I’m afraid my memory for such things isn’t very good… Unless the book is a singular standout, most of what I read I don’t recall very well as time wears on, some of it vanishing almost as soon as I close the covers. That said, I do remember that the Ketchum and Mayberry books were quite good, as was the Joe Hill.Originally Posted by jeffingoff
Yeah I'm surprised they have a complete set to sell me considering the Joe Hill issues.
Very nice Ron!
I really want the Green Lansdale but that one doesn’t seem to come up for sale very often.
ETA: Of course right after I said this, one is on eBay and is currently at a reasonable price.
Yes, but then again I'm a fan of the series:
Last edited by TacomaDiver; 03-14-2018 at 01:11 AM.
Anyone know why Borderlands is going from a limitation of 500 to 350? Series I and II were both 500, right?
They were. My suspicion is that it's due to poorer than expected sales. A number of the Series II books are still available from their store.
That would be my assumption as well; I can't conceive of any other reason why a publisher would decrease the limitation on a series that was otherwise selling out its larger print run.
Interesting. Hard to prevent people from cherry picking authors. Not everyone is a completist. Selfishly, I'm happy with the development. It'll be nice to have matching numbers for all of series III which will be even more limited.
Would be even sweeter if Lansdale appeared again!
It's also interesting that they didn't raise the price at all. The collectors would probably hang on even with a bump to $35, especially if the quantities are even more limited on these signed editions. I think this is a cool concept and I'm surprised I didn't jump in earlier.
Series I was cheaper ($20 or $25, I can't recall); the price was raised for Series II. For Series III, I'm not sure many would go for such a small, thin book for over $30, given that full-length standard/large size S/Ls run for $40. I'd probably do it because I've been in from the beginning, but if I were just starting, I can't see paying $35 or $40 for these things...they're nice, but they're mostly reprints, fairly plain with no djs and have limited embossing to boards, presumably not smyth-sewn, etc.
I could probably stomach $35 IF they came through on all the authors they claim they're in negotiations with for this series, but they're hitting a regular who's who of my list of favorite authors. In general I agree that $30 is probably the sweet spot for these books.
And like Brian, I'm interested to see how they handle King if they can get him. Inexpensive signed books aren't totally unheard of, and Tom Monteleone has been around long enough that I suspect he could call in a favor or two to make it happen. Perhaps more likely, now that I've had some time to think about it, is that a King Little Book just wouldn't be signed at all (despite the claim that all books will be signed by the author), or perhaps signed by the editor of such a volume.
That sucks for the folks who currently hold complete sets 351-500.
If they do a King Little Book, I could see them going with a facsimile sig.
I like these books quite a bit, but agree that the $30 range is about where I would top out. I might be willing to go higher for original material, but this almost all reprints. My favorites from Series II that I’ve read so far are the ones by David Schow, Ed Gorman and Jack Ketchum.
I’d be rather frustrated if I had a complete set of Series I and II with a number over 350. Though it isn’t the press’s fault that the print run might have to be reduced for financial reasons, the loss of maintaining that matching numbered set would sting quite a bit.
As far as King goes, I guess we’ll have to wait and see. I can see both the editor’s signature or facsimile signature as an option, but I’d think it would be cool of King to do one at a reduced price point. Both Hill and Gaiman did volumes so it might not be a huge stretch. To be honest even without King, the lineup for Series III looks phenomenal.
I can see a few other ways to handle King.
1. A subscriber's only price with an expanded print run. Let's say the King book gets a print run of 500. For those who "own" a number (1-350) to all books in series 3, you will be eligible to buy a King Little Book at $30. Numbers 351-500 can be sold to the cherry picking public at a much higher cost.
2. A subscriber's only exclusive. King's book is NOT one of the 15 in series 3. It is a bonus book that will be available to subscriber's first (those who "own" a number) and once that preorder window is closed then it will be offered to the cherry pickers. They can set whatever price they want. And they can also offer a discount to "subscribers."
