Doctor Sleep-The Shining II

[Rahfa]

But it wasn't like you needed a DT book to qualify for BH?

A DT book actually did NOT qualify you for BH - you needed Talisman (which made sense).

[Rahfa]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

[mistercrowley]

Seems like there were more issues than just delayed shipping

[Roseannebarr]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

dont forget to tell them about the missing remarked books for LSOE!

[biomieg]

But it wasn't like you needed a DT book to qualify for BH?

A DT book actually did NOT qualify you for BH - you needed Talisman (which made sense).

It does make sense (and is how I expected it to work) - thanks for clearing this up for me, Nathan!

[neosatus]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

[neosatus]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

dont forget to tell them about the missing remarked books for LSOE!

Oh I won't

[Tony]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

This is what's been bothering me. I was surprised to hear that Jae Lee got not one, not two, not three...but SEVEN 'personal' copies that he decided to remarque and either sell through Grant, or sell to Grant who then resold it.

And he got how many gift editions too? Really weird stuff in my mind.

[Rahfa]

Of course he got seven copies...SK got 50 copies or more of the various DT series s/l. It would be unheard of for him not to get at least that many.

As for "horrific," it's just an adjective that's out of place when the conversation's about some books.

[Merlin1958]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

dont forget to tell them about the missing remarked books for LSOE!

Oh I won't

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

This is what's been bothering me. I was surprised to hear that Jae Lee got not one, not two, not three...but SEVEN 'personal' copies that he decided to remarque and either sell through Grant, or sell to Grant who then resold it.

And he got how many gift editions too? Really weird stuff in my mind.

Of course he got seven copies...SK got 50 copies or more of the various DT series s/l. It would be unheard of for him not to get at least that many.

As for "horrific," it's just an adjective that's out of place when the conversation's about some books.

And, IMHO, it is not likely to improve at all with Karen gone!!! At least she was accessible!!!

[neosatus]

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

dont forget to tell them about the missing remarked books for LSOE!

Oh I won't

The idea of Grant getting Dr. Sleep S/L is horrific. They fucked up TWTTK so badly they should never get a King book again. I'm going to stop procrastinating and finally write up every detail of the whole thing and send it to Ms. Mod and King. Hopefully that discourages the possibility of Grant getting Dr. Sleep, and then some.

Horrific? It took a few weeks longer to ship the books than it normally did, and some DJs were damaged. A little hyperbole I'd say...

Well, considering you're not me and you didn't experience what I did, I'd say it doesn't matter what you say. I'd be happy to post my letter here to educate you.
And the DJs aren't what were damaged. The actual books were permanently damaged on the interior boards. And did Grant use their many PC copies to get out to customers to replace the damaged books? Nope. They sent them off to Jae Lee to remarque and then profited even more from them.

This is what's been bothering me. I was surprised to hear that Jae Lee got not one, not two, not three...but SEVEN 'personal' copies that he decided to remarque and either sell through Grant, or sell to Grant who then resold it.

And he got how many gift editions too? Really weird stuff in my mind.

Of course he got seven copies...SK got 50 copies or more of the various DT series s/l. It would be unheard of for him not to get at least that many.

As for "horrific," it's just an adjective that's out of place when the conversation's about some books.

And, IMHO, it is not likely to improve at all with Karen gone!!! At least she was accessible!!!

Not going to improve? I would say the opposite.
She was the one selling the remarqued LSOE AEs. She was the one selling at least one TWTTK S/L which should have been in the pool for the lottery. She was the one who screwed up multiple orders and took a nice long vacation in the middle of it all. And that's just what we know. Who knows what we don't know?

And Accessible...?? I'm pretty sure she was the one who wrote the incredibly rude newsletter telling customers not to email or call. I've exchanged emails with Robert and that didn't sound like him at all. She also came to the TWTTK Collecting forum and lied to you all about what happened when I was complaining about the horrid mess--and with what sounded to me like that same tone.


And Rahfa, context is everything. It was a horrible experience for me within the context of book collecting. First world problem I know... but still--it was pretty bad.
I'm not trying to be a dick. If you had a wonderful buying experience with the same title--that's great. I'm glad it went smoothly for you.
I'm working on my letter to King and his people right now and I'd be happy to post it tomorrow so you can see that not everyone had a fun, rewarding experience after spending hundreds of dollars.

