The Secret (book)

The Secret is a book produced by Byron Preiss and first published by Bantam in 1982. A professional book packager and architect of the work, Preiss commissioned freelancers to carry out his vision. The text is attributed to Sean Kelly and Ted Mann. Illustrations are by John Jude Palencar, John Pierard, and Overton Loyd; JoEllen Trilling, Ben Asen, and Alex Jay also contributed to the book.

The original publication (sold in both the United States and Canada) was a quality trade paperback, with a glossy full-color insert of the key images in the book: a series of enigmatic paintings. This edition saw two printings.

A limited number of hardcover editions were sold, likely intended for library use. These consist of the original paperback, with the cover removed and re-affixed to a more durable binding.

A Japanese version was published in 1983 (in two packaging variants), and the English version was re-issued in 2014 as a print-on-demand edition.

A digitized version of Preiss’ original manuscript can also be found on 12Treasures.com.

The Secret book variants

Year	ISBN	Language	Format	Publisher
1982	ISBN 0-553-01408-0	English	Paperback	Bantam
			Hardcover
1983	0276-831122-7339	Japanese	Paperback	Futami-shobo
2014	ISBN 978-1-59687-444-2	English	Hardcover	ibooks.com
	ISBN 978-1-59687-401-5		Paperback

Sections of The Secret (book)

Opening credits

This two-page spread credits:

Authors: Sean Kelly and Ted Mann (even though much of the text was written by Byron Preiss himself)

Sculptress: JoEllen Trilling

Developed and Edited by: Byron Preiss

Illustrators: John Jude Palencar, John Pierard, Overton Lloyd

Photographer: Ben Asen

Designer: Alex Jay

A Byron Preiss Book

Bantam Books

Toronto

New York

London

Sydney