The books, as reported last time, will be on the way to me as you read this. A few people, who simply couldn’t wait, already have their books on the way via air. (This is expensive, I don’t do it myself, and to save you the agony of making a decision–it’s too late for volumes 5 & 6 anyway.)
Once the books clear customs, the prices for sets will go up. I’m not sure how much. Greed is struggling with my innate basic rapaciousness to come out on top.
Folks such as you, who fronted money way in advance, haven’t seen a price increase. But to cover the rising cost of everything, the remaining sets will be sold at prices above the $1295 you paid. On the other hand, if you decide in a year to purchase a second set, please remind me that you bought-in as a subscriber, and I will make a discount in your case, even if I cannot offer the set at $1295 in the future.
About e-books. Some of you have asked about this. John Vance and I had a conversation some time ago about publishing the entire Work electronically. There are concerns on the part of the Vances, and on my part as well. The Vances require that some sort of effective digital copyright mechanism be in place. I agree. Trouble is, I haven’t yet seen a DCM that I believe in. Now, it’s true that Vance fans are not the sort to make unlimited pirate copies for all and sundry. But there are people out there who do just that. So I, at least, do not care to publish Jack Vance as an e-book collection.
(One advantage of e-books would be that I would know to whom I sold the copy that was pirated. Sort of like locking the door of the e-barn after the e-horse has gotten e-out.)
I know, I know, it would have to be less expensive than print editions. Of course. But a CVIE in electronic format would still have to be reset to meet my standards, and when all was said and done, the e-CVIE would still be hundreds of dollars. And I have not even considered trying to convince some of the copyright holders to let me do this. So for now, sorry: no e-CVIE.
Afton House Books 