Dream Theater uncovered
Hot of the press, a big box containing the first copies of the Classic Edition of Lifting Shadows has arrived at Essential’s office in London. We couldn’t wait to get it open. Here’s what was inside.
Lifting Shadows out on 30th November
Today we’re announcing the publication date for the two new editions of Lifting Shadows: 30th November 2009.
The books are currently being printed, and they’ll be sent out from our warehouse in the days immediately after the publication date. The delivery time will vary depending on where you are in the world, but you should receive your order in plenty of time for Christmas.
The publication date will also mark the end of the pre-order period. So orders placed after 30th November will no longer benefit from the 15% discount on the Classic Edition. If you haven’t placed your order yet, now’s the time to buy.
Finally, if you have already placed your order, please take a moment to check that we have the correct shipping details for you. It’s a little while since the first orders were placed, so if your address has changed since ordering you’ll need to let us know. You can update your details online using the weblink at the bottom of your confirmation email. Please note that any amendments to your shipping address must be made by 23rd November 2009.
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Lifting Shadows Classic Edition cover revealed
Here is the final cover of the Classic Edition of Lifting Shadows. Many thanks to the hundreds of you who voted! The poll on the three draft designs resulted in two clear favourites, with only a couple of votes between them. So, the casting vote for the front went to Mike Portnoy and author Rich Wilson, leaving room for the image used in the other leading design on the back.
Purchasers of the Limited Edition, meanwhile, can look forward to real leather binding – we hope to have some first images of this shortly!
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Win the Golden Book – signed by Dream Theater themselves
As we’ve been hinting over on Twitter, we’ve got a very special competition up our sleeves. We’re printing a very, very small number of extra special copies of the Limited Edition for the band themselves. Like the rest of the Limited Edition books, these will be luxurious leather-bound copies of Rich’s acclaimed biography. Unlike the rest of the Limited Edition, they will sport a unique foiled designation on the front cover and they won’t be put on sale. In fact, the only place you might ever see one is on the guys’ personal bookshelves. We’ve got one of these highly unusual books – we’re calling it the Golden Book – to give away. What’s more, Dream Theater have agreed to sign it.
To be in with a chance of winning the Golden Book, simply pre-order either edition of the new Lifting Shadows. When the pre-order phase ends, we’ll randomly select one purchaser to receive the prize. You can choose either the Classic Edition or the Limited Edition – there will simply be one chance to win per customer, so it doesn’t matter which edition you order or how many copies you buy. And if you’ve already ordered, don’t worry – your name will also go into the hat. Good luck!
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Vote for your favourite Classic Edition cover
Here’s your chance to become involved in the release of the Classic Edition – by voting for the cover of your choice. We’ve whittled down the potential covers to just three, so please pick your favourite from the draft versions pictured and vote at the bottom.
Classic Edition draft cover design A
Classic Edition draft cover design B
Classic Edition draft cover design C
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Metal Hammer, Lifting Shadows, Portnoy & Moore
Metal Hammer have an interesting piece today focussing on just one snippet of information from the book: Mike Portnoy’s opinion of Kevin Moore: “If Kevin Moore Hadn’t Left, We’d Have Broken Up” is the headline. Check it out here.
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Lifting Shadows banners
If you’ve got a website, blog or MySpace page of your own, here’s a selection of Lifting Shadows banners you might like to display. Right-click or (on a Mac) control-click on each image to save a graphic to your own computer, or just cut and paste a snippet of HTML code directly into your page. And if the images below aren’t quite the right size for your site, drop us a line and we’ll see what we can rustle up!
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_001.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Rich Wilson's acclaimed biography, now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="240" height="400" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_002.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Rich Wilson's acclaimed biography, now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="240" height="400" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_003.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="336" height="280" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_004.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Now fully revised and updated." width="468" height="60" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_005.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Rich Wilson's acclaimed biography, now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="240" height="400" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_006.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Rich Wilson's acclaimed biography, now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="240" height="400" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/liftingshadows_007.jpg" alt="LIFTING SHADOWS: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF DREAM THEATER - Rich Wilson's acclaimed biography, now fully revised and updated. More info at liftingshadows.com" width="336" height="280" border="0" /></a>
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Not received your discount code?
We’ve been busy sending out discount codes to owners of the original Box Set Edition of Lifting Shadows, and, many thousands of emails later, they’ve all been delivered. If you haven’t received yours yet, have a look in your email’s junk or trash folder – just in case it’s landed there. Otherwise, the chances are that we don’t have your most recent email address in our system. Don’t panic – here’s how to get your code.
Firstly, try and remember the email address you used to make your original purchase. If you can still get access to that account easily (even if you don’t normally check it), the quickest way to get your code is probably to see if it’s in that inbox. Failing that, please use our special form to tell us that you haven’t got your code. We’ll need to match you up to the old order in our system, so the more information you can give us, the better. Your original Paypal or Google Checkout reference is ideal, but if you don’t have that any more we can try looking for your old email address or the shipping address you had the original book delivered to.
We’re expecting quite a few requests for help on this one, so if we don’t reply immediately, please be patient – we will get back to you shortly. Please also remember that the discount codes only apply to the Classic Edition, so if it’s the Limited Edition you’ve got your eyes on, having the code won’t make any difference to the price.
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Pimp your forum signature
If you’ve just ordered the new Lifting Shadows, then you’re now the future owner of a unique piece of Dream Theater memorabilia. Nobody likes a show-off, but hey, a cool little adornment to your forum signature can’t do any harm! There’s one for each new edition, and – for owners of the original Box Set – one for the original book as well. No cheatin’ now.
You can download the graphics themselves by right-clicking or (Mac users) control-clicking on the image you want, and saving it to your local computer. Or, just copy the relevant snippet of HTML code to your clipboard and paste it into your signature directly.
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/ls_sig_002_classic.gif" alt="Lifting Shadows | Classic Edition" width="350" height="20" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/ls_sig_003_limited.gif" alt="Lifting Shadows | Limited Edition" width="350" height="20" border="0" /></a>
<a href="http://liftingshadows.com" title="Lifting Shadows website"><img src="http://liftingshadows.com/banners/ls_sig_001_boxset.gif" alt="Lifting Shadows | Box Set Edition" width="350" height="20" border="0" /></a>
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Discount codes on the way
If you previously purchased the original Box Set Edition of Lifting Shadows from Essential Works, we’d like to thank you by offering a 25% discount on the price of the new Classic Edition. The discount works using a personal code that is being emailed to owners of the original book. Simply follow the instructions in the email to claim your discount, and the site will display the reduced prices automatically.
Lots of people have asked what to do if they have changed their email address since ordering the original book. If you fall into this category, there is a special online form you can use to update us. We’ll need to check our records to match you with your original purchase, so please fill in as much of the information as possible.
If, on the other hand, you’re sure that we do have your correct email address but you have not received your voucher, there are a couple of possibilities. The emails are being sent gradually, so it may be that yours simply hasn’t arrived yet. Or, it may have mistakenly landed in your junk mail or trash folder, so it’s worth having a look in there. Failing that, drop us a line and we’ll do our best to help.