Little, Brown to Release Twilight Novella From Stephenie Meyer

Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, a division of Hachette Book Group, announced that it will release the first new title from Stephenie Meyer in nearly two years. "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" is a novella told from the point of view of Bree, a character originally featured in Eclipse, the third book in the "Twilight" series. The 192-page novella will be released at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, June 5 in hardcover for $13.99, with a first printing of 1.5 million copies. It also will be available as an e-book beginning at 6 a.m. EST on June 5.

One dollar for each book sold in the United States from the first printing will be donated to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which supports disaster relief efforts such as those in Haiti and Chile. Donations will continue until all first printing copies have been sold or at the end of a two-year period from the initial publication date, whichever is the first to occur.

“I’m as surprised as anyone about this novella,” says Meyer. “When I began working on it in 2005, it was simply an exercise to help me examine the other side of Eclipse, which I was editing at the time. I thought it might end up as a short story that I could include on my Web site. Then, when work started on "The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide," I thought the guide would be a good fit for my Bree story. However, the story grew longer than I anticipated, until it was too long to fit into the guide.”

According to Little, Brown, Meyer will give fans exclusive access to the novel on a dedicated Web site, www.BreeTanner.com, from June 7 to July 5, where fans will be able to read the book online in English. “I’d always considered 'The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner' as something for the fans,” said Meyer. “They have been so supportive of all things 'Twilight.'”