Til then, take care.

[Rahfa]

No, I get what you're saying...it was a personal experience to YOU, so it's your own description.

My feeling on this is that we tend to overstate things, and then it balloons into absurdity (we see this with politics all the time). If you said, "this is totally ridiculous/absurd/comically incompetent/silly ineptitide" it would make more sense and fit the contenxt - to me - at an approrpriate level. If that makes sense?

I get your frustation 100 percent - it was the word choice where I was like, "come on, nobody was robbed at knifepoint - THAT's horrific." But I get it - it's a lot of money that you spent and don't feel good about, and that's sort of the same thing...so we're on the same page.

[Merlin1958]

I, personally, have always found her to be a pleasure to deal with and an honorable person. Even though she's a Red Sux/Patriots fan!!! And that's something coming from me!!! LOL LOL What happened to you and what you can substantiate (accusations-wise), after hearing both sides of the story, I cannot and will not speak to at all. I only know what I experienced, first hand.

Best of luck with your letter campaign!!



Back on topic, I still hope CD gets any S/L editions contemplated for this edition!!!!

[Ben Mears]

I own one of SubPress' lettereds - it's a very nice edition, but I can't even begin to imagine what they'll have to come up with to justify spending $2500.00! For now, it's a no-show for me.

sk

It is interesting that SK made such a fuss (too expensive, too big, used lambskin etc) about the Centipede Press Deluxe limited of 'Salem's Lot (25 total copies, 15 for sale) yet that book originally sold for $900 compared to $2100 for Cemetery Dance's lettered IT and now $2500 for Sub Press's lettered The Shining. CD did an nice job and I'm sure SP will do a nice job as well but when comparing materials, craftmanship, overall design appeal (subjective), and sophistication there is a clear difference between the 'Salem's Lot deluxe & IT lettered and will likely be one with The Shining yet they sold/will sell for 2 and almost 3 times more than SL deluxe did. This isn't meant to be critical of those two books (or companies) but, rather, to point out SK's inconsistent position when it comes to limited editions.

[mistercrowley]

I don't get his beef with the small press and collectors. No one is forcing him to put out limited versions. It's not like its a prerequisite of his contract.

[carlosdetweiller]

I think that he likes the small press publishers very much. They publish many writers who would otherwise go unpublished by the bigger publishers. He is, and always has been AFAIK, willing to do whatever he can to support those efforts. He knows that just one S/L of a novel by him can fund a small press publisher for a year or more. This gets more up and coming writers published and is his way of supporting and giving back to the writing community.

Having said that I don't think that he particularly likes the whole "S/L phenomenon" but he supports them as a necessary evil to keep the small presses alive.

[Merlin1958]

I think that he likes the small press publishers very much. They publish many writers who would otherwise go unpublished by the bigger publishers. He is, and always has been AFAIK, willing to do whatever he can to support those efforts. He knows that just one S/L of a novel by him can fund a small press publisher for a year or more. This gets more up and coming writers published and is his way of supporting and giving back to the writing community.

Having said that I don't think that he particularly likes the whole "S/L phenomenon" but he supports them as a necessary evil to keep the small presses alive.

Very well put!!

[biomieg]

Yes. I think King is not opposed to collectible books per se, but rather to collectors who care more about the exclusivity of the package (i.e., limited edition books with very high production values) than they do about the stories.

[Merlin1958]

Yes. I think King is not opposed to collectible books per se, but rather to collectors who care more about the exclusivity of the package (i.e., limited edition books with very high production values) than they do about the stories.

Also a bingo!!! What you and Bob have posted pretty much sums up my understanding of his position in this regard.

[Rahfa]

Plus, I think SK just speaks his mind - so in one interview he's like "this is just stupid," but then the next interview, he's like "it's great for the interest in the work..." So it's not that his beliefs are inconsistent, but depending on his mood he'll just say what he wants, when he wants...he doesn't have an agenda, just an opinion about things.

You could probably ask him about Centipede nine times and he'd be fairly complimentary, but that one time he was in a bad mood and ripped away...

[biomieg]

I agree. He's just a human being. We all do the same thing (saying different things depending on time, mood and circumstances) - the difference is that nobody cares and/or writes it down.

