Suntup Editions

[webstar1000]

These production updates are coming fast and furious and I can only suspect that Paul is trying to kill me.

This is a real question, that have crossed my mind several times : if I am not mistaken, it seems like there is an announcement planned for every month.

No matter how much we love Paul and his work, if someone wanted to get each Suntup book, at the budget of the "Let the right one in" that represents a (12x2.5k) 30k budget for lettered and about 7k for numbered (12x575)

Are there really a lot of people that can afford that, annually?
Can customers keep up at that pace?
Isn't there a risk to create customer fatigue? Or not really because people that buy expensive books are not the average citizens already, and Suntup already has a huge customer base / waiting list?

I certainly think the market is more than big enough to sustain the frequency of release. Books are pre sold out within 2 days of announcement and Paul currently has to do a lottery to cope with the demand for the rest. Will they always be sold to the same people? I think not. Currently the numbers of both Lettered and Numbered that have bought everything is around 30%, however repeat customer purchases are waaay higher.

Right now it pays to keep buying as supply and demand mean you are unlikely to lose money on your purchase and some people are buying and selling, just to stay on the matched designation train.

As time goes on, I think people will be worried less about "keeping a number" and focus on specific titles.

"Are there really a lot of people that can afford that, annually?" - I think there are a few, yes.

The market can MORE THAN bare this. Not only Does Suntup sell out.. Look at Lyra... look at titles from Subpress, Centipede,etc... The market is more vast than Suntup and what is coming out from them. With a waiting list as long as Paul has? Always someone to take the place of someone who decides to stop moving forward with them...

[lotuz]

These production updates are coming fast and furious and I can only suspect that Paul is trying to kill me.

This is a real question, that have crossed my mind several times : if I am not mistaken, it seems like there is an announcement planned for every month.

No matter how much we love Paul and his work, if someone wanted to get each Suntup book, at the budget of the "Let the right one in" that represents a (12x2.5k) 30k budget for lettered and about 7k for numbered (12x575)

Are there really a lot of people that can afford that, annually?
Can customers keep up at that pace?
Isn't there a risk to create customer fatigue? Or not really because people that buy expensive books are not the average citizens already, and Suntup already has a huge customer base / waiting list?

I still believe that eventually, and I'm not making any guesses as to when, Suntup will start to look like a "normal" press, with a more even combination of (a) customers who buy every book, (b) customers who buy some/many books, and (c) customers who buy the occasional book. Right now it's very heavily tilted toward group (a). And also right now, demand is so high that as soon as anyone "gives up" their number there are more than enough people waiting to take it over and buy every book they can. That's how we get into a situation where, out of a run of 250 copies, we have less than 20 that are not claimed by previous customers. That's >90% retention, and that's nuts!! Things like increasing print runs to 350 occasionally will speed this along. I'm not saying at all that one model is better or worse, for either Paul or the customers! But I think eventually we'll get to a point where we still see sellouts for most titles, but the buyers become a more diverse lot. People who don't (can't) buy every book, but are able to snag the books they want, mixed with folks who still get every release, mixed with folks who only buy a rare title here and there.

EDIT: I agree with Kris that the market is definitely there! And strong. I also agree with Simon because it dovetails nicely with my point - I do think in the future people will be less concerned with matching numbers (as trying to build a complete matching set becomes harder and harder with every new release) and will focus instead on just trying to secure the titles they want the most.

[herbertwest]

These production updates are coming fast and furious and I can only suspect that Paul is trying to kill me.

This is a real question, that have crossed my mind several times : if I am not mistaken, it seems like there is an announcement planned for every month.

No matter how much we love Paul and his work, if someone wanted to get each Suntup book, at the budget of the "Let the right one in" that represents a (12x2.5k) 30k budget for lettered and about 7k for numbered (12x575)

Are there really a lot of people that can afford that, annually?
Can customers keep up at that pace?
Isn't there a risk to create customer fatigue? Or not really because people that buy expensive books are not the average citizens already, and Suntup already has a huge customer base / waiting list?

I certainly think the market is more than big enough to sustain the frequency of release. Books are pre sold out within 2 days of announcement and Paul currently has to do a lottery to cope with the demand for the rest. Will they always be sold to the same people? I think not. Currently the numbers of both Lettered and Numbered that have bought everything is around 30%, however repeat customer purchases are waaay higher.

