Peter Schneider Question and answer-Thread opens 8/19/2015-1PM EDT

[Randall Flagg]

Peter Schneider, owner of Hill House publishing, chief architect for the creation and production of several of Stephen King's limited edition books has graciously agreed to do a Q&A for our members.
Peter was intimately involved in "The Regulators" Signed Limited and Lettered editions, as well as the iconic coffin case "The Stand" Signed Limited.

I'm sure I've not given his complete resume justice.

To start the thread, member carlosdetweiller (Bob Jackson-preeminent Collector and authority on Collectible Stephen King items) has submitted two questions.

Please allow Mr. Schneider time to answer a few questions before flooding the thread.
Off topic posts will be promptly deleted.

Question one:

Peter, the S/L of The Stand (Coffin Box) and the S/L of The Regulators (both numbered and lettered) are among the most innovative of all the Stephen King S/L's and are among the most prized by collectors. You were intimately involved in the production and design of both. What were those experiences like? And how did you get such a cool job at Doubleday anyway?

Question two:

The cancelled checks that were used in the S/L's of The Regulators to add Bachman's signature (since he was dead and couldn't sign the books themselves) show a lot of knowledge of King's early writing. Who came up with 500 plus unique references for all the checks? Did you do it yourself or have help?

[Randall Flagg]

The thread will open today at 1:00 PM EDT.

[Randall Flagg]

Thread is open. Please wit to post until Mr. Schneider introduces himself.

[PeterSchneider]

Peter, the S/L of The Stand (Coffin Box) and the S/L of The Regulators (both numbered and lettered) are among the most innovative of all the Stephen King S/L's and are among the most prized by collectors. You were intimately involved in the production and design of both. What were those experiences like? And how did you get such a cool job at Doubleday anyway?

Hi, Randall,

Last I heard you were just waking up in Africa. Anyway, here's a longish answer to your question.

I started reading King back in 1997, when a college friend threw a pb of 'SALEM'S LOT across the room at me and said, "Here you go, Snides. I think you'll like this one." I read it overnight and, yes, I did like it.

Flash forward to Grand Rapids, MI in 1979 -- I'm looking through the library card catalog for titles by James Blish when a hand-annotated card shows up. It's for a pb written by Richard Bachman, and someone has written across the top, "This is Stephen King." (I don't remember if the book was THE LONG WALK or RAGE.) I was doubtful about this, but I took the book home, and by the time I finished it, I knew it was Stephen King.

In 1981, after working at a religious publisher in Grand Rapids for two years and an abortive year at law school, I got an editorial job at Doubleday (in the religion dept.). I actually got this job because I had had an interview with William G. Thompson (King's original editor, at this point working at Everest House) who made a call to an old friend of his at Doubleday.

After two years in editorial, I moved into the Publicity dept., where one of the first books I worked on was PET SEMATARY.

And now I'll stop this answer, simply because I could sit here and type for literally hours. But on to Question Two.

Question two:

The cancelled checks that were used in the S/L's of The Regulators to add Bachman's signature (since he was dead and couldn't sign the books themselves) show a lot of knowledge of King's early writing. Who came up with 500 plus unique references for all the checks? Did you do it yourself or have help?[/quote][/QUOTE]

The answer to this question is quite long, so I'll simply give you the short version.

I had two days to fill out all the checks, and I was intent on making as many as possible unique names related to SK. Fortunately, I had at hand the STEPHEN KING ENCYCLOPEDIA by Stephen Spignesi. At this point I had read (and reread) every single SK book, so I knew the context for almost all of the people, places, and things -- but I would have been lost without Stephen's monumental work. By the time I got to number 450 or so, however, I had run out of SK references, so I started writing in various names of authors, publishers, and booksellers that I knew had played a big part in SK's career. Now that I look back on it, it was a tremendous amount of fun -- but at the time, and with my deadline, it was a harrowing experience.

[PeterSchneider]

A quick PS to my earlier post -- first, you must understand that this is the first time I've done one of these things, so I'm a bit scattered. For example, I thought that the first question was asked by the person with the name "Randall Flagg." Now that I see it was Bob Jackson, under the name "Carlos Dettweiler," I feel a bit abashed. (Though truth be told, I thought that old Carlos was dead a long time ago.)

