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all about editions: parable of the sower by octavia e. butler

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Editions: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

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Parable of the SowerButler, Octavia E./ISBN 0446675504 (1562 copies (813 copies (704 copies (294 copies (208 copies (152 copies (122 copies (108 copies (78 copies (65 copies (50 copies (49 copies (49 copies (40 copies (38 copies (33 copies (29 copies (26 copies (26 copies (23 copies (14 copies (11

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Abrams ComicArts (2020)
Graphic novel adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings
Introduction by Nalo Hopkinson
Teaching guide by Dr. Kimberly N. Parker

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Ediciones Overol (2019)
Parábola del sembrador
Spanish translation by Virginia Gutiérrez

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Grand Central Publishing (2019)
New forward by N.K. Jemisin
Reading group guide

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Morro Branco Editora (2018)
A Parábola do Semeador
Portuguese translation by Carolina Caires Coelho

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Seven Stories Press (2017)
Introduction by Gloria Steinem
Artwork by Paul Lewin

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Grand Central Publishing (2016)
Variant Title - The Parable of the Sower

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Headline UK (2014)
ebook

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ebook

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Grand Central Publishing (2007)

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Recorded Books / Griot Audio (2000)
Audiobook narrated by Lynne Thigpen

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Warner Aspect (2000)

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Warner Aspect (1995)
Artwork by John Jude Palencar

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The Women's Press (1995)
Rare edition

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Four Walls Eight Windows (1993)
First Edition

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Octavia Butler & Contemporary Book History

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Octavia Butler & Contemporary Book History

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On November 30, I coordinated an exhibit for students based on book publications by Octavia Butler, one of our most well-known writers. In some respects, the exhibit was about contemporary book history, in this case, the presentation of Butler's books. The exhibit was also an extension of previous projects I've done studying and displaying aspects of the designs of Butler's books.

Relatively few African American writers have as many books in print as Butler. In addition to releasing her books individually, the series that she produced appear together in single volumes or compilations. Butler published her first novel Patternmaster in 1976, and her last novel Fledgling in 2005. The sci-fi themes that define Butler's works as well as her inclination to sometimes compose series gave her publishers reason to produce an assortment of interconnected book cover designs for the novels.

The cover designs for Butler's works -- published and re-issued over the decades -- display a variety of visual aesthetics. Early on, her publishers were marketing her books to white men readers, who were a core target for science fiction. Later, her publishers were marketing the books to black women readers, a core group for African American literature.

Butler's first interconnected work was the Patternist series, which includes the novels Patternmaster, Mind of My Mind (1977), Survivor (1978), Wild Seed (1980), and Clay's Ark (1984). The cover designs for the first editions are not necessarily related. However, years later when published reprinted the works, they often did so by producing books with common colors and book spines.

The publishers expected the novels in the series to appear next to each other on shelves in bookstores and in homes. Beyond the content of her novels, I first became intrigued in Butler book history after recognizing the variety of covers for the Patternist series.

I began creating small displays and blog entries based on those Patternist series covers. Over time, I realized that the pattern of interconnected Butler covers extended across several other titles by the novelist.

After its publication, Butler was displeased with her novel Survivor. She felt that the book corresponded to too many sci-fi novels that celebrated a kind of pro-colonization theme. She self-critiqued her book, referring to it as her "Star Trek novel." As a result, she chose not to have the book reprinted.

Thus, the compilation of the Patternist series, Seed to Harvest (2007) does not include Survivor. When contemporary readers encounter the compilation, if they read the book from start to finish, then they are reading the series in narrative order: Wild Seed, Mind of My Mind, Clay's Ark, and Patternmaster. The books were initially published out of sequence, as noted above.

In 1995, Butler's short stories were published in the collection Bloodchild. In 2000, Butler published the volume Lilith's Brood. That compilation included her novels Dawn (1987), Adulthood Rites (1988), Imago (1989), which were initially collected in a single volume, Xenogenesis.

The various collections -- Bloodchild, Seed to Harvest, and Lilith's Brood -- created opportunities for readers to cover Butler's separate narratives or individual stories as a united whole in a single book. Moreover, the compilations reflect the interest among publishers of making Butler's series accessible for classroom use, presenting multiple novels together in one book.

