Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Heard about a new SK project? Maybe there's a new book signing you know of - Post it here!
doktordru
Posts: 45
Joined: Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:16 pm
Karma: 0

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by doktordru »

jimimck wrote:
If you can find where I ever said that THIS PROJECT is not a huge announcement or that THIS PROJECT is not selling out fast, I will retract everything I've said
Um,
The main reason I'm disillusioned is that everything is a 'HUGE announcement' and 'selling out fast'...even when it's not

Personally I think you picked the wrong time and wrong announcement to make an observation ref CD's marketing policy.

Let's not forget the original Double Day books are pretty poor in terms of production, even if you have fine examples. And with the books in this series, coupled with CD's production values I see them as being the ones to own unless you have fine editions of the DD's or SL of The Stand, Salem's Lot etc.

Also the regular edition seems fairly affordable so all in, from my perspective good job!

Andrew
jcf817
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:56 am
Karma: 0

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by jcf817 »

doktordru wrote:
jimimck wrote:
If you can find where I ever said that THIS PROJECT is not a huge announcement or that THIS PROJECT is not selling out fast, I will retract everything I've said
Um,
The main reason I'm disillusioned is that everything is a 'HUGE announcement' and 'selling out fast'...even when it's not

Personally I think you picked the wrong time and wrong announcement to make an observation ref CD's marketing policy.

Let's not forget the original Double Day books are pretty poor in terms of production, even if you have fine examples. And with the books in this series, coupled with CD's production values I see them as being the ones to own unless you have fine editions of the DD's or SL of The Stand, Salem's Lot etc.

Also the regular edition seems fairly affordable so all in, from my perspective good job!

Andrew
I appreciate your fair criticism of my opinion.

It still boggles my mind that people would pay $1000 for a new SK edition NOT signed by King. I have no problem with people doing so if they want to, I just don't think it's worth it. How is this book going to hold its value?

I get it. My opinion matters very little to the collector who has...and can afford...everything. I sold most of my collection a couple years ago because it was costing too much to keep up with the plethora of new editions coming out all the time and it was overtaking the place where I live. I've kept the ones that I find truly special (DT 1sts, IT 25th, UtD flat-signed from an event in St. Paul, and others) and will only add to it those editions that really capture my attention. Perhaps even The Stand from this series.
BrianJamesFreeman
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 am
Karma: 3

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by BrianJamesFreeman »

jcf817 wrote:It still boggles my mind that people would pay $1000 for a new SK edition NOT signed by King. I have no problem with people doing so if they want to, I just don't think it's worth it. How is this book going to hold its value?
I think, for some of the collectors, it's not a matter of making money from their collection or the book holding its value, but instead they want that very well-crafted special edition as part of their collection because they know it'll be gorgeous and unique. In the case of this Lettered Edition, it won't be on the same level of materials and design as our regular Stephen King Lettered Editions simply because my production budget is about 1/2 of what it normally would be, but I'm still working with our hand-binder and our box maker to make this the most beautiful edition of Carrie I possibly can. It will look and feel unique and it should be an impressive presentation that they'll be proud to show their friends.
jcf817 wrote:I've kept the ones that I find truly special (DT 1sts, IT 25th, UtD flat-signed from an event in St. Paul, and others) and will only add to it those editions that really capture my attention.
I don't think anyone has a problem with that collecting philosophy. You collect what you love. I think that's the point for most of us. :)

Brian
BrianJamesFreeman
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 am
Karma: 3

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by BrianJamesFreeman »

I posted this over at the Dark Tower board, but I thought it might be of interest to anyone who is curious about costs, etc:

If anyone's interested, here's something that's probably a little too "inside baseball" about the high-end paper stocks we use:

There's a particular line of 80# "super fine" heavy paper we like to use for the SK books when we can, but they've discontinued several variations of that line over the years. So we've moved from line to line, always checking the quality first, but the cost has gone up at an alarming rate because there are a lot fewer paper manufacturers around these day and demand for this type of paper stock has been plummeting.

