Although Malta’s publishing scene has always faced hardships and setbacks, its publishers have been unwavering in their goal to release beautiful, informative, and collectable titles.
In this series, called Rarities from the Publishers’ Archives, we take a look back at some of the most special books Malta’s publishers have ever released.
Here, Chris Gruppetta, the director of publishing at Merlin Publishers, shares with us a story about a very limited, customised edition of Mark Vella’s debut novel, X’seta’ ġralu lil Kevin Cacciattolo?, which has since become a fan-favourite.
What’s the book about? X’seta’ ġralu lil Kevin Cacciattolo? is a novel about a young autistic boy called Kevin, who goes missing in the 80s, and about a journalist from the 90s who sort of takes on the case. It was the winning manuscript in Merlin’s first #abbozz literary competition, and Vella’s debut novel in Maltese.
What’s special about it? The particular edition shared here was an exclusive-to-book friends, or what would today be termed “influencers”. Basically, a few weeks before the launch, we had 20 exclusive pre-publication copies printed for book reviewers, media contacts, and so on. But what made these 20 copies special, aside from their being advance copies, was that the front cover of each was personalised with the name and surname of each recipient printed on their copy’s cover, playing on the question of the book title.
Since then: It’s become something of a niche cult novel, being the first novel by Mark Vella, who’s a well-known name in Maltese book circles and who’s lived multiple lives in different roles in the industry throughout the years.
What’s it worth? As far as I know, none of the 20 copies have been released back into circulation (either that, or it was done very discreetly, and I don’t know about it…)
Upcoming publications: I’m thrilled to announce a new novel by M.J. Camilleri in English, which is unusual for us… But it was such a great read, I couldn’t pass on it.
