Rubicon signed edition

I didn't get an email, but I see there is now a signed edition of Rubicon up on the website : https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/rubicon-signed-edition.html

Sold out.

Almost triple the price for a bookplate. I don't get it. Especially with the secondary market FS prices so low right now.

>2 PartTimeBookAddict: People probably mistook Tom Holland the author with Tom Holland the actor :)

>3 HonorWulf: Ha ha! Damien Lewis, take note!

Ho-hum. Slap a 5-cent label on it and charge 300% more. Honestly, I wouldn't mind paying a premium for a signed edition. It's not that hard to add a decent signature page -- Easton Press has been doing this for decades. I don't understand why the FS always does this the way they do? Then again, I guess if you limit it to 100 copies the FOMO and resellers are quick to jump...

In fairness it is only 250%. Not that I in any way approve of said practice.

>6 FitzJames: I saw it listed for $225 and the unsigned is $85, so 265% -- I rounded up! but yeah, ridiculous either way :D

>7 astropi: Oh sorry! I was going purely by GBP, £60 vs £150.

I am happy to pay $1000 for one of the beautiful FS limited editions, but I will not pay even $1 for a signed stuck-in label.

This conversation should definitely cover brand new ground we haven't covered in any of the four previous signed editions they released recently.

They have done this 13 times since 2015, six times so far this year in only four months!
See https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#Signed_sta...

They're in the autograph-selling business now, heh. I can't even call it a signed book as it's just a bit of paper pasted in.

-edit. Double post.

>12 adriano77: No such brouhaha materializes when it is a Limited Edition or when the author is of a Stephen King caliber... Yes, I am guilty of having purchased one of these editions signed on a pasted in bookplate. Yes, I would prefer a bound in page or perhaps a signed photograph.

However; getting a particular edition signed by favorite author or illustrator, directly from Folio Society saves time and sometimes money, as finding certain titles on the secondary market in signed state may be challenging and pricey, and also ensures AUTHENTICITY of the signature determining of which may otherwise take some more time and money.

Note to Folio: Please take a leaf from Easton Press and perhaps try to insert an actual signature page. What is more, please start numbering either the bookplates or the books. If you choose to number the books, perhaps stamp them with a unique Folio Society's stamp or the like authenticating the edition.

>14 EPsonNY: To your last paragraph, why would they bother to do any of those things. This is such a low effort, high reward strategy by the Folio Society, and the books are all sold out within hours.

They grab 100 copies of a book that’s already on the shelves, pay an author one or two thousand pounds to sign 100 bookplates, then sell the 100 signed books for £9,000 extra. Boom, they just made £7,000, on top of whatever they were going to make already.

The only limit to this is the number of books they have in print where the author is still alive.

Whoever came up with this idea is a genius.

>15 What_What: I doubt any money changes hands. This relatively new scheme is most likely part of the marketing arrangements with the authors/artists that allows Folio to quite successfully promote re-prints of existing titles like with Steadman-illustrated Thompson title or new FS titles like Holland's upcoming book.

I understand that numbering the bookplates or books would only add to the effort, but offer no additional revenue to Folio; however, it could help "legitimize" the offer as something in between regular and fancy limited edition. Otherwise, we have to trust FS that there are indeed only 35 or 100 such and such copies around and author/illustrator has not received another 100 to give to family and friends.

Genius idea indeed, but folks don't need to get their panties/knickers in a twist. End users who cherish an author/illustrator can get their hands on a book with legitimate signature in it. Re-sellers who want to take a risk can do so and as market has proven it oftentimes backfires with many copies of certain titles still floating around at 2-3 the original price with no apparent takers.

As to those who are not interested and have not planned on buying, perhaps next month or next year when FS releases one of your favorites in this format, you will change your mind; otherwise, crack one of your precious FS books and enjoy rather than spill vitriol here...

>16 EPsonNY: Absolutely agree. It is beyond my understanding of psychology to comprehend why some people rush to pay almost thrice the price for a book just because it has a piece of paper stuck in it with the author's signature (the author never even having held the book), but I'm perfectly happy that the people who wish to buy such copies have the opportunity to do so, and happy that this all contributes to Folio's bottom line. No-one has to buy who doesn't want to.

>17 cronshaw: I’m sure it’s also beyond the comprehension of most of the general public that people will pay hundreds or even thousands of pounds for a copy of a book that has fripperies/affectations like letterpress printing, hand-made paper, hand-marbled end-papers etc, when exactly the same content (& shouldn’t books be mainly about the content) can be purchased & read as a paperback for under £10. As you say, let people buy what they want to , and if it doesn’t interest you then just move on.

