the feel and durability of hardbacks. There is something pleasantly old-school about a sturdy “library edition,” even when the library in question is a reader’s favorite shelf at home. So, late yesterday afternoon, I took a deep breath, went through the sometimes nerve-racking upload-and-review process, and went to bed while The Jim Garraty Chronicles underwent KDP’s various quality assurance tests.

According to KDP, the new edition was added to the book’s Amazon product page shortly before 6:19 AM, and it’s now listed as “In Stock” and ready for purchase.

There is also a bit of historical resonance to the timing. Today is the 82nd anniversary of the start of Operation Market-Garden, the ambitious Allied airborne-and-ground campaign that began on September 17, 1944, in the German-occupied Netherlands. The operation—an effort to seize key bridges and open a route into Germany—figures prominently in the first two books of The Jim Garraty Chronicles, so having the hardcover cleared for sale on this date feels, if not exactly planned, then at least poetically apt. It is one of those small coincidences that makes an otherwise ordinary publishing update feel a little more personal.

Essentially, this edition is almost identical to its Kindle and paperback stablemates. It contains the four existing stories of the Jim Garraty canon—Reunion: A Story, Reunion: Coda, Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen, and The Summer of Two Movies—plus the new front and back matter I created for the omnibus this summer. I didn’t create any exclusive-to-this-edition materials; I may have a writer’s ego, but I didn’t want to fiddle with the book that much.

And yes, I know the hardcover’s list price—$29.99—may look steep at first glance. But I think it is worth pointing out that this is not one short story dressed up in a fancy jacket. The volume contains four complete stories: a novella, a novel, a novelette, and a piece of flash fiction. Looked at that way, it is less a single book at a premium price than a durable omnibus edition collecting the full Jim Garraty cycle so far. In that sense, I think it is a pretty fair bargain.

I will also be honest: I did not publish the hardcover because I expect it to catapult me onto The New York Times Best Seller list. I published it because I like hardcovers. I like the way they feel in the hand, the way they hold up over time, and the way they make a story feel just a little more permanent. If you already have the Kindle or paperback editions, you do not need this one. But if you enjoy Jim Garraty’s world and would like a nicer, more durable copy for your bookshelf—or as a gift for someone who might appreciate the series—then this edition is the one I would gently nudge you to consider.

There are, of course, a few different things about the hardcover aside from the basic format, and they were forced upon me by the exigencies of the self-publishing business.

The first thing that changed was the trim size. I initially wanted to make both of the print editions the same trim size (6 x 1.5 x 9 inches), but KDP balked at a hardcover with 684 pages. So, I adjusted the trim size of the hardcover to  7.24 x 1.54 x 10.24 inches. The Jim Garraty Chronicles is still a 539-page tome, but at least it did not exceed KDP’s strict page limit.

I also had to redesign the cover. Again, I wanted to keep the original cover design, but KDP rejected it for technical reasons. There were only a few design templates available in the site’s cover art library, so I went with the one I thought fit my stories the best. I like it, and I hope you do, too.