Joyland, a crime / mystery novel set in an amusement park, will be released in print version only in June. As well as the standard paperback edition, the novel will be offered in limited edition hardcover, with 750 copies signed by King. Joyland will be published by Hard Case Crime, who specialise in releasing ‘hardboiled’ crime stories with retro cover design.

King has retained the digital rights for Joyland. Regarding the book’s potential future release as an e-book, King told the Wall Street Journal "maybe at some point, but in the meantime, let people stir their sticks and go to an actual bookstore rather than a digital one."

Shunning a digital version is a change for King, who many cite as one of the most important figures in kick-starting the electronic book revolution. In 2000 he released his novella Riding the Bullet exclusively online, managing  500,000 downloads. Its initial publication, at a price of €2, crashed the provider’s servers.  He was one of the first authors to release such a high-profile electronic book, and has since gone on to publish a selection of novellas and short stories online alongside e-books of his novels.

King has released over fifty full-length novels over the course of his forty year career, after debuting with Carrie in 1974. King will be returning to the horror fiction he made his name with later this year when he completes Doctor Sleep, a sequel to his classic The Shining.