And what about Butler's most well-known book, Kindred (1979)? The book combines a narrative about slavery with time-travel, two prevalent topics in African American literature and science fiction. The combination of those topics contributes to making the novel so fascinating for readers.

Kindred was re-issued several times over the last few decades. The book went through a different kind of change recently. Damian Duffy and John Jennings produced a a graphic novel adaptation of Butler's book. Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation extends the fascinating contemporary book history of Butler's works.

And there are more books. We now have fairly recent issues of Butler's Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998). Those two books, known as the Parable series, have related covers. There are also now a couple of different prints of Butler's last novel Fledgling.

The field of Book History often concentrates on works published in the 19th century and early 20th century. The Butler covers, however, suggest that there might be useful lines of inquiry that can emerge concerning the publication of books by a modern, black woman science fiction writer.

Related:
* A Notebook on Octavia Butler
* A Notebook on Book History
* Octavia Butler Exhibit (2016)
* Scenes from the Octavia Butler and Toni Morrison exhibit (2016)

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Octavia Butler & Contemporary Book History

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On November 30, I coordinated an exhibit for students based on book publications by Octavia Butler, one of our most well-known writers. In some respects, the exhibit was about contemporary book history, in this case, the presentation of Butler's books.

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The Evolution of Octavia Butler's Cover Art

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The Evolution of Octavia Butler's Cover Art

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From an editor's point of view, it's vital to obtain a great piece of cover art for every book you publish. An outstanding book cover can make a first-time writer. It can separate an author from the pack on crowded bookshelves. It telegraphs the right message to the perfect readership.

Given all that, why do some book covers go so wildly astray? More than thirty years in New York publishing have given me some answers.

There are a number of factors. Sometimes an artist doesn't have the time or inclination to actually read the book he or she is illustrating. They rely on a synopsis provided by the editor. Nuances like mood, setting, even character description are apt to disappear.

Cost is always a frustrating limitation. If a dreadful cover comes in, it's almost impossible for an editor to reject it and start anew. Attempts are made to "fix" it, but we all know the saying about the sow's ear. (And just in case we don't all know it, the saying goes, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.")

And then there are cases in which "marketing reasons" rule.
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Dawn, the first book in Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy, is a prime example. Dawn, recently announced as being in production for television under producer Ava DuVernay (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time) and writer Victoria Mahoney, is the story of Lilith Iyapo, one of the few survivors of Earth's self-destruction in an orgy of war and disease. She is rescued by the alien Oankali for mysterious reasons of their own-and must decide whether to contribute to humanity's survival by agreeing to the Oankali's plan, or choose oblivion instead.

The original 1987 cover from Warner Books shows a white woman awaking from what appears to be a medical procedure of some kind. However, early in chapter 1 of we read this very clear description of Lilith, the main character, from her own point of view: "Once, they put a child in with her-a small boy with long, straight black hair and smoky-brown skin, paler than her own."
RELATED: Fun Facts About 9 Great Science Fiction Authors
Now, was this a case of artistic error, or was it an example of a publisher deciding that a black woman on a book cover would turn off too many potential purchasers? If it was the latter, it's far from the only case of cover art designed to avoid the depiction of characters of color. Octavia's editor and art director from that time are no longer alive, so we can't be sure of the thought processes involved. But we can take a look at Butler's other covers from early in her career to see how they were handled.
RELATED: Google Honors Octavia Butler's 71st Birthday With a Doodle
Butler's first novel, Patternmaster, was published in 1976. Teray, its main character, is never described as black, although the entire series centers around the issues of power and control, the mastery of some people over others: a clear parallel to the system of slavery. Teray's dangerous brother Coransee, whose burning ambition is to become the new Patternmaster when their father dies, says this the first time they meet: " 'Teray,' he repeated, drawing the word out thoughtfully. 'How did you happen to choose a name ending in "ray," boy?' "

All the books published by Doubleday's science fiction line at that time carried book jackets printed in two colors, so it means nothing that the art does not indicate skin tone. But using line art rather than anything offering more detail does demonstrate one way that publishers used to avoid the issue.

The paperback reprint of Patternmaster looked like a standard shoot-em-up sci-fi spectacular. One can only imagine Butler's reaction to it. (Authors almost never receive approval on their cover art, even today.)
RELATED: 14 Octavia Butler Books: The Complete Canon
Next came Mind of My Mind and Survivor, also from Doubleday and again avoiding the issue of color.