Obviously the FS is making a quick cash-grab with their incredibly cheap signed bookplates. That said, I wonder how many patrons have been taken aback by such cheap ploys? I rarely purchase directly from the FS these days for the following reasons --

1)North American surcharge of unknown origin -- typically 15-40% extra.
2)With little exception, most LEs are fairly mundane with a nearly carbon copy SE hot on their heels.
3)Cheap ploys such as "we only have 100 copies of this edition NOW signed on the cheapest bookplate we could muster for only 250% more -- get it while it's hot"

Again, I completely understand the FS is a business, they need to make money. Nevertheless, I feel what they have been doing "cheapens" the FS brand. Honestly, I'd rather spend significantly more and purchase books from Lyra, Curious King, etc.

Usually I'm able to get my hands on the books I want, but recently with the Gollancz The Lies of Locke Lamora and The Name of the Wind editions not being sold to the US and Waterstones barring US addresses from purchasing the upcoming reprint of the UK Deluxe Hunger Games collection, I'm definitely in the boat of I'd rather have the books available to me with a surcharge than not be able to get them at all.

Also, while I accept that the following is probably not accurate and it's just me being grouchy, I sometimes feel that people who have strong complaints about Folio have several other publishers that do produce exactly the kind of books they're looking for, such as Lyra's, Amaranthine, Conversation Tree Press, Suntup, Areté, Kings Langley Press, etc. For me, Folio is where it's at, full stop. There is nothing I like better and nothing that can compare. And when FS does release something I'm not fond of, such as a version of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which I don't like the aesthetics of & thus which does not inspire me to read it, or a bunch of limited bookplate signed books of books I'm not interested in, I hope they sell super well because I need the company to at least outlast me so that they can keep bringing me joy (at the expense of my non-increasing savings).

While FS prices are obviously high, I never find prices to be offensively high to me personally. To take another "premium" publisher as an example, while I love my Subterranean Press edition of Gods of Jade & Shadow, it's $200 and not illustrated and its primary value to me is just that it has an attractive dust jacket. Folio SEs don't usually reach $200, and yet I feel they have more to offer. Meanwhile, lettered SubPress editions are a bit less than $1,000 when as far as I can tell, they're just the numbered edition bound in some expensive but not-aesthetic-to-me material and put in a not-aesthetic-to-me solander box. And yet I know people are super happy about their SubPress books and feel that they're very much worth their value, and I hope many people feel this way about FS as well.

>20 BooksFriendsNotFood: For me, Folio is where it's at, full stop. There is nothing I like better and nothing that can compare.

And you are more than entitled to your opinion. A few decades ago, I felt the same way about Easton Press. While I still appreciate Easton Press, I now know that they, along with the FS, are not in the same league as a true fine press publisher such as Lyra's Press. I'm not going to try to convince someone why letterpress is true fine press and why offset does not compare -- although I will say that the FS does on rare occasion release some truly wonderful fine press work such as their The Waste Land. Which is not to say that offset printing is "terrible" or that the FS does not make beautiful books, they do. However, they're just not in the same league as true fine press. They're also far cheaper than true fine press, so there are plusses and minuses to everything.

Well, I guess we can expect many more of these --

>19 astropi: Are in you in a category of FS buyers who would like to combine their 50% sale with 10% catalog coupon, 10% birthday voucher and free shipping to US? If so, I am afraid you are not their target audience. Neither are you part of it should you frequently buy letterpress printed fine press books averaging $400-800. I believe FS would not survive if it solely targeted either category...

FS like any other company incurs expenses related to their day-to-day operations and book publishing. They print their limitations in their entirety and upfront unlike Easton Press that prints in smaller batches including their DLEs which they print 3-4 times over sometimes more than 10 years every single time claiming it is "Last Chance."

Being in the US, I am not happy with the currency surcharge; however, there are several things to consider.

One may be long term exchange rate contracts preventing negative exposure to currency fluctuations. Such contracts provide stability to the company, but their cost is usually passed onto the customers.

Various payment methods cost vendors more in fees, which companies try to recoup by charging more. Ask some of your neighborhood businesses why they don't take AmEx...

Higher prices are also meant to partially recoup skyrocketing shipping costs. It does not cost $12 to package and ship a 6-pound book across the pond; it certainly does not cost $30 to ship multiple books or sets to the US and those free shipping days may cost FS an arm and a leg.

