Limited editions: a clarification and a reminder.: seanan

Limited editions: a clarification and a reminder.

I have appeared in two limited edition books from Subterranean Press: A Fantasy Medley 2, which featured my Tybalt-centric novella, "Rat-Catcher," and When Will You Rise?: Stories to End the World, which features "Countdown" and "Apocalypse Scenario #683: The Box." ("Apocalypse Scenario" is not set in the Newsflesh universe, by the way; it's part of my mad science triptych, along with "The Tolling of Pavlov's Bells" and "Laughter at the Academy.")

A Fantasy Medley 2 is now out of print. Very, very out of print. "The signed edition is selling for upwards of a thousand dollars on Amazon" out of print. I do not have copies for sale. I don't generally sell author's copies of anything, because I am not a store, but in this case especially, I didn't receive enough copies to do anything like that. There is no ebook edition, and right now, because I am still under contract for the physical book, I don't have the option to post the story as a free download. Eventually, it will either be reprinted or posted to my short fiction page, depending on how things go, but for the moment, I just don't have the authority. (Most short fiction contracts come with an "exclusivity" clause which guarantees an author won't sell the same thing to thirty markets at once.)

There are some copies of the basic, non-signed edition of A Fantasy Medley 2 currently available on Amazon, starting at about $15. If you're really, really desperate to read "Rat-Catcher" without buying from Amazon, you might want to consider getting a supporting membership to this year's Worldcon. Yes, $60 for one novella is a lot, but you don't just get one novella: you get the entire Hugo Voter's Packet, which is way awesome and packed with goodness.

When Will You Rise?: Stories to End the World is not out of print...yet. But it is a limited edition of 1,000 copies, and I know that a lot of those have been sold. You can find details on the book here. It's a really gorgeous piece of work, with incredible illustrations throughout. And, speaking candidly...I really enjoyed doing this book, and I'd love it if the sales supported Subterranean doing another. So I'm very much in favor of people buying copies for their very own. Both stories included in When Will You Rise? are available through the Orbit Short Fiction Program, so you won't have the same issues getting your hands on them (at least for right now), but this is currently your only option for seeing those stories in physical form.

Hope this clears things up a bit!

(The Velveteen vs. books are also limited printings, although in this case, the publisher has the option to print more if the first print run sells out. So it's not as much of an immediate concern, although naturally, I think everyone should own these books in their own homes, to avoid them somehow magically ending up in mine.)

ETA: Updated some availability notes, as Amazon once again has the basic A Fantasy Medley 2 available for order. Hooray!

cortneyofeden

June 2 2013, 18:35:14 UTC 4 years ago

New comment

Holy hell, I didn't think of buying that book as an investment. ;)

That said, Hugo packet is totally worth the $60, as there is a plethora of fantastic reading material included.

Deleted comment

idancewithlife

June 2 2013, 19:41:10 UTC 4 years ago Edited: June 2 2013, 19:41:52 UTC

There are four graphic novel nominations included, and examples from the best artist categories. Is that what you meant?

I think you can see many of the things included here: http://www.lonestarcon3.org/hugo-awards/packet.shtml

beccastareyes

4 years ago

naath

seanan_mcguire

July 29 2013, 19:40:34 UTC 3 years ago

Yes!

geekhyena

June 2 2013, 19:28:43 UTC 4 years ago

That's half the reason I do the supporting membership each year - the stuff you get is well worth it! (and we need more younger people voting, too, imho) Now I just have to decide which novelette of yours to rank #1 - they're both so good it's a hard choice. Which one was your favorite to write?

listicath

June 2 2013, 20:08:36 UTC 4 years ago

It's one of the reasons I get the supporting membership each year too. It's great value and I've discovered great new authors I'd never heard of before. Mira Grant and Seanan McGuire to name but two. Er, one.

