Afton House Books

Folks, I have just about reached end-game. I have been unable to find a partner to help complete the second printing. I have one more person to talk to in the next week or so. If I do not reach an agreement, then I will tell you so, and I will return deposits for the second printing starting April 16th. I will return funds–in full–in the order I received them. I reach this position regretfully, but things have dragged on very much too far as it is.

If I should ever offer a second printing again, I will only do so with stock in hand, ready to ship.

Slipcovers are in the same boat: but I am hoping to pull those out yet, as they are not exactly a major capital investment.

I have a small supply of volumes that have been damaged, but are readable. I will offer them for sale after the return of your deposits and payments. I don’t think I have a complete set of even damaged volumes, but I will photo the damage for anyone interested when I am ready to sell them off. They might afford someone some of Jack’s work that they do not presently have.

I appreciated the patience you have shown, and once again apologize for the non-event of the second printing.

Jack Vance passed away Sunday. He was 96. You may read and leave comments at:

foreverness.jackvance.com

The world of letters, and the world of good folk, is poorer now.

Well, response has been far more typical of Vance fans than I had expected. I am very encouraged by your response. I am still hunting funding, but there have been a few very good suggestions.

Someone mentioned Kickstarter… if you haven’t heard of this, have a look at their site. It is a distinct possibility. It will take two months, but would do the trick.

One thing: don’t send money right now. If I can continue, then I’ll ask once more, but at the moment, sending me money means more I may have to return.

Thanks again…

That’s still alive. I have no problems there, just the major issue.

Someone has offered a suggestion for funding, I’m talking today with him.

Folks, there’s a problem and it’s past time to let you know about it.

Here’s the issue: in the past, I have first asked for small deposits, to get a count of serious buyers. After a time, I would go to the printer with the count, get a current price, and then set the selling price. Based on past experience, however, I had already set the price for your copies.

Following that, I would ask for a substantial amount of money, to cover my costs. I cannot afford to just buy 100 sets, for example, so the buyers, through their first payment of $600 to $900, get the ball rolling. One of the reasons I have done it this way is that although I don’t have to print the entire set at once, I do have to buy all of the material so that covers and pages match in texture and color. As a result, there’s a hefty up front charge, hence the large first payment.

The strangest thing has happened. Few people have answered the call for the first large payment. I have begun to send out individual reminders, but some are unanswered, others ask for a bit of delay. I have never seen this happen before.

Now I am in the position of time going on, holding a lot of deposit for a long time, and unable to proceed. I have come to the conclusion that if I cannot find someone to front the printing costs (to the printer, not me!), I must cancel the second printing, and return everyone’s deposit. This I can do, but I have struggled trying to find a solution. I’m not coming up with one.

I’m am sorry to be so blunt about this, but there it is. Deposits are secure: they can all be returned. I have two or three other possible individuals to approach for funding, but it’s looking like a slim chance.

If you have questions, post them or e-mail me. If you’d just like your money back now, let me know that and I’ll take care of it. I don’t hold out a lot of hope of finding a backer, so returning your money is fine with me.

Two or three people, who first paid either in full or a large deposit, will get sets from my personal stock. I will also have a few damaged sets that I will offer to people in the order of their deposits. The damaged sets are readable, but have cover or water damage.

I’m very sorry about this mess.

I was in the UK for about a week, and during that time someone left a voice mail message on my phone. It’s a garbled mess, but I gathered that it was someone calling about books. If it was you, call again, I’m back and answering that line.

There’s no new dates… that’s the situation. Also, remarkably few payments have arrived after the call for the up-front. This is used to pay for paper and cover material, all of which is bought in advance (so that it matches.) I will finalize, one way or another, before the 31st of this year. Standby. I’m sorry this has dragged out so long.

Aw, I don’t have the darned shipping prices for the slipcases yet. They’re an odd size, 20″ x 8″ x 1.5″. Bear with me…

Just an update. I am now doing my almost-final counting of orders for the CVIE and the Slipcovers. They have been dribbling in, and may never stop, so: I’m going to get a count, add a few more of each, and get finalized pricing. I realize this seems to proceed at a glacial pace, but unfortunately, I can’t just order a few hundred slipcases (and certainly not CVIE sets) and just hold them to sell from time to time. I have no doubt that I will run out of however many I print eventually, but I can’t help that.

Thanks for your patience. It will not be very long now: everything must be shipped in fiscal 2012 or I’m a dead goose, my wife says…