Iron Mountain Press, the publishing arm of Front Street Books, which has bookstores in Alpine and Marathon, Tex., will publish Robert James Waller's sequel to The Bridges of Madison County. Called A Thousand Country Roads: An Epilogue to the Bridges of Madison County, the book will appear in March.
A Thousand Country Roads will be the first title of national interest to be published by the press, which is owned by Mike and Jean Hardy, who also own Front Street Books. As Jean Hardy told PW, the project "fell into our lap." Waller lives near Alpine, which is in West Texas not far from Big Bend National Park, and got to know the Hardys after making appearances at the store several times. Last Thanksgiving, he called the couple, saying that he had a manuscript and wondered if they would be interested in looking at it.
No financial arrangements were revealed. The Aaron Priest Agency represented Waller, selling North American rights to Iron Mountain. In a prepared statement, Waller explained the decision to sign with a small house in part by saying, "I got my start selling my books out of the back of my pickup truck in small towns in Iowa. I like to do things on a small scale."
Of course, The Bridges of Madison County, which appeared in 1992, was anything but small scale. Published by Warner, the book was widely promoted by independent booksellers and sold more than 12 million copies worldwide. The Hardys are planning to print 25,000 copies of A Thousand Country Roads in hardcover with a list price of $18.95 or $19.95. They'll also offer a signed limited edition for about $40.
The Hardys have been working on the manuscript with Waller for the past month or so. Before becoming a bookseller, Jean Hardy was a copy editor for years and edited many books for Shearer Publishing. Hardy said she has high hopes for the book: the new title "captures the flavor of the original book but is fresh as well."
The Hardys bought Front Street Books in 1994 when it was called Books Plus. They renamed the store and the following year moved into a 2,000-square-foot space. In 1998 they opened a branch in nearby Marathon.
Along the way, the Hardys also set up the publishing house, for which Mike Hardy is responsible. Like some other bookstore-sponsored publishing houses, the press emphasizes regional titles. Its four titles in print are How Come It's Called That: Place Names in the Big Bend Country; The Last Campfire: The Life Story of Ted Gray, a West Texas Rancher; Shades of the West: A Cowboy's Memoirs and Grasses of the Trans-Pecos and Adjacent Areas.
Iron Mountain will distribute the book itself. The Hardys hope that the same lightning that struck Bridges will strike A Thousand Country Roads. "We're counting on those independent booksellers," Jean Hardy said.
