Cemetery Dance is currently promoting sales of a book about the Salem's Lot miniseries, titled, "Tobe Hooper's Salem's Lot: Studies in the Horror Film." The 464 page book is due out in April, 2014.
Few horror films in the history of television can boast the deadly seriousness, inspired casting, indelible images and lingering impact of Salem’s Lot. Tobe Hooper’s adaptation of Stephen King’s 1975 novel about vampires that infest a small Maine town was first broadcast in November 1979.
The three-hour film featured unforgettable performances by an array of stars — James Mason, David Soul, Lew Ayres, Bonnie Bedelia — along with one of the most truly terrifying monsters in the history of movies: the feral vampire Mr Barlow played by Reggie Nalder.
This book documents the gestation and production of the film. There are reminiscences from cast and crew, including new and exclusive interviews with Tobe Hooper, David Soul, cinematographer Jules Brenner and producer Richard Kobritz; dozens of images, including many never before published behind-the-scenes production stills; deleted scenes from the original teleplay; foreign posters and artwork inspired by the film; photographs of Ferndale, California, where the exteriors of Salem’s Lot were filmed; and much, much more.That looks really neat! But there is a bit of sticker shock on this one. How about $40 for the PAPERBACK.
I'm not suggesting collectors won't buy this book, because obviously CD knows their market. What I'm wondering is why.
Mr. Mercedes is selling for $18.00 first edition hard cover. Revival is selling for 19.48. So for $37.48 you can have BOTH Stephen King first edition new books -- or there the $40 Salem's Lot book.
Leads me to a curious question. What price should books about Stephen King be set at?
They should be set at whatever price is fair and makes it feasible for the publisher to publish them. I don't know what the magic formula for that is, but I do know that I almost always feel as if I'm paying too much for a Cemetery Dance book. I'll probably pay the $40 for this, too.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I'll be ornery about at least $15 of it. And because of that, I'll probably make that $15 back by simply not buying something from them in the future when I feel I can live without it.
CD publishes a LOT of books for a lot of money. I wonder if they worry about wearing their market down. I get emails from them several times a week announcing new books.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm a member of the Cemetery Dance Book Club 2014, every month they email us a special $40-off coupon code, applciable to anything they sell on their site, even if its other publishers.
ReplyDeleteI decided to apply my APRIL coupon to this Salem's Lot book - my total price was $7.64 - for shipping. I got a great deal, can't wait to get this one in the mail. 464 pages ... thick book !
Oh yeah - I applied last month's MARCH $40 coupon to pre-order MR. MERCEDES w/the CD Slipcase - - Which was something along 54 dollars plus shipping etc, my entire price was about $21 - but I figured hell, why not splurge with the CD slipcase? I already pre-ordered REVIVAL the day CD announced it. Looking forward to that one more than anything.
ReplyDeleteTHAT IS AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it's worth mentioning that Cemetery Dance is not the publisher for this book. That's Centipede Press, so in this particular case, it's them setting the price.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which, they have a hardcover version of this book on the way as well. It'll set you back $250.
The paperback is also available from Amazon, by the way. Currently, they have it for about $35.