So, a thing happened… It is both good and bad, but we hope you’ll see how much the positive outweighs the negative!
We know that the Shadow Slave Volume 1 Hardcover has been scheduled to release on October 6, 2026. The bad news is that we have been requested by our distributor to push the on-sale date to November 10, 2026.
The reason is pretty simple. The support from this fandom and overall buzz garnered from the industry has caused all the major big retailers (Amazon, Barnes, Target, Etc) to ask that we DOUBLE the amount of SS copies printed in order to meet the perceived demand. They hate risking a big release where they run out of copies, as that can kill the momentum needed to make a series hit. It is simply impossible to print that many more copies without shifting the release date.
The good news is that we’re fulfilling a historically large first print run, unheard of for a series that is new to retail and especially a webserial! This sort of last second delay to boost print supply is something major distributors do for the likes of a big Stephen King or Rebecca Yarros release. It is VERY rare and means they believe that Shadow Slave will be a bestseller.
So, kudos to you — the fans — for the incredible support. We know a month can feel like forever, but we ask you to wait just a little longer. And to make up for it we want to offer the following. We don’t have the ability to offer sales on print as the stores control that, so, we want to offer a Discount Code to buy Season 1 of the webcomic for $5 off (see link and info below).
Also, we have also heard your cries and so I’m pleased to announce the AMAZING news. Our goal is to make Shadow Slave a household name, and to do that we have to appeal to retailers and what sells on shelves. Our current Hardcover cover/s are doing that, proven by the insane support from major retailers. It’s always a hard appealing to a huge existing fanbase, the author, and large retailers all at once.
But Shadow Slave clearly wouldn’t be where it’s at without its fans. In light of that, we plan to provide people the opportunity to “dress” their own hardcover. Readers will be able to buy additional dust jackets for their hardcover that are specially designed with custom pieces of art in styles that wouldn’t sell on US retailer shelves, but are absolutely stunning. Think of it like variant covers in the comic market, but for books! If you don’t like the retail cover, or want to show off different art on your shelf, or collect them all, we are giving the fans options.
You can see the first variants we’ve commissioned art for in the images below by fan favorite artists like NotEpic, Alyssa Kourtakas, and Ellieaedon. The top image is also an example of how the dust jacket can be removed and replaced. They will all be designed to the exact specs of our Volume 1 hardcover so they fit snugly, just like the retail version. We aren’t exactly sure what the prices will be yet, but we believe they’ll be somewhere between $10-15 to order & ship a new dust jacket. We wish we could give them away, but that just isn’t feasible, so here’s the cool part:
We are taking $0 from the sales. ZERO. 100% of the profit from each variant dust jacket will go directly to the artists who made them!
Our plan is for the variants to be available the week the hardcover release, so pre-order your hardcover copy now, or go to a store in the US or Canada when it’s out and get it off the shelf, and support the cause of making Shadow Slave, Guiltythree, and all these wonderful artists household names.
best,
The Aethon Team
Enter “SSCOM5” and get $5 Off the Webcomic’s Season 1 Pass: https://aethonwebcomics.com/offers/shadow-slave-season-1/
Shadow Slave Book 1 Hardcover: https://aethonbooks.com/book/child-of-shadows/
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