Originally Posted by Rahfa
Wow. John is fast.
Wow. John is fast.
Haha....thought the same thing...I try to avoid making declarative statements about dates like that unless I'm absolutely sure...haha...
I do not yet own a copy, yet the S/L of DANSE MACABRE seem to always be offered at prices that are too high to be of interest to me. I guess in that regard, I agree with Bill.
Don't be surprised if the Illustrated Masques has the same font, as it's a similar in style book.Oh! I almost forgot this one. I feel bad for any Bradbury fans. The text of the heavily illustrated Fall of the House of Usher by Poe and Usher II by Bradburdy, (an S/L collection) is done entirely in the F*CKING font COMIC SANS. Which I'm pretty sure automatically qualifies it as the worst S/L in history.
Thank you Gauntlet Press, for making my eyes bleed.
ETA: It also has the most home-made-y photoshop-y graphic art disaster that has ever been perpetrated on a cover.
My worst goes to Subterranean Press for any Ray Bradbury Lettered Edition that cost $750. It's the same book as the limited edition but with a fake leather binding and about an extra 5-10 pages of bonus content. I can honestly say I almost cried when I received the books after paying so much money and received so little of a difference between the Lettered and Limited. And then I did it again and bought another Bradbury Lettered for $750 and again it was a limited in fake leather but $700 more. Biggest rip offs in my book buying career. This is a prime example of publisher greed. Charge more because of the author but do not utilize that elevated cost in book materials - take the money and run
Geoff
The Transgression S/L is a pretty mundane presentation, although at $200 it wasn't a ripoff.
I love SubPress for their selection of books. No other small press publishes anything close to SP's selection for stuff I actually want to read. That and Bill has always taken care of me with excellent customer service, despite my often unusual requests.
That being said, their limiteds have gotten a bit formulaic of late and with the exception of the traycase, their lettereds are almost always identical to the numbered. Unfortunately, the prices are often based on the popularity of the author as well. As you mentioned, Bradbury. Also Gaiman, Stephenson and others. But that, I suppose is not entirely surprising... higher demand = higher prices. Though as you mention, for $700 more, I'd expect a top of the line production.
On theotherthird? hand, their volume growth has been incredible in the last years also. One can hardly call them small press any longer. I think I remember a newsletter saying that they had published somewhere around 100 books last year with more expected this year. It's hardly surprising they've gotten formulaic.
On the secondary market yes. I find it disgraceful the way publishers inflate prices simply because they know they have a market for those authors. If you want to make a great looking book then go for it (you'll still pocket a ton more profit than on a normal title) but don't just jack up the price because you know you can get away with it.I love SubPress for their selection of books. No other small press publishes anything close to SP's selection for stuff I actually want to read. That and Bill has always taken care of me with excellent customer service, despite my often unusual requests.
That being said, their limiteds have gotten a bit formulaic of late and with the exception of the traycase, their lettereds are almost always identical to the numbered. Unfortunately, the prices are often based on the popularity of the author as well. As you mentioned, Bradbury. Also Gaiman, Stephenson and others. But that, I suppose is not entirely surprising... higher demand = higher prices. Though as you mention, for $700 more, I'd expect a top of the line production.
On theotherthird? hand, their volume growth has been incredible in the last years also. One can hardly call them small press any longer. I think I remember a newsletter saying that they had published somewhere around 100 books last year with more expected this year. It's hardly surprising they've gotten formulaic.
Look at the production values of this book: http://cgi.ebay.ca/Brian-Keene-DARKN...item56364373a6 - its nicer than 90% of the lettered editions that are being produced and it retailed for $175. The publisher is one of the best businessmen I know, so I can guarantee that there was room for a worthwhile profit at that price too. So at $750 SubPress could at least make a nice book that wouldn't make their customers feel violated.
Hell, even CD - everyone's old whipping boy makes an effort. They charge almost twice as much for King books compared to their normal titles, but they at least make them worthwhile with the addition of the slipcase.
Yea Eric I own both books, the Keene book's material are about a 100 times nicer, and with the more expensive materials than the materials used with the Bradbury books. And to top it off I saw Bob's two Simmons Lettered Editions of the Terror and Drood and they were beautiful. Why Sub Press decided that it was ok to use expensive materials for Dan Simmons and not with Ray Bradbury is confusing. Also add to the fact the Bradbury copies were $250 more than the Simmons books makes you wonder why they couldn't aford to make a better book.
btw, the two books were Farewell Summer and I Sing the Body Electric. Go with the limited Editions on these.