[thecollector]

Yes. I think King is not opposed to collectible books per se, but rather to collectors who care more about the exclusivity of the package (i.e., limited edition books with very high production values) than they do about the stories.

Also a bingo!!! What you and Bob have posted pretty much sums up my understanding of his position in this regard.

I think that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of why his fans collect the books. OK well I'm not going to speak for everyone because there are various reasons people collect. But it's a misunderstanding of why I started collecting anyway.

I don't buy the books because the leather is sourced from a rare type of goat, or that the paper that's been washed in a 52 step process. The materials reflect the are the end result of a vision that shows the care and thought that went into the production. What the materials symbolize is much more important that what they actually are. I collect because King has time an time again pulled me into his world with his stories. Getting my hands on a beautiful copy that King took the time to sign personally, who's artist have drawn illustrations to give that world depth make me feel a little closer to the guy on some level. Like I'm bringing him into my corner of the world.

That's how it started anyway.

Since that beginning years ago there have been less idealistic reasons for getting some of the books, knowing I can resell a volume at a profit, filling out the collection just so it's complete, etc. But that little bit of Magic is still there if the edition is put together correctly, the craftsmanship can remind the collector that others out there share the same feelings as you. That one afternoon King sat down in his house in Florida overlooking the Ocean and perhaps thought for a second about the guy who'll be getting this copy... Which is a nice warm fuzzy thought. If all limiteds started being put out in typical Scribner fashon "a limited is a 1st edition with King's sig on a blank page" philosophy then that would certainly remove the magic and bring the collecting to a strict business of profit and loss then yeah, I'd start to agree with King a bit.... But I choose to believe that for a lot of collectors it's not just scoring a copy at publishers price for a quick eBay flip, even if King thinks otherwise.

[Bad Penny]

Kudos to you Tomas, well written, well stated and moreover, spoken from the heart of a true reader/collector

[Ben Mears]

Yes. I think King is not opposed to collectible books per se, but rather to collectors who care more about the exclusivity of the package (i.e., limited edition books with very high production values) than they do about the stories.

Also a bingo!!! What you and Bob have posted pretty much sums up my understanding of his position in this regard.

I think that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of why his fans collect the books. OK well I'm not going to speak for everyone because there are various reasons people collect. But it's a misunderstanding of why I started collecting anyway.

I don't buy the books because the leather is sourced from a rare type of goat, or that the paper that's been washed in a 52 step process. The materials reflect the are the end result of a vision that shows the care and thought that went into the production. What the materials symbolize is much more important that what they actually are. I collect because King has time an time again pulled me into his world with his stories. Getting my hands on a beautiful copy that King took the time to sign personally, who's artist have drawn illustrations to give that world depth make me feel a little closer to the guy on some level. Like I'm bringing him into my corner of the world.

That's how it started anyway.

Since that beginning years ago there have been less idealistic reasons for getting some of the books, knowing I can resell a volume at a profit, filling out the collection just so it's complete, etc. But that little bit of Magic is still there if the edition is put together correctly, the craftsmanship can remind the collector that others out there share the same feelings as you. That one afternoon King sat down in his house in Florida overlooking the Ocean and perhaps thought for a second about the guy who'll be getting this copy... Which is a nice warm fuzzy thought. If all limiteds started being put out in typical Scribner fashon "a limited is a 1st edition with King's sig on a blank page" philosophy then that would certainly remove the magic and bring the collecting to a strict business of profit and loss then yeah, I'd start to agree with King a bit.... But I choose to believe that for a lot of collectors it's not just scoring a copy at publishers price for a quick eBay flip, even if King thinks otherwise.

Well said.

[divemaster]

I don't buy the books because the leather is sourced from a rare type of goat, or that the paper that's been washed in a 52 step process. The materials reflect the are the end result of a vision that shows the care and thought that went into the production. What the materials symbolize is much more important that what they actually are. I collect because King has time an time again pulled me into his world with his stories. Getting my hands on a beautiful copy that King took the time to sign personally, who's artist have drawn illustrations to give that world depth make me feel a little closer to the guy on some level. Like I'm bringing him into my corner of the world.

Your ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Oh, wait. I already do subscribe to your newsletter!