Well, hello there, and welcome to Spring! The days are getting longer, the
air is getting warmer---but let me stop right there before someone accuses me
of Northern Hemispheric chauvinism. For those of you below the Equator, it's
the nights that are getting longer, and the air's getting colder, and---
But you know all that.
If you read the most recent newsletter, you also know that I've worked up
plans for a philatelic edition of Keller's fourth adventure, HIT AND RUN,
coming in June from HarperCollins. Keller, as you also know, is a stamp
collector. He returned to the hobby of his boyhood in the final chapters of
HIT MAN, when he was contemplating retirement and figured he'd need a hobby.
Stamp collecting ate up much of his retirement fund---does that sound
familiar to those philatelists among you?---so he's gone on working, but
killing people is just what he does for a living. Stamp collecting is his
life.
I'm a collector myself---how's that for coincidence?---and it's been
gratifying for me to see the Keller books develop a following in the
philatelic community. With HIT AND RUN imminent, I felt it might be fun to
create a philatelic and bibliophilic collectible to mark the book's
publication. So let me see if I can explain what I've come up with.
The Philatelic Edition of HIT AND RUN will consist of a copy of the hardcover
First Edition, bearing on the flyleaf or title page (I haven't decided yet)
an imprint identifying it as such. All copies will be serially numbered and
hand-signed by the author---that's me---and each will also bear a special
genuine U. S. personalized postage stamp showing the cover of the book, tied
to the page with a hand-applied cancellation bearing the book's official
publication date (June 24, 2008, my 70th birthday, and how's that for
timing?) and the city (that'd be New York, duh). And there may be some
further philatelic enhancement elsewhere in the book.
Hmmm. I see a lot of hands out there, so let me take your questions. Yes?
What's it going to cost?
A mere $35 plus shipping. That's ten dollars above the regular retail price
of the book, so if all you want is a reading copy, you're better off picking
it up from an online or brick-and-mortar bookstore. But the $10 surcharge isn
’t much for a collector's item. I wanted to keep the price low, so that
anyone who wants it will be able to have it.
How limited is it?
Quantities are limited to the number of orders we receive, and to the number
of First Printing copies the publisher makes available to us. Again, our goal
is to make a collector's item available to a full range of collectors, rather
than to create a super-rarity.
May I order more than one copy?
Order as many as you like. However, there's no quantity discount, no
wholesale pricing, which pretty much rules out buying for resale. You may
order extra copies as gifts, or with an eye toward investment---although I
can't say I see this as the next Google. However, if we get more orders than
we're able to fill, we reserve the right to limit quantities.
All right, I'm sold. How do I order?
Here's a link:
http://www.lawrenceblock.com/content_shopping.htm. (Click on the John Keller
Novels link to get to the books!) You'll probably want to do this sooner
rather than later, as we'll be filling orders in their order of receipt. We
won't process your order or charge your credit card until the books are ready
to ship, which should be shortly after June 24th. In the next few weeks our
ads and notices will be appearing in stamp collector publications, and the
order volume may be a trickle or a gush, it's impossible to predict. As a
newsletter subscriber, you're getting the word first---so if you want to make
sure of a copy, well, a word to the wise and all that. . .
That's HIT AND RUN. What about the first three books?
Hey, thanks for reminding me. If you want hardcover firsts of HIT MAN, HIT
LIST, or HIT PARADE, you'll have to look in the aftermarket. We don't have
copies for sale. But what we are going to do is offer a set of the three
books in paperback. Our price for the set is $35 postpaid, and I should point
out that you can get them cheaper from a retailer, as they list @ $7.99 each.
However, we'll furnish signed copies, and each will carry a slight philatelic
enhancement. If that's worth the difference to you, the same link will take
you to that offer. For convenience, here it is again:
http://www.lawrenceblock.com/content_shopping.htm.
What about overseas orders?
We welcome them. The price is the same---$35---but of course we have to
charge a little more for shipping, as always.
I don't have any more questions right now, but suppose I think of one later?
Then what?
David Trevor will probably be able to answer them. The fellow's a mine of
useful information. Email him at
DT@lawrenceblock.com
I have more news---that book I just finished, which I promised to tell you
about. But it's going to have to wait for the next newsletter. I know, I
know. I'm an awful tease. . .
LB
www.lawrenceblock.com
--
喜歡一個人 是沒有道理的
在搞笑的背後 我的心清楚的讓
這種感覺 沒有界線地 無邊蔓延~
我喜歡你 所以 我會悄悄隱藏我的心
不讓你發現 當初的紙條 不只是一個玩笑..
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 218.166.74.107
※ 編輯: bfp339 來自: 218.166.74.107 (04/04 10:25)