@thegreattim - I agree, I stopped calling them a small publisher a few years back when I noticed in Locus Magazine that their annual output of books was more than some large publishers in New York. And their hectic pacing and amount of books that come out do make the books formulaic. But they do make exceptions at times as noted above.
Geoff
I might as well put in a vote for worst King Limited Edition. As for the ones I own (No I did not buy the pop-up book) it would have to be Cujo. I actually like it on the shelf, but they took the Trade Edition and put cloth boards on it with a signature sheet and slipcase and that was it. Having the same book block as the trade edition is awful!
Geoff
Well, how can I say this? I'll try but it may come across wrong:
Publishing companies like Cemetery Dance, Donald Grant, etc. have truly raised the bar on what a limited edition is today. You can easily look back on an older Cujo and say blah, why so plain? But when I got my copy in the 80's, I said WOW! Why? Because I didn't know a limited could get any better. Again, this probably is coming out wrong, but I won't compare what we expect and have today to what we had in the 80's.
And I'll say this (and it looks like I'm the only one..haha)...I like my TGWLTG signed limited. When guest visit my closet they take notice of all the books but two always get questions, Salem's Lot S/L & TGWLTG S/L.
Mulleins
I agree with you, Ralph. Even though I was not collecting books back in the 80's or 90's, I would imagine that Cujo was pretty awesome looking when it was released. I would have been thrilled to get a copy back then.
As I've stated before, I wasn't THAT impressed by the s/l Cujo even when it first came out.
John
John,
If Cujo had a jacket on it created specifically for the limited, like Whelan did for Firestarter, would you consider it a better S/L? Just curious. Personally, I always thought the gold leaf stamping of the Before Cujo and the After Cujo on the front was very cool. JMO
I think the first limited that truly raised the bar though was The Stand. After that, my expectations starting going up. Yes, Firestarter lettered was nice but honestly I didn't know about it at the time. A friend of mine showed me a picture of his copy and I thought he was joking.
Mulleins
Ralph, you may be right about the Cujo dust jacket. The clear acetate one just did nothing for me. Perhaps if it had a jacket similar to that of Firestarter, I could feel otherwise.
John
I do like the way Cujo looks on the shelf as I mentioned. I like the stamping, but the paper quality is horrible. It's a book to buy and put on the shelf and never touch again. Personally I like to read my Limited Editions. I know a lot of people don't but I do, so when I spend all that money I also want to be able to read the book.
Geoff
sk
I agree. I don't have many but those I do own have been read several times. If I can't enjoy them I don't see the point in buying them.I do like the way Cujo looks on the shelf as I mentioned. I like the stamping, but the paper quality is horrible. It's a book to buy and put on the shelf and never touch again. Personally I like to read my Limited Editions. I know a lot of people don't but I do, so when I spend all that money I also want to be able to read the book.
The only times I don't read my expensive editions is when they become too huge and unwieldy to do so comfortably, so the CD Full Dark will be fare game but there's no way I would sit down with that huge edition of Salems Lot.
You should try it. The heft, the way the pages are design for handling, and the feel of the paper of the Centipede limited make reading 'Salem's Lot a whole new experience.
Just wash your hands first so oils from your fingers don't soil the pages.
Large books can also be read sitting at a table with the book lying in front of you.
READ limited edition books!? No way, I'd much rather buy them for lots of money, crack them open once to verify authenticity, and then put them on my shelf for the rest of eternity.
LOL, it sounds funny, but that's what I do. I'm basically buying really expensive decorations, lol.
Sucks to hear about people not liking Cujo, that's my next S/L I'm buying on the 15th
My vote, should it mean anything, is the Under The Dome S/L (which I'm also buying on the 15th, lol!). I mean, really, not numbered? That just seems wrong!
Shannon
P.S. In regards to Blockade Billy, I like the baseball card signing. It's different, you know? And while different might not always be the best idea ever, different is still different.
I like the production of the Blockade Billy S/L, i just wasn't a fan of the story which is why i didn't order a copy
I must say the only reason I ordered a copy of BB was I was so happy I was given the opportunity to. No idea if it is actually hard to be picked for things like that or not, but I got swept up in the hoopla, and since I had the funds at the time, took the plunge.
I'm not a huge fan of the story either, and even considered selling/trading the book towards something i thought I'd like more, but now I have it, I'm glad I didn't as I think the production is AWESOME.
Hmmmm upon reflection, this post doesn't really qualify for "worst S/L ever ay? lol
Will the S/L 11.22.63 belong in this group?
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