It's Official: Decision Points "Limited" Edition a Bad Joke

by Stephen J. Gertz

Booktryst's controversial report about the limited edition of former President George W. Bush's new book, Decision Points, has been vindicated by new facts that have emerged since its original publication.

The "limitation" is to a staggering 4,500 copies, a number so large that the edition has lost all credibility as a collectible and claim to being special.

In a note to Ryan, one of our readers, David Drake, Sr. VP, Exec. Director of Publicity, The Crown Publishing Group, wrote:

"Crown initially planned a print run of 1,000 copies of the limited edition, but subsequently raised the print run to a total of 4,500 copies in order not to disappoint consumers. There will be no additional printings of the limited edition. I can assure you that it is was never our intention to mislead consumers or collectors. In April of this year, we announced that a print run of 1,000 copies was planned, but there were a great number of consumers who expressed disappointment at not being able to purchase a copy and we sought to accommodate them." 

Let me assure everyone that a print run of 4,500 is not a "limited edition." It is, in reality,  close to the average print run for any new, trade (standard) edition book by a non-celebrity. If there was no intention to mislead consumers or collectors why didn't the publisher state the reality on its website? 

And the lack of a  limitation statement in the book declaring the number of copies in the edition is  a huge caveat emptor/collector. A truly collectible limited edition book  always states the number of copies printed.

Once again, this is not a viable book from a collecting point of view. It will never become rare. And it is unlikely to ever appreciate in value; indeed, with 4,500 copies in circulation the aftermarket for the book will likely declne. $350 for the limited edition? Buyers are being stiffed. It harkens back to the days when a limited edition of a clandestinely published book was limited only by the number of copies the publisher could sell. It was a racket.

By not wanting to "disappoint consumers" Crown has betrayed them. They've sullied the rare book collectibles market with this nonsense, attracting naive or budding collectors who are now, once burned, likely  wary of book collecting as a hobby. By marketing it as a "collectible," over-selling it without any update to their original announcement, and omitting any mention of the limitation number  on the limitation page (because the limitation leaves were pre-printed, signed by President Bush, and then inserted into the already-bound book), the publisher has doomed it as a collectible; it will never have any appreciable market value.  

Nice work, Crown. You've won Booktryst's 1st Annual Travesty Collectible Book Award.
__________

N.B.: Once again, I remind readers that we have confined our commentary strictly to the book as a collectible and not to politics in any way. If you've bought the limited edition because it has meaning to you, you've not done wrong; it is why people collect books and we encourage that. But in the future, sooner or later, copies in very fine (mint) condition of the limited edition of Decision Points will be selling for $75, tops. There are just too many of them.

__________

12/03/2010 UPDATE: Crown Offers Refund to Disappointed Decision Points "Limited" Edition Buyers. 

12/16/2010 UPDATE: Legal Action Begins Against Crown/Decision Points Limited Edition.

__________