Book 1 Hardcover Pre-Order

G'day all,

TL;DR:

• Hardcovers of book 1 available for pre-order.

• Release Date: July 7th, 2026

• Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/he-who-fights-with-monsters-vol-1-travis-deverell/1148560224

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1638493456

I know that a lot of people have been hoping for a hardcover release, but I'm going to be a little selfish and start by talking about what this means to me. By any reasonable metric, He Who Fights With Monsters has been a runaway success, but there has always been the one experience that I've never had as an author. As someone who has always sold through online platforms, I've never had that moment where I walk into a bookstore and see my book on the shelf. Now, that day is officially coming, and I'm having trouble wiping the big dumb grin off my face.

2026 is going to be a big year for the series. Alongside the hardcover releases, there will be some other things that I'm not quite ready to talk about yet, but am very excited over. There is also a very good chance that the series will come to a conclusion next year. I've had the end of the series dancing about in the back of my head since the very beginning, and I hope that that you all get a satisfaction from it that lives up to my anticipation.

Some of my fellow litRPG authors are currently running kickstarters for special edition hardcovers, namely the delightful Matt Dinniman of Dungeon Crawler Carl fame, and my good friend RinoZ with his series Chrysalis. I know many of you would like to see some extra-fancy special edition HWFWM hardcovers, separate from the hardcover retail release, but I guess we'll have to wait and see what next year brings. Anyway, here are some links if you want to check out the Chrysalis or DCC special editions.

• DCC: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinniman/dungeon-crawler-carl-v2-and-v3-limited-edition-hardcovers

• Chrysalis: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1943799137/chrysalis-the-antventure-begins

Getting my books into stores like a big boy is going to be a massive milestone for me. My friends are going to find me insufferably smug for much longer than they'd like, but my mum will be very proud. They will be out in time for LitRPG Con next year, which I am very much looking forward to attending, so I should be good for signing books until my wrist drops off. I am so sorry to have missed it this year, with my friends who attended telling me how much fun it was. Hopefully, there will be no more life-threatening disasters.

-Shirt