We’re pretty excited about ‘Scoundrels,’ The Timothy Zahn-written Han Solo heist caper due out this year. After listening to three chapters of the story at Origins, I can say this is one of my most eagerly anticipated titles in years. It strikes me as a book that’s got a lot for  long-time Expanded Universe fans, but more importantly, an entry point for new readers and ones that have drifted away over the years.

So, yes, we’re pumped for this book. There’s just one little problem. It’s due to release on December 26th, 2012.

I’ve had some conversations with friends and other bloggers around the EU fandom, and for the most part we’re all in agreement. This is a book we would gift to other fans during the Holidays. It’s a book that fans would put on their gift list. It’s, really, the perfect Expanded Universe gift for that time of the year, but its release date misses that target.

We want to see books like Scoundrels succeed. Moving the date up just one week, we believe, would help bring in new and lapsed readers and would encourage longtime readers to pick up a copy.

So we’ve put together a petition asking Del Rey to slide the release date up just one week. We’d love to have a few days before the Holidays to pick up this book for friends and other fans. It’s just the book for any Star Wars fan and we want to make sure people read it.