Right now it pays to keep buying as supply and demand mean you are unlikely to lose money on your purchase and some people are buying and selling, just to stay on the matched designation train.

As time goes on, I think people will be worried less about "keeping a number" and focus on specific titles.

"Are there really a lot of people that can afford that, annually?" - I think there are a few, yes.

The market can MORE THAN bare this. Not only Does Suntup sell out.. Look at Lyra... look at titles from Subpress, Centipede,etc... The market is more vast than Suntup and what is coming out from them. With a waiting list as long as Paul has? Always someone to take the place of someone who decides to stop moving forward with them...

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

[MikeDuke]

What I am afraid of is that I will say one month, "nah, I don't want that one'" and I lose my number. Then the book after that I say "yea, that one is awesome!!!" But since I said no to the previous one, I would have to wait for the public pre-order and I just know I won't be fast enough to get it. As long as the prices are around "Let the right one on", or even lower, then I should be good to go. But if Paul has 2-3 books in a row that are $600-$700, that would be tough. This is not a complaint or me whining. I just don't want to miss any other books. So I am staying on as long as possibly can.

[becca69]

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

Just speaking of CD, Subterranean and Centipede. They announce/publish many more than one book a month. I have at least 14 pre-order books from Subterranean so far for 2020, Centipede has announced 10 so far this year, and I bought 10 books from CD in 2019 and I don't buy even close to every title they announce. So I think Suntup actually announces far less books than these three.

[MikeDuke]

I don't know about the others, but I am pretty sure CP has a news letter every week that that they announce books in. Like I said before, I just want to be able to stay with Suntup and maybe branch out a bit.

[zelig]

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

Just speaking of CD, Subterranean and Centipede. They announce/publish many more than one book a month. I have at least 14 pre-order books from Subterranean so far for 2020, Centipede has announced 10 so far this year, and I bought 10 books from CD in 2019 and I don't buy even close to every title they announce. So I think Suntup actually announces far less books than these three.

This is exactly right. There is a misconception out there that we announce more books in a year than other publishers in this market. As Rebecca correctly points out, we do not. But don't worry, if 12 a year isn't enough, we're going to be doing 24 next year!

Spoiler:

Kidding!

[webstar1000]

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

Just speaking of CD, Subterranean and Centipede. They announce/publish many more than one book a month. I have at least 14 pre-order books from Subterranean so far for 2020, Centipede has announced 10 so far this year, and I bought 10 books from CD in 2019 and I don't buy even close to every title they announce. So I think Suntup actually announces far less books than these three.

This is exactly right. There is a misconception out there that we announce more books in a year than other publishers in this market. As Rebecca correctly points out, we do not. But don't worry, if 12 a year isn't enough, we're going to be doing 24 next year!

Spoiler:

Kidding!

As a lifetimer I approve of this message.

[jeffingoff]

Yeah very few people buy every book a publisher produces. Sooner or later long time Suntup customers will have to step off. And step back on where possible. Or sell some editions in order to maintain their number for those must-haves.

[webstar1000]

Yeah very few people buy every book a publisher produces. Sooner or later long time Suntup customers will have to step off. And step back on where possible. Or sell some editions in order to maintain their number for those must-haves.

Some will keep going. They have the disposable income, love the product... why not?

[Noxus35]

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

Just speaking of CD, Subterranean and Centipede. They announce/publish many more than one book a month. I have at least 14 pre-order books from Subterranean so far for 2020, Centipede has announced 10 so far this year, and I bought 10 books from CD in 2019 and I don't buy even close to every title they announce. So I think Suntup actually announces far less books than these three.

This is exactly right. There is a misconception out there that we announce more books in a year than other publishers in this market. As Rebecca correctly points out, we do not. But don't worry, if 12 a year isn't enough, we're going to be doing 24 next year!

Spoiler:

Kidding!

As a lifetimer I approve of this message.

Lol!

A biweekly release is upon us.

[jeffingoff]

Yeah very few people buy every book a publisher produces. Sooner or later long time Suntup customers will have to step off. And step back on where possible. Or sell some editions in order to maintain their number for those must-haves.

Some will keep going. They have the disposable income, love the product... why not?

Oh for sure! And for every person who can't or doesn't want to maintain, there will be a few more wanting to step in. I think Paul can maintain the current output when it comes to selling out editions. Just as long as he doesn't grind himself to a nub.

