For a Limited Time Only...Why?

I really like many of the works that Black Library sells. Of course my favorite types of books are the Space Marine battle novels but there is at least one series of books out there for each person. I get pretty excited when I check out their website to see what new things are being released this month or even this week, however when I see, "Limited Time Special Edition," I want to slap someone.

Now don't get me wrong I understand the value of having a limited release for certain kinds of books but this is happening more and more with Black Library releases. The latest offender of being a limited release is Corax: Soulforge by Gav Thorpe. I really like the Raven Guard and their Horus Hersey story, Deliverance Lost also my Mr. Thorpe was the first Horus Heresy book I read and it got me started reading the series. You may say that Deliverance Lost was an important part of the main story line in the Horus Heresy so it needs to be available to all readers and that this new book is only going to appeal to those that adore the Raven Guard or the hard core collectors of the novels because it no longer follows the main story arc. I want to know what happens outside the main story but the price to read that story is more than I am willing to pay.

I can't convince myself to spend $50 on a nice hard cover book with all the other fancy things that Black Library puts into their books whenever it is just a series I want to read. I have own one hard back book from Black Library and that is Flesh of Cretacia by Andy Smillie, it's a 123 page book that costs twice as much as a 300 page paperback novel from Black Library. As a buyer you are paying an absolute premium for a fancier version of a book that you might read once then keep it on a book shelf for the rest of its life for fear of ruining the pristine condition of the book. To put this in perspective I spent $35 for a 1,000 page hard back book called A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin. Sure it was not some limited edition but Black Library really needs to deflate its limited edition prices to get me to buy ones that don't have to do with Blood Angels or Space Wolves.

This new book then becomes a perfect collector items for lovers of the original lads in black (sorry Black Templars). If that is the goal Black Library is shooting for then congrats to them since it is working. The thing that still irks me is the wait time for those books to be sold on paper back. Selling it as a normal edition will not depreciate the value of the super fancy edition. It will make Black Library more money since people like me will now be able to buy these books and appreciate the story more.

I really wish Black Library would alter their policy and or prices of their limited edition books. To me it only makes sense to do it. From an author perspective I would be pissed if I was working on a book for months and months only to be told that it is going to be sold to only 500 people, and maybe in a year or less be available to the public in a paper back format. Thanks again for reading!