A press release from Open Road Integrated Media:

Open Road Integrated Media, Octavia E. Butler’s digital publisher, announced today that it will release Unexpected Stories, two previously unpublished works by award-winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler, author of Parable of the Sower, Kindred, and many other novels. The first African American to come to prominence as a science fiction author, Butler is beloved by fans of all genres, who have connected with her deeply moving stories about race, religion, gender, and society.

Butler’s longtime literary agent, Merrilee Heifetz, discovered the stories with the help of the archivists at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California, where Butler’s papers are housed.

Butler, who died in 2006, would have turned sixty-seven this year. In 2010, she was posthumously inducted into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. With the release of Unexpected Stories, her many fans will be able to enjoy new stories from the novelist cherished for her imaginative vision and powerful prose.

“I worked with Octavia for many years and saw firsthand the devotion her readers expressed for her and her work. To be able to publish new stories for those readers is a joyful occasion,” said Betsy Mitchell, Open Road’s strategic advisor for science fiction and fantasy.

Open Road already publishes ten ebooks by the legendary writer, including Parable of the Sower and Wild Seed. Unexpected Stories is available for presale today, with a publication date of June 24, 2014.

This will be the second release of a newly discovered work by an iconic author whose backlist Open Road publishes. In 2013, Open Road published The Eternal Wonder by Pearl S. Buck, which was found in a storage unit in Texas.

About Open Road Integrated Media
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media. Open Road has published ebooks from legendary authors including William Styron, Pat Conroy, Alice Walker, Bette Greene, and Virginia Hamilton.