Happily, Octavia's fourth novel to be published, Kindred, was a very different story. Although it too came out from Doubleday, was published in 1979 in a very different way, receiving a rather lovely full-color book jacket that shows very clearly the identity of main character Dana, a modern-day black woman repeatedly thrown back in time to a Maryland slave plantation. Kindred has proven to be Butler's most popular novel, and its graphic-novel adaptation just won the comic world's highest award, an Eisner.
RELATED: 10 Octavia Butler Quotes to Live By
Butler returned to the Patternist series in 1980 with , whose Doubleday cover obviously benefited from the critical success Butler received with Kindred.

The final book in the Patternist series, , was brought out by a different hardcover publisher. Oddly, its two-color art was similar to that used on the Doubleday list.

In 1987, after a hiatus of several years, Octavia may have felt that her cover treatments were slipping backwards when her Xenogenesis series debuted at a new publishing house, Warner Books. After Butler's success with Kindred, why did they give Dawn such a puzzling visualization of a white woman? Adulthood Ritesis a bit more definitive, but once again presents a white woman.

This is where I enter the story. I became Octavia's editor at Warner Books in the early '90s, just after hardcover publication of Parable of the Sower. She needed very little of my input on the writing side-but the look of an author's books is part of an editor's job as well. It was my great pleasure and privilege to spearhead the re-design of Octavia's entire backlist (except for Survivor, which she did not want republished after its initial editions). When Parable of the Sowercame out in paperback from Warner Books, we were proud to be able to release all the other revised covers alongside it.

When Warner's art director for science fiction, Don Puckey, came to me with the mockup for the first of those re-designs, Mind of My Mind, I literally staggered back against the doorway and my hands flew to my mouth. Artist John Jude Palencar had captured exactly the qualities of the story that had seized me as well.

Palencar, a multiple award-winning artist, recalls his assignment to create new art for all the Warner Books titles:
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My family and I were living in Oberlin, Ohio at the time. Oberlin College was one of the first institutions of higher education to admit woman and minorities back in the 19th century. The Underground Railroad also made its way through Oberlin... many of the old houses, of which we owned one, included hidden rooms to safely hide slaves moving northward to freedom. My approach to the cover art was that I used archetypes and symbols to reveal the character's inner struggles and spiritual strength and fortitude. Some have a contemplative prayer-like mood and others are more direct and softly confrontational. I kept it simple and direct, so the covers would 'read' quickly and create questions rather than give answers. The surreal approach I employed was a pleasant conceptual match. I didn't want the covers to come across as a visually chattering narrative.

I heard from someone at a industry convention that these were some of Octavia's favorite covers - that always made me smile. I was heartbroken when I learned of her passing away. She was one of those rare people that still retained a child-like innocence and a well-seasoned maturity in their work. Ms. Butler's work is still as relevant today as it was yesterday.
This post is sponsored by Open Road Media. Thank you for supporting our partners, who make it possible for The Portalist to continue publishing the stellar stories you love. Featured photo: Alchetron; Doubleday, and Warner Books covers of "Dawn"
Many of the covers he painted for Octavia's books now reside in private collections throughout the U.S., Palencar says. They were featured in an exhibition at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture in Harlem a few years ago.

It's my contention that the Palencar cover art reached an all-new audience for Octavia's work. Both male and female readers-and writers-saw themselves in the characters she created and the near-future situations she wrote about with such passion. Science fiction readers hungry for new faces and new voices picked up the new editions throughout the '90s.

Since that time, Octavia Butler's work has gained more and more attention, having been adapted to opera and graphic novel form, continually being optioned for Hollywood, and now on schedule to become a television series - fulfilling Octavia's long-ago goal to become a bestselling author.

All of the books have received new cover treatments, and the Palencar versions are no longer available except as used copies. But the artwork remains in my heart as some of the loveliest I have ever seen.

Keep scrolling for more great Octavia Butler stories!

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The Evolution of Octavia Butler's Cover Art

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From an editor's point of view, it's vital to obtain a great piece of cover art for every book you publish. An outstanding book cover can make a first-time writer. It can separate an author from the pack on crowded bookshelves. It telegraphs the right message to the perfect readership.