All in all, using gimmicky/mundane/cheap/cash-grabbing in your language towards FS indicate to me that you are not Folio's cheerleader and coming to this forum over and over to voice the same complaints seems a bit pointless. Why not spend significantly more time on the Fine Press Forum after you have spent significantly more on your book collection? After all, not everybody can or wants to spend the same as you...

>22 EPsonNY: All in all, using gimmicky/mundane/cheap/cash-grabbing in your language towards FS indicate to me that you are not Folio's cheerleader and coming to this forum over and over to voice the same complaints seems a bit pointless.

It may seem pointless to you, and of course you are more than welcome to ignore me and my threads etc. I feel that voicing complaints is perfectly legitimate and a good way to tell a company you would like to see some change. Also, when I feel it's appropriate, I absolutely will praise the FS -- such as their LE The Waste Land which I thought was magnificent, in fact the most impressive edition of The Waste Land I have ever seen.

Why not spend significantly more time on the Fine Press Forum after you have spent significantly more on your book collection? After all, not everybody can or wants to spend the same as you...

Not sure if you're telling me to just go away? However, just like anyone else, I feel perfectly fine both praising and criticizing any publisher/work when appropriate. Definitely not telling anyone how to spend their money nor time, and neither should anyone else.

>21 astropi: "I'm not going to try to convince someone why letterpress is true fine press and why offset does not compare . . . Which is not to say that offset printing is "terrible" or that the FS does not make beautiful books, they do. However, they're just not in the same league as true fine press."

This is an opinion which I respect you and others having! But it doesn't hold true for me. I've experienced letterpress printing through FS's The Waste Land and Suntup's Psycho and Life of Pi, but for me, it's not really an upgrade so much as a choice.


"While I still appreciate Easton Press, I now know that they, along with the FS, are not in the same league as a true fine press publisher such as Lyra's Press."

Again, I respect this as an opinion of yours without agreeing to it! (EDIT: Which is to say, while I don't agree that one kind of publisher is objectively "better" than the other as people often have different tastes, I do agree that FS is not considered "fine press", and I appreciate this distinction because I usually don't find fine press books attractive.) I typically don't spend much on "nice" publishers outside of FS, but I was kind of looking forward to seeing Lyra's Oz because the illustrations were so gorgeous, but then they revealed the two bindings and it was one of the fastest nope's for me. Meanwhile, Easton Press has a deluxe edition of The Sun Also Rises and it has gorgeous illustrations in the same vein because it's by the same illustrator — while not perfect, and while EP leather is very much EP leather, this is more attractive to me than Lyra's Oz and I may have been tempted to purchase it if I hadn't already read it in the lovely Blackstone Publishing edition which I am more than happy with.

>24 BooksFriendsNotFood: To be clear, I totally respect that :)
As I said, for me letterpress vs offset is like night and day. Although to be fair, I actually have done some letterpress printing, it's definitely a craft that I have the utmost respect for and so no doubt I have some bias. That said, I'm not afraid to purchase offset when appropriate! I'm also thrilled that in the past few years there seems to be almost a renaissance in letterpress printing through Lyra, Curious King, Suntup, etc.

Meanwhile, Easton Press has a deluxe edition of The Sun Also Rises and it has gorgeous illustrations

Agreed! There are a number of EP DLEs that I have on my wish list. Sigh... need to win the lottery.

>25 astropi: It's very cool that you've done letterpress printing and how that makes you appreciate it even more! I hope the breadth of publishers offering letterpress printing increases to keep up with all you fine book connoisseurs. ◡̈

"Sigh... need to win the lottery."

So relatable.

>22 EPsonNY: '...unlike Easton Press that prints in smaller batches including their DLEs which they print 3-4 times over sometimes more than 10 years every single time claiming it is "Last Chance."'

This is very interesting! I skipped the clothbound Jane Austen By Design editions a couple years ago due to the high price and regretted it ever since, and then got my hands on them when they were somehow "Last Chance" on the website once more a few years later. I thought they just found more in the warehouse but your scenario is probably what actually happened.

>23 astropi: Companies often consider customers who only offer unconstructive criticism and unlikely contribute or will contribute to their bottom line as outliers and simply ignore them as any attempts at converting them by bending to their often unreasonable/without insight demands may simply bring such companies more misery than goodwill and profit.

>27 BooksFriendsNotFood: Overprints and returns do pop up in that EP section as well, often after few years and an unplanned warehouse cleanup :D, which is how I also acquired a few of my favorite EP titles.

>29 EPsonNY: I do love when warehouse cleanups come to the rescue & make dreams come true. 👌