3. Just another book in Series 3. No catches. No special deals. Just another book in the series that will go to people who own a number first and then everyone else first come-first served.
The problem is that there are "subscribers" who do not subscribe through Borderlands direct. I've been getting mine through Camelot since the first volume. So Borderlands has no idea which dealers they send books to have customers w/ set numbers, nor how many of these dealers' customers reserve numbers, nor which numbers, etc. Plus even though Borderlands direct, not all numbers 1 through 300 are reserved, so the logistics of managing reserved vs. unreserved would be a nightmare. Same w/ #2...there don't know how many subscribers there are to determine the print run for reserved numbers (again, since the dealers, ala Camelot, don't indicate to them which of the numbers they receive are reserved numbers, etc.). Same with #3: How does Borderlands know who (or how many) owns a number, given that once the books are out the door to the dealers they lose logistical control? They don't/can't.
I like the fairness doctrine you're trying to create, the from-the-top filter that protects reserved-number owners, but I don't see how that's at all possible, given the issues I outline above, i.e. Borderlands' inability to know and determine who many of these owners are.
It seems Borderlands could avoid that issue by just treating other retailers (CD, Camelot, etc.) as subscribers in their own right, so they'll get as many copies of a potential King Little Book as they would any other, offering to match numbers per usual.
Really the main thing to avoid is a repeat of the clusterfuck that surrounded the Joe Hill Little Book last year, and having an exclusive preorder period for customers (including other retailers!) that have bought all the other books in the series up to that point. That satisfies all of their direct long-time customers, and shifts the onus of non-direct customers onto the other retailers (most of which can handle these things just fine). Once subscribers are taken care of, you open up preorders to the general public on a first-come, first-served basis.
It's not an especially difficult thing to do, Borderlands just need to be willing to cancel the orders of people that don't qualify but get the order link anyhow.
For what it's worth we confirmed with Borderlands that we'd be able to get the same number of books for every book in the series, including a King one if there is a King book.
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I have opted to stay quiet on this as I will not order directly from Borderlands Press.
Side Note: I have been unwilling to order from Borderlands long before the Joe Hill Little Book issues. I had issues with them back around 2006 and they are simply a company I will not deal directly with. As they have produced books I want I have picked them up from other retailers, and that has worked for me. The first snag in that was last year with the Joe Hill book. With my prior issues with Borderlands that was a last straw for me and I decided it would be very hard for me to buy a Borderlands book again.
Well then this series comes along with many confirmed authors I want including Owen King and Richard Chizmar, including a possibility of a Stephen King book. I initially disregarded them as not for me as I expected with the reduced quantity and the issues from last year that you could only buy it from Borderlands and I will not do that. Trust me on this, I will never buy directly from Borderlands without regard of what they offer. Then today I got the offer to begin the series III little books with rights to each subsequent book. I truly believe that Borderlands as a company does not care about its customers but I do like some of the books they produce. I am trying once again to buy their books through another retailer. Hopefully it will go well, I will not be surprised if it does not.
Regarding a King signed book for $30.00, I do believe they would have no problem doing that. One of my prized books is actually a Borderlands book bought directly from Borderlands. Quietly Now is signed by Stephan King and many others and retailed for $40.00.
This will be my first experience going directly through Borderlands. May of the Hill books were damaged I believed and I'd heard that their packaging isn't that great. I guess I'll find out first hand soon enough.
I don't recall the fiasco that surrounded the Hill book. Did they oversell it? I had to get a copy on the secondary market.
Yeah, I was fortunate enough to get in on that as well.
Borderlands oversold, and someone posted the secret CD link over at TDT prior to open orders here, so they (CD) sold out before at least some folks that had been getting the whole series had a chance to buy their copy.
Here's Brian F.'s post on the topic.
Last edited by slayn666; 03-15-2018 at 05:45 PM.
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