Back in 2004 Ben had contacted Donald Grant publishers to recommend they do a 30th anniversary limited edition of 'Salem's Lot. he was quite surprised to hear that a small, unheard of publisher (Centipede Press) was already in the process of doing so. Ben was especially intrigued by the fact that this limited edition would include deleted scenes from the original manuscript. When Ben received the SL limited he was very pleased as it is a beautifully crafted book.
As good as the limited edition was, Ben thought it would have been better if the book had included the original manuscript as well. He acquired a copy of the original manuscript year or so later. After reading it Ben felt that there might be a small subset of 'Salem's Lot junkies who would appreciate and desire a very limited edition of Second Coming in a manuscript format. Ben has some small press publishing experience and had a clear picture in his mind of how it would look - and went to work putting together a proposal and prototype.
The plan was to publish 300 signed and numbered 9 1/4" x 6 1/4" casebound copies with an illustrated dustjacket and 10 signed and numbered leatherbound copies with title and author name foil stamped on the front and spine. Ben originally thought about housing the books in coffins with Sarlinov's (the vampire Barlow's original name) coat of arms on front, but in the end felt that a simple cloth slipcase was better (and much more manageable). He had the manuscript converted to a word document and then into Quark for the book format and design. Ben used images from paintings by his favorite artist, Robert Addison, for the Marsten House, Deserted Village, and Epilogue part opener illustrations along with photographs by Simon Marsden for the title page and Emperor of Ice Cream part opener. The plan was to use title page image for the limited edition dustjacket cover as well.
For the finished prototypes (4 complete books) the materials used were Mohawk Superfine 70# white paper (100# for the illustrations) and lightly grained Black Serena leather for the casing. Total page count is 444. During the spring of 2006, a proposal was submitted with the cover image, all front matter, part openers and a sample chapter. Ben wasn't necessarily surprised when, 6 months later, it was rejected. Coming on the heels of the 'Salem's Lot limited SK probably considered it overkill. In his proposal letter Ben tried to use the analogy of music fans who might be interested in hearing the demo version of a favorite song but to no avail.
Of course Ben was disappointed that the project didn't go thru but was also very happy with the fact that he now had the ultimate consolation prize: a bound and illustrated copy of Second Coming that he could read for years to come!
