Monday, February 16, 2009

Scarlet Imprint

My friends at Scarlet Imprint are blogging about re-releasing their "Howlings"; which is to be commended from a literary availability point of view, but I cant help feeling a little offended, as I set aside quite a hefty sum for what I thought would be a limited release sure to appreciate in price.

I'm very divided on this. One the one hand, I understand the desire of those who missed getting a copy to have one themselves, and also the desire of Scarlet Imprint to meet this demand, from both a mission and a financial standpoint. On the other, Scarlet Imprint are financed primarily by a band of dedicated bibliophiles, able and willing to part with large amounts of dosh to support their activities. If, for example, Scarlet Imprint were in the mass market, I wouldnt care how many they printed. Its the element of betrayal of their sponsors by diluting their investments that I have a problem with.

The solution would be for Scarlet Imprint to make their wonderful books available first to the connoisseur, at a price, and then to reissue it in mass market paperback, which will not mess with the price appreciation of their luxury editions.

Another solution, is to release their luxury editions in the first instance as larger editions, say, 1000 copies. This will say clearly upfront just how things stand, and their purchasers will know that the editions arent really as rare as they are making them appear. For example, the latest blog comment says:
"There are some very limited and desirable books imminent."

Limited; but will be reprinted every year as long as demand lasts?

Personally, I prefer the paperback edition option. That way they can cater to both the bibliophiles who support them, and to the occultists who want the books, but who cant afford the pricier versions.

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