Anyway, please excuse my lapses here. And please know that most of my replies will be quite long. I'm really happy to be a part of this Q&A -- I told Jerome last night that once I started going through the whole site, it brought back many, many memories. (And please note, I'm only fifty-eight, so I'm not quite doddering off into the sunset yet.) For example, the early bound mss. of THE REGULATORS were put together by me, as were the three-ring notebook versions -- all while I was Mktg. Director at Dutton/Penguin.

[T-Dogz_AK47]

Hi Peter,

Both The Stand and The Regulators, were absolutely stunning editions. Do you have any plans to work on further Stephen King books in the near future?

[jhanic]

Peter, just who originated the concept of the "coffin box" for the limited Stand? It was a work of genius.

John

[stroppygoblin]

Peter, do you know the type of wood the Coffin case was made from?

Simon

[thegunslinger41]

Peter! Howdy from Texas.


I have one question that can be applied to both books, The Stand S/L and The Regulators S/L. What were some of the more memorable ideas (bad, not practical, too expensive, etc, etc) that were discussed for the designs of both of these limited editions?


Gabriel

[PeterSchneider]

So, while I'm sitting here I thought I'd throw out a few questions of my own. Obviously, I'm certainly proud of my contributions to the limited editions for THE STAND and THE REGULATORS. But there have been almost countless limiteds of SKs books published over the years, so I'd like to know what particular favorites some of you might have. For example, the first time I ever had any knowledge of limited editions was when I was in the Dealer's Room of the World Fantasy Convention, held in 1982 in New Haven, CT. I happened across the table run by Alex Berman, publisher of Phantasia Press in Michigan. He had a copy of the limited of FIRESTARTER. At this point, I was surprised by the existence of this type of thing (though limited editions have certainly been around for many, many years). So I ordered my own copy there and then. And then I came across Don Grant's booth, where he was selling the signed limited of THE GUNSLINGER, which I had never heard of. So I bought one of these as well.
Anyway, there are many very nice limited editions of SK's work out there. (And, if you press me, there are many not-so-nice limited editions of his work out there.) So I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts about what the best ones are -- as well as the worst.

[stroppygoblin]

So, while I'm sitting here I thought I'd throw out a few questions of my own. Obviously, I'm certainly proud of my contributions to the limited editions for THE STAND and THE REGULATORS. But there have been almost countless limiteds of SKs books published over the years, so I'd like to know what particular favorites some of you might have. For example, the first time I ever had any knowledge of limited editions was when I was in the Dealer's Room of the World Fantasy Convention, held in 1982 in New Haven, CT. I happened across the table run by Alex Berman, publisher of Phantasia Press in Michigan. He had a copy of the limited of FIRESTARTER. At this point, I was surprised by the existence of this type of thing (though limited editions have certainly been around for many, many years). So I ordered my own copy there and then. And then I came across Don Grant's booth, where he was selling the signed limited of THE GUNSLINGER, which I had never heard of. So I bought one of these as well.
Anyway, there are many very nice limited editions of SK's work out there. (And, if you press me, there are many not-so-nice limited editions of his work out there.) So I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts about what the best ones are -- as well as the worst.

There have been a few conversations around this, including a poll or too. Most rate the two books you worked on as being at the top, others include:

Asbestos Covered Lettered Firestarter
S/L and Lettered IT from CD
The Shining S/L by Subterranean
'Salem's Lot by Jerrad

I'm sure others will chime in with their favourites.

[neo_trinity]

Hello again Peter,

I have purchased a few books from you in the past and you were nice enough to gift me a foreign edition of Night Shift. Thank you for that. I have a question about The Regulators. My copy was signed by Stephen King, as opposed to Richard Bachman. Do you know if that was intentional, or an accident? I also have Checks #1, #2 and #3, where again he signed as himself. These were matted and framed and were donated to a Bangor Charity Auction, and as such were not inserted into books. Would really love to know the story behind that.

Thank you.
Gerald

[PeterSchneider]

Okay, once I posted my previous email, I saw that there were a few new ones that had popped up. I'll try to answer them in this one response.