[Brian861]

Yeah very few people buy every book a publisher produces. Sooner or later long time Suntup customers will have to step off. And step back on where possible. Or sell some editions in order to maintain their number for those must-haves.

I had to jump off due to a Covid layoff with no clue when I might return to work. Thankfully I returned sooner than later but it cost me a very nice copy of LTROI as I had to enter the lottery and I'm not going to pay aftermarket prices. I was selling off the copies I wasn't favorable of to get the books I wanted and to stay on track. Even with the increase to 350, I believe the days are gone when you can pick and choose which books you want without entering into a lottery. It's best to stay on board if you can and sell the titles you don't want. Those of you that hang on to every title are in a whole different league.

[Black Miau]

One book per month is not much. I could buy everything Suntup publishes, but I only buy the titles that I like and I'm fine with that. All limited editions are the same with a different numbering, I have decided not to give it much importance to the number, because it is only a small mark on the paper. I know that in the future I will not have to worry about obtaining a title because the limitation will be 350 copies. The Suntup books are beautiful, and I understand the effect it has in the mass of collectors.

[BadHatHarry]

I don’t do the lettered editions (kids are expensive, yo), but I intend to stay on the numbered train. I typically buy based on author, but Suntup books are so gorgeous that they are the only ones I buy purely based on the publisher.

[herbertwest]

I could be wrong, but I dont think that Cemetery Dance, PS Publishing, Subterranean, Gauntlet, Centipede, Charnel House etc release as many limited on a yearly basis? I certainly don't see an announcement every month

Otherwise, I agree with the customer base and waiting list

Just speaking of CD, Subterranean and Centipede. They announce/publish many more than one book a month. I have at least 14 pre-order books from Subterranean so far for 2020, Centipede has announced 10 so far this year, and I bought 10 books from CD in 2019 and I don't buy even close to every title they announce. So I think Suntup actually announces far less books than these three.

This is exactly right. There is a misconception out there that we announce more books in a year than other publishers in this market. As Rebecca correctly points out, we do not. But don't worry, if 12 a year isn't enough, we're going to be doing 24 next year!

Spoiler:

Kidding!

Good to know, it must have been my misconception indeed !

[Splync]

I think the misconception comes from the spectacle of new Suntup releases. There are plenty of CD, Sub Press, and Centipede titles announced throughout the year, but they don't have the same widespread excitement as when a new Suntup is announced.

[jeffingoff]

I think the misconception comes from the spectacle of new Suntup releases. There are plenty of CD, Sub Press, and Centipede titles announced throughout the year, but they don't have the same widespread excitement as when a new Suntup is announced.

Yep! Most of the announcements from SubPress are just tossed in their email newsletters. And there are a lot of them. Same with Centipede Press. He announces new books in his Sunday email and they're usually books that people have seen coming for a while because of his straightforward website. (Looking at it, BTW, Jerad released 17 books in 2019, 20 books in 2018, and 28 in 2017.) But no one else creates such events around each release.

[jeffingoff]

Maybe I missed it, but has anyone shared what the final limitation ended up being for Oskar's Cube paperweight?

[burgerhicks80]

can someone post the link where they give the clues to the upcoming books. I can never seem to find it

[NiceM]

can someone post the link where they give the clues to the upcoming books. I can never seem to find it

Its under "news" and blog post "announcement schedule"

[BadHatHarry]

Did anything ever come of potential work on Calvin & Hobbes, or did Watterson not respond?

[burgerhicks80]

can someone post the link where they give the clues to the upcoming books. I can never seem to find it

Its under "news" and blog post "announcement schedule"

thank you!

[lotuz]

Maybe I missed it, but has anyone shared what the final limitation ended up being for Oskar's Cube paperweight?

The (now closed) order page for it states that there are 145 paperweights.

I can't find the order pages for the old paperweights and I do not remember their limitations, so I'm not sure how this stacks up.

[jeffingoff]

Maybe I missed it, but has anyone shared what the final limitation ended up being for Oskar's Cube paperweight?

The (now closed) order page for it states that there are 145 paperweights.

I can't find the order pages for the old paperweights and I do not remember their limitations, so I'm not sure how this stacks up.

Ah so maybe 205 were sold.