So, I just received an e-mail from a gentleman who asked, in the wake of my announcement that I would be getting Book 2 out, if I would consider reprinting Book 1 as well. The short answer is yes, but that’s not the real meat of this post – it’s not why I’m posting this.
The reason I’m posting this is because he drew my attention to the fact that upon searching for Book 1 on Amazon.com, (Which STILL to this day erroneously states it as “By Greg Dean and Scott Kurtz”, despite the fact that I contacted them YEARS ago about fixing that..) it has 6 used copies STARTING at $27, and 3 new ones starting at $60! (That’s SIXTY DOLLARS, in case you missed it.) Hell – there’s even a new copy on there going for a little over $80. It’s a BOOK. It’s not even an OLD book. It’s not even a well laid-OUT book. It would be more accurately dubbed a learning experience than a book.
To be fair, it IS out of print – but $27 for a library copy is highway robbery. That said… it’s probably the only place you can find a copy of the first edition Book 1 anymore – I sold the last copy in my stock last year at Tokonatsu in a field in Bedfordshire, England. I have no more. I don’t even have a half-decent copy of my own – I forgot to keep one. The only copies I have any more are error printings – they restart halfway through the book.
Why did I say “first edition” above? Because assuming Book 2 does well enough to not make me want to jump down a well, I’m considering doing a reprint of book one, taking what I learned from that first edition and fixing the many errors it had. Like the fact that the commentary sort of… fell into the center of the book, because I didn’t leave enough room in the center margin. Or the fact that it had almost NO layout to it whatsoever. Or… well, you get the picture.
We’ll see, though. I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch. Into books. That analogy kind of fell apart, there…