No. I don't recall. I seem to remember the slipcases coming first and we soon realized that a slipcase wasn't ideal for a paperback with somewhat delicate "French wraps." If one wasn't careful the front or back (or both) covers could get bent going into the slipcase. Stu then made traycases but continued selling the slipcases at a lower price. The price of $40.00 seems right to me for the traycases but my memory may not be accurate on this.
it was $25 for the slipcase and $50 for the traycase.
if i remeber correctly, it lead to some very heated discussion in the newsgroup at the time of why would anyone pay that much to protect a paperback book that only cost $90. in fact, i think Stu left the group and stopped posting because of it.
"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes."
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus
Thanks. I'm glad you remembered. I also very distinctly remember that several members of the newsgroup refused to buy the book itself thinking $90 was a ridiculously high price for a paperback book (even if it was a S/L). Most of us however couldn't get our payment in quick enough. There was no PayPal then. You had to send payment via snail mail. Somehow the newsgroup (alt.books.stephen_king) was the first to hear about it. I rushed to the bank and got a cashier's check for $90 then hurried to the post office and sent it overnight express mail to Bangor. I ended up with copy #6. Those were the days.
I remember selling comics at an early age of about 15 or so. I would advertise in a weekly newspaper for comics, people would mail in orders, I would cash their check(wait till they cleared), then get the package ready, wait in line at the post office. Each sale could take up to a month. Now everything is so instant, which I love.
This brings back some memories for me. I did pretty much the same thing back around 1988 or so. Started a mail order business from home selling science fiction, fantasy and horror books. Placed a small ad in a magazine, printed up a catalog and mailed them out along with an order form to those who responded. Orders would arrive in the mail with checks and then I'd ship them out. Old school mail order.
Here is one thread from the newsgroup where the cost of the book and the slipcase is discussed and debated. It confirms the $25/$50 prices for the slipcase/traycase.
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
Great reading, Bev! Thanks for posting that link. I remember so many of those names and it brought back some great memories. The old newsgroup wasn't as saccharin sweet as this one is sometimes. Controversy and flame wars were frequent and you really had to get yourself ready for battle every time you logged on. I was so intimidated that I was afraid to post most of the time. I was afraid flame throwers like "Dani K." or "Robert Whelan" or "John M." would attack what I said. Hell, I'm still afraid "Dani K." might pop up somewhere even today. That bitch was mean!
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
it was $25 for the slipcase and $50 for the traycase.
if i remeber correctly, it lead to some very heated discussion in the newsgroup at the time of why would anyone pay that much to protect a paperback book that only cost $90. in fact, i think Stu left the group and stopped posting because of it.[/QUOTE]
Sales slip from Philtrum Press.
Sweet Jesus Bruce - do you EVER throw anything away???
"A real limited edition, far from being an expensive autograph stapled to a novel, is a treasure. And like all treasures do, it transforms the responsible owner into a caretaker, and being a caretaker of something as fragile and easily destroyed as ideas and images is not a bad thing but a good one...and so is the re-evaluation of what books are and what they do that necessarily follows." - Stephen King
Impressive.
I would also love a traycase for my SIX STORIES.
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
It is. Or maybe it is just the way I remember it after 20 years. I was very new to the internet (I guess we all were). But it seemed everyone else had been there for a while and had much more to say than I did. And it was intimidating as hell. Or so I remember. I wanted to be a part of the newsgroup and contribute but as a newcomer I felt shy and unsure as to what was really going on and how to contribute. Everyone else all seemed to know each other pretty well. And they definitely weren't all warm and fuzzy to newcomers. One great bit of nostalgia reading the thread about Betts and the slipcases was that there were no emoticons. We all seemed to learn how to express our thoughts and feelings with words alone.
I also remember in pretty good detail the first time I got up the nerve to respond to Bev Vincent on alt.books.stephen_king. I'll have to tell that story one day.
I don't think I participated in the newsgroup, but I remember the name Robert Whelan - why was he notorious? I recall the name, but no specifics.
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.
Yeah, I did some research - I think I DID particpate lightly and do remember that people actually thought Whelan WAS Stephen King.
I could look up my posts, but I probably had a different user name and don't remember what it was.
On-topic - I want Dark Tower II #71 if anybody has it!
Author of The Road to the Dark Tower, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences and The Dark Tower Companion. Co-editor with Stephen King of the anthology Flight or Fright.