As far as who originated the coffin box for THE STAND, well, that's kind of a difficult question to answer. I can tell you what my original concept for the box for the limited edition was. My first idea was a wooden box, but it would be standing on end with the spine facing out. There would have been a hinged cover (opening to the left), along with a brass plaque with the name on the front. The door would have been a half-cylinder, with the flat edges facing the box holding the book. (Hope you can all visualize this.) So, you'd have a curved door, with a curved plaque on the front -- and there'd be some sort of handle to open the door. The whole idea was that when you opened the door, first you'd see the spine of the book facing you on the right. But when you looked at the inside of the door, there would be a small recess, with a small vial labeled "Superflu Vaccine" sitting within it.

So, I mocked this whole thing up out of cardboard (including the little vial) and took it to my publisher's office for our first meeting about the limited edition. I set my box up (along with samples of other limited editions to use as examples). I then ran through the whole idea, culminating with opening the door and showing the vial. There were a few seconds of silence, then my publisher (Nancy Evans) said, "Peter, are you out of your f**king mind?"

So, I then fell back on my next idea. This was the concept of a "coffin box." However, this wasn't the design that ended up being produced. I envisioned an actual coffin, either the old-fashioned kind with the box narrowing to the feet or the modern kind -- rectangular but with hand-rails. Now I wasn't too keen on either of these concepts, for the simple fact that I felt they would be far better suited for either 'SALEM'S LOT or PET SEMATARY -- but again I was told that this was "too, too expensive." And so we ended up with what you know today -- a rectangular wooden box with a red satin liner. And as far as the wood used in the box, I'm not too sure -- but if I had to guess, I would think it was some kind of pine, given how light it is.

[mikeC]

I love DT: Wastelands. I love the size, the paper stock, the texture of the book and the endpapers. Especially the endpapers, illustrative not decroative, with an illustration not used in the book.
Thanks for asking!

[jhanic]

Okay, once I posted my previous email, I saw that there were a few new ones that had popped up. I'll try to answer them in this one response.

As far as who originated the coffin box for THE STAND, well, that's kind of a difficult question to answer. I can tell you what my original concept for the box for the limited edition was. My first idea was a wooden box, but it would be standing on end with the spine facing out. There would have been a hinged cover (opening to the left), along with a brass plaque with the name on the front. The door would have been a half-cylinder, with the flat edges facing the box holding the book. (Hope you can all visualize this.) So, you'd have a curved door, with a curved plaque on the front -- and there'd be some sort of handle to open the door. The whole idea was that when you opened the door, first you'd see the spine of the book facing you on the right. But when you looked at the inside of the door, there would be a small recess, with a small vial labeled "Superflu Vaccine" sitting within it.

So, I mocked this whole thing up out of cardboard (including the little vial) and took it to my publisher's office for our first meeting about the limited edition. I set my box up (along with samples of other limited editions to use as examples). I then ran through the whole idea, culminating with opening the door and showing the vial. There were a few seconds of silence, then my publisher (Nancy Evans) said, "Peter, are you out of your f**king mind?"

So, I then fell back on my next idea. This was the concept of a "coffin box." However, this wasn't the design that ended up being produced. I envisioned an actual coffin, either the old-fashioned kind with the box narrowing to the feet or the modern kind -- rectangular but with hand-rails. Now I wasn't too keen on either of these concepts, for the simple fact that I felt they would be far better suited for either 'SALEM'S LOT or PET SEMATARY -- but again I was told that this was "too, too expensive." And so we ended up with what you know today -- a rectangular wooden box with a red satin liner. And as far as the wood used in the box, I'm not too sure -- but if I had to guess, I would think it was some kind of pine, given how light it is.

Thanks, Peter. I like your initial concept of the box with the vial.

John

[PeterSchneider]

Okay, things are moving along. This response is to Gerald, about the mis-signed check for THE REGULATORS.

I trust that everyone knows that, while VP of Marketing at Dutton, I hired Joe Stefko of Charnel House, to do the work on the limiteds. (This is a whole, very long story in and of itself, but it would take me two or three hours to write.)

I know from Joe that one of the signed checks returned from Steve King was signed with King's name rather than Bachman's. I also know that Joe retained that book as one of the ones he was entitled to. However, the three other checks you mention are a mystery to me. I think I would have known about more than one check bearing King's signature. So it's a real puzzle.

And, of course, the reason for King signing his own name instead of Bachman's is that he's so used to signing his own name, he had what one might call a "brain fart" and forgot to use the Bachman name.