June 3 2013, 00:36:00 UTC 4 years ago

Same. I got hooked on Zen Cho because of the Hugos, too. Also, I really want to maintain the graphic novel category. I hope Howard Tayler wins this year!

July 29 2013, 19:40:49 UTC 3 years ago

"In Sea-Salt Tears."

anne_d

June 2 2013, 19:29:33 UTC 4 years ago

Good grief. I wasn't thinking of A Fantasy Medley 2 as an investment, either; I bought it because I really really wanted to read "Rat-Catcher" and I could afford a copy. That's why I bought the other two, because I wanted to read them, and I could afford them.

I guess I'd better start saving up now for the next round, because I won't be able to buy them later. Go Seanan!

July 29 2013, 19:41:01 UTC 3 years ago

I'm going!

memoryanddream

June 2 2013, 19:41:14 UTC 4 years ago

It may not be the fancy signed edition but you can pick up a new, hardcover version sold by amazon for $15 right now. Good option for someone wanting to read the story!

July 29 2013, 19:41:10 UTC 3 years ago

Awesome, thanks for the tip.

knittingwoman

June 2 2013, 22:41:05 UTC 4 years ago

I am a little confused as amazon's website says it is in stock and sells for $15? Perhaps their website is just not up to date? It's sold out on the publisher's website for sure.

July 29 2013, 19:41:25 UTC 3 years ago

It goes in and out of stock, since those are third-party sellers.

mrs_norris_mous

June 2 2013, 23:34:29 UTC 4 years ago

I bought a reading copy via amazon.co.uk which I think would be a trade edition ?

And I have numbers 52 and 53 of the signed editions.

I am surprised you are seeing it being sold at that price already..., however Rat catcher was good enough to get my nomination for the hugos this year ( although I am not voting..... as there isn't enough new work for me to really justify it ).

http://subterraneanpress.com/store/product_detail/a_fantasy_medley_2 has the limited edition still for sale ? And Amazon still seem to have trade ?

July 29 2013, 19:41:45 UTC 3 years ago

They keep fluxing in and out of stock. Honestly, I can't keep up.

djonn

June 3 2013, 02:45:54 UTC 4 years ago

FWIW -- I was browsing in my local library system this past week (Multnomah County, OR), and ran across A Fantasy Medley 2 on the "new books" shelf. (This was the "deluxe" hardcover edition as opposed to the signed limited edition, but still.) Now we have a very good library system up here, but I suspect we're not the only library on Subterranean's list of regular customers.

So folks with good local public libraries may have that option available for finding and reading an otherwise scarce (and very worthwhile) Seanan-story, as well as the Huff, Downum, and Kent contributions.

acelightning

June 3 2013, 08:14:01 UTC 4 years ago

I'll have to check my local public library; if they don't have it, they're usually pretty good about inter-library loans. (It's just rather awkward for me to get to the library, since I don't have the use of the car during "normal business hours" - who put the day people in charge, anyway? But to read more about Tybalt, I can get very creative about transportation.)

June 4 2013, 07:52:57 UTC 4 years ago

Amazon has it for under $15, and I managed to order enough other stuff to qualify for "free super saver shipping" - yay Amazon! (Yay Seanan! Yay Tybalt!)

celclark

June 3 2013, 15:18:22 UTC 4 years ago

You would suspect correctly, I did my reading through the NYPL. Yay for libraries!

July 29 2013, 19:41:55 UTC 3 years ago

Awesome!

sylphon

June 3 2013, 15:58:29 UTC 4 years ago

Dangit, your posts always leave my wallet lighter. I had to do the worldcon supporting membership, that was too awesome of a deal not to. I'm thrilled to finally be able to read and vote in the awards.

July 29 2013, 19:42:02 UTC 3 years ago

Whoops.

July 29 2013, 19:42:21 UTC 3 years ago

Oh, that's great!

I think my cats are awesome too. :)

Post a new comment
28 comments

Log in

Limited editions: a clarification and a reminder.

Error