George R.R. Martin's Publisher Confirms Winds of Winter Will Not Launch This Year

Fans of the "Game of Thrones" series are anxiously awaiting the fifth installment in the series, "The Winds of Winter." Though there has been a lot of speculation about the book's release, fans may have to wait a little longer as George R.R. Martin's publisher took to Twitter to confirm that the novel is not on her schedule for 2015.

Twitter user Mike Bona asked Martin's U.K. publisher, Jane Johnson, if there is a possibility that the book will be released soon. He wrote, "@JaneJohnsonBakr what are the chances we see #TheWindsOfWinter in 2015? Or are we still headed for 2016 at this point?"

Johnson replied, "@bonefish914 It's not in our 2015 publishing schedule as it stands—I know no more than that at the moment."

Last month, rumors sparked that the book will be released soon when Martin took to Twitter to tweet his own version of "12 Days of Christmas" which he dubbed, "12 Days of Westeros". On Dec. 12, the author posted a message to quell rumors and wrote, "#12DaysofWesteros is NOT a countdown to the release of WoW, we're sorry for those of you who were misled, just spreading Christmas cheer."

Martin also took to his personal blog to let his fans know that the rumors are false. He also shot down speculations that the novel is secretly finished.

"Look, I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't play games with news about the books," Martin wrote. "I know how many people are waiting, how long they have been waiting, how anxious they are. I am still working on WINDS. When it's done, I will announce it here. There won't be any clues to decipher, any codes or hidden meanings, the announcement will be straightforward and to the point."