[jhanic]

I call that a "senior moment". It sounds better then.

John

[webstar1000]

MEE TOOOOO Gerald!

[PeterSchneider]

Okay, hold the presses - I just went back and reread Gerald's post about the checks signed by King rather than Bachman. I now remember that Steve King kept the first page of checks (which contained the first three checks -- all checks were printed three to a page, then cut for tipping in to the book. I had not heard of this before now, but it makes perfect sense that Steve would have given this page of three checks to one of his charities. So that's probably the answer to that.

[PeterSchneider]

"A senior moment," eh? I'm at the age (58) where anything that smacks of "senior" is to be confronted with crossed fingers and saying, "Get thee behind me!"

If you're not in my age bracket, you'll understand when you get there. It's a truly sad thing.

[PeterSchneider]

Okay, I'm now responding to Mike C., who says that his favorite limited is "The Wastelands." I'm not surprised -- Don Grant was a truly fine publisher. He himself is gone now, but I know that Robert Weiner has carried on in his footsteps. Don had published many, many books before he started publishing SK with "The Dark Tower" series. This was one of the reasons that SK went with him. And Don knew how to make books. For example, getting Michael Whelan to do the cover of THE GUNSLINGER was a truly inspired idea. So I completely understand why you love this book.

As to the asbestos FIRESTARTER -- I've actually never seen this book. But I have seen the asbestos FAHRENHEIT 451 published by Ballantine. This was the copy owned by Ray Bradbury -- my wife, Jen, was Ray's editor. (She's also Joe Hill's editor.) When I pulled the book out of Ray's shelf and looked at it, I thought, "Geez, this is really kind of ugly."

Then I opened the book. Shoved within the pages of this book were three letters to Ray written by director John Huston, pleading with Ray to write the script for the movie of "Moby Dick." I then gingerly placed the book back on the shelf and resolved to never make snap judgments again.

[Randall Flagg]

Anyway, there are many very nice limited editions of SK's work out there. (And, if you press me, there are many not-so-nice limited editions of his work out there.) So I'd be interested in hearing other people's thoughts about what the best ones are -- as well as the worst.

Not counting the Lettered and S/L of "The Regulators", or the S/L "The Stand", Two of my favorites are the "Skeleton Crew" S/L and lettered editions by Scream Press. When displayed on a shelf, they jump right out at you.
One of the worst King S/L's is the pop-up S/L of "The Girls Who Loved Tom Gordon". $1,000 for a pop-up book that although signed by Stephen King, contains no writing from him (Text adaptation by Peter Abrahams).

We have an entire thread discussing the Worst S/L or Collectible item (Warning Peter, you may never leave the site if you get involved in all of the threads-it's slightly addictive):
http://www.thedarktower.org/palaver/...ighlight=worst

[zelig]

"A senior moment," eh? I'm at the age (58) where anything that smacks of "senior" is to be confronted with crossed fingers and saying, "Get thee behind me!"

If you're not in my age bracket, you'll understand when you get there. It's a truly sad thing.

It's approaching faster each year it seems.

Peter, just wanted to hop in and say THANK YOU! for doing this Q&A, it's so great that we can get to connect with someone such as yourself who was involved so directly with the production of certain King books. To answer your question on favorite S/L, strange as it may seem, one of my favorites is one I don't own unfortunately, but hope to one day. So I'm just going off pictures I've seen, and what I've heard. It's one you were involved with, The Regulators. I know that would be a favorite of mine.

Cheers,
Paul

[neo_trinity]

Okay, hold the presses - I just went back and reread Gerald's post about the checks signed by King rather than Bachman. I now remember that Steve King kept the first page of checks (which contained the first three checks -- all checks were printed three to a page, then cut for tipping in to the book. I had not heard of this before now, but it makes perfect sense that Steve would have given this page of three checks to one of his charities. So that's probably the answer to that.

Thank you for the information Peter. That explains how it came to light. Stu Tinker purchased it at auction, and I purchased it off him. I have always wondered. Thank you.

Gerald

[PeterSchneider]

Okay, here's a trivia question, based on the photo Gerald included of his REGULATORS check signed by Stephen King instead of Bachman.

The check is made out to "The Sharp Company." I assume most of you know what that refers to, right? (A little help -- the Memo is made out "for case of cereal.")