Book Formats

photo credit: HERE

Collecting Stephen King can mean purchasing multiple formats of the same book. 

I decided with Just After Sunset that I was n o long going to buy first edition hardbacks.  I'm not sure the new books are really collectible, because they print so many copies.  Better to save my money, or buy special editions of the book.  Besides. . . someone usually ends up giving me a copy of King's latest book!

When I do buy a hardcover, because it is a special edition, it is usually not what I choose to read.  In fact, for just sitting around and reading, I prefer an old paperback !  My wife usually gets the book on Kindle.  But my number one preferred way to read is the audio version.  What does this mean?  It means I pay two or three times for each book!

Formats King's books come in:
1. Hardcover first edition.  Would anyone really read their first edition?  My wife read my Dark Tower Seven first edition.  But then she bought an artist edition.

2. Audio book.  The audio edition is usually released the same day as the hardcover.  Audible had 11.22.63 at midnight the day of it's release.  By the way, transferring the audible format to disk is very easy, for those of us who still have CD players in our car!

3. Kindle.  Also usually released the same time as the book, the Kindle edition is instant.  In fact, you can start reading with Kindle quicker than the hardcover.  Why?  Because how many bookstores are open at midnight for a Stephen King book?  I must be very old, but e-books are still difficult for me!  I feel like the words are stuck under glass.

4. Paperback.  When King wrote as Bachman, his books were released as simple paperbacks.  It's hard to imagine a King book now coming out in paperback.  Of course, King gave us "Stephen King Goes To The Movies" which was a paperback.  But it was a set of stories that had already be released.  Often the selling point for a paperback is either a new introduction or a preview of the upcoming Hardcover.

5. Special publishers.  Cemetery Dance and Donald M. Grant sometimes offer a special edition of King's newest book.  Cemetery Dance did a beautiful job with Full Dark, No stars!  And, this was the format I chose to spend money on, instead of the hardback first edition.  Let's face it, there is only so much room on shelves that loved ones are willing to devote wholly to Stephen King!  There still has to be room for Dickens, Bradbury and McCammon.  Wind Through The Keyhole will be offered by two publishers, Donald M. Grant and Scribner. 

6. British editions.  Some collectors make sure to buy the British edition since the cover is different and there might be other minor changes.  I am not sure that other foreign editions are really collectible.  (However, there is a German bootleg edition of IT that's worht a pretty penny.)

7. Signed editions.  Signed come in two types: Signed first editions from the publishers, and signed first editions that the reader has taken to a bookstore and gotten signed.  Sometimes the latter had special inscriptions included with the signature.  "Flat signed" is more valuable, but I always think the ones that are actually inscribed by King are a lot cooler!  These days, to get a signed copy from the publisher usually means entering a lottery.  They limit these -- because the author can only humanly sign so many copies, and to retain the value of the book.  Scribner actually prints a different price on the flap of the book if the book is signed.  So Under The Dome, signed, is marked as $200.  I like that because I think it helps the book retain at least that base value!  Also, it helps me remember which book cover goes with which book.

8. Single volumes previously published in a collection.  Sometimes popular stories that were part of a larger collection are later released individually as small paperbacks.  This usually happens when the story becomes a movie.  Thus there are single, paperback editions of books like The Mist. The Bachman books were released under the Bachman name as single paperbacks, then in a big collection with King's name on them.  You can now buy them individually under the King name.  All, except Rage, which King pulled from publication.

9. Single volumes later published together.  Green Mile fits this description best.  It was given to the public one small paperback at a time and only later as a first edition hardcover.

10. Gimmicks.  That's all I can call some editions!  Desperation and The Regulators released shrink wrapped together with a night light.  I have this somewhere. . . but who knows where!  Because to keep it "cool" it can't be taken out of the shrink wrap.  Personally, I am not a fan of keeping things shrink wrapped.  Other gimmicks have included a My Pretty Pony with a clock, Cemetery Dance's Blockade Billy with a baseball card (cool!). . . and a lot more!

11. Red Leather Bound editions.  I don't know if the Stephen King Library is still making these, but they were interesting!  No book cover, the selling point is the red leather binding with gold letters.  I have a few copies, but again, do not think I want to devote the shelf space to the entire set because they are all kind of the same!

12. Short stories.  Short stories can appear in magazines or anthologies.  These usually don't jump in value a lot.  I like the magazines, actually.  Old Twilight Zone magazines and stuff like that.  Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction published the true first editions of The Gunslinger.  They are fun to try to hunt down -- but that first one is a doozy to try and get your hands on!  King's short stories often appear in anthologies.  The Mist first appeared in Dark Forces. 

13. Introductions.  Ever notice that the old books are re-released with new introductions.  Does that make me buy the book again?  Not usually.  There is a new introduction to Salem's Lot.

14. Revisions.  Some books have been changed!  Gasp.  In particular, The Stand and the first Dark Tower come to mind.  I'm not clear if changes were made to the entire series of Dark Tower books throughout, or just the first novel.  I am not a pureist and always enjoy it when king gives us another version or edition of a story we love.

15. Movie tie-ins.  What the cover of your Different Seasons looks like might depend on which movie was coming out at the time.