We've priced out other lines from other vendors that are of a similar quality and weight, but the prices end up in the same range. To give you an idea at how much the cost has gone up, the quote I just received for the paper special order for Carrie is four times higher than what the paper order for From A Buick 8 cost even though the total order volume for Carrie is significantly smaller. So we're getting less paper and paying more for it.

This is actually a semi-serious problem for high-end collectible books because of how quickly worldwide paper demand is dropping. Lower demand, fewer suppliers, and you'll see higher costs and less options. The higher you have to price the books, the fewer collectors who can afford them. And if the mid-range collectors lose interest in collecting, that's really bad for the publishers since the "I'll buy a few things I like each year" collectors are the ones who really keep small press publishers running.

Luckily for us, we don't specialize in the super high-end books. We have a lot of affordable Limited Editions each year that make up the bulk of our list, and we have a very strong customer base who have been very loyal for many years.

Anyway, I just wanted to toss that out there in case it was of interest!

Brian
User avatar
TheCollector
Site Admin
Posts: 1805
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:00 pm
Karma: 118
Location: West Coast
Contact:

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by TheCollector »

Thanks for the info Brian, I can speak similarly to case costs. Slipcase costs have risen at least 50% since I started doing them and the shipping from the bindery to me is up 100%.
BrianJamesFreeman
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 am
Karma: 3

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by BrianJamesFreeman »

TheCollector wrote:Thanks for the info Brian, I can speak similarly to case costs. Slipcase costs have risen at least 50% since I started doing them and the shipping from the bindery to me is up 100%.
Yeah, that's a great point. A lot of the increases come down to the cost and availability of materials, but also just general fuel costs going up as well. Every step of the production process involves materials being transported from place to place. From the company that supplies the pulp to the paper manufacturer, from the paper manufacturer to the printer, from the printer to you, etc. As fuel costs have gone up, the prices have gone up every step of the way.

Brian
jcf817
Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:56 am
Karma: 0

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by jcf817 »

Brian, perhaps you can answer this:

Will The Stand be the original Doubleday version or the Complete Uncut version?

I'm actually excited about the possibility of an affordable limited edition of The Stand.
BrianJamesFreeman
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 am
Karma: 3

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by BrianJamesFreeman »

jcf817 wrote:Brian, perhaps you can answer this:

Will The Stand be the original Doubleday version or the Complete Uncut version?

I'm actually excited about the possibility of an affordable limited edition of The Stand.
I checked and our contract is for the Complete Uncut version, which is SK's preferred version. I've heard from several presses that have asked to publish the '78 version over the years, but you can probably guess what answer they received since we haven't seen that happen yet. ;)

Best,
Brian
User avatar
TheCollector
Site Admin
Posts: 1805
Joined: Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:00 pm
Karma: 118
Location: West Coast
Contact:

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by TheCollector »

BrianJamesFreeman wrote:
jcf817 wrote:Brian, perhaps you can answer this:

Will The Stand be the original Doubleday version or the Complete Uncut version?

I'm actually excited about the possibility of an affordable limited edition of The Stand.
I checked and our contract is for the Complete Uncut version, which is SK's preferred version. I've heard from several presses that have asked to publish the '78 version over the years, but you can probably guess what answer they received since we haven't seen that happen yet. ;)

Best,
Brian
You know what I think would be really neat Brian? If there was some way to differentiate the added text in the uncut version from the original 1978 release. For example the added uncut text in Red, sort of how some bibles show where Jesus is speaking directly in red....Hope that makes sense.

I've always been curious exactly what was added, but never had the time to sit down and put each book side by side to document the changes. I don't know any edition that has tried.
BrianJamesFreeman
Posts: 68
Joined: Wed Apr 17, 2013 5:15 am
Karma: 3

Re: Anniversary editions annouced by Cemetery Dance

Post by BrianJamesFreeman »

TheCollector wrote:You know what I think would be really neat Brian? If there was some way to differentiate the added text in the uncut version from the original 1978 release. For example the added uncut text in Red, sort of how some bibles show where Jesus is speaking directly in red....Hope that makes sense.

I've always been curious exactly what was added, but never had the time to sit down and put each book side by side to document the changes. I don't know any edition that has tried.
I've always thought that would be a neat idea, too.

Brian
Post Reply