Any clue why this one is so hard to come by?

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Takoren

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Nov 25, 2015
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I got back into reading King recently after years of not reading him, so I never bought a copy of The Colorado Kid. When I started to collect his works again so that I could read or re-read everything, I figured I'd find this one in a book store the same way I see Joyland everywhere (and have now bought a copy). But not a single book store in my immediate area carries it. Not even the second hand ones. The second hand ones have marked it as "rare" and I can't even order it online through my local chain.

Amazon wants, minimally, $35 for it, a thin book that retails for eight bucks. What on earth is going on with that?
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
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Maine
I got back into reading King recently after years of not reading him, so I never bought a copy of The Colorado Kid. When I started to collect his works again so that I could read or re-read everything, I figured I'd find this one in a book store the same way I see Joyland everywhere (and have now bought a copy). But not a single book store in my immediate area carries it. Not even the second hand ones. The second hand ones have marked it as "rare" and I can't even order it online through my local chain.

Amazon wants, minimally, $35 for it, a thin book that retails for eight bucks. What on earth is going on with that?
It was a relatively small print run to begin with and there aren't any plans for another printing so it makes it harder to come by.
 

do1you9love?

Happy to be here!
Feb 18, 2012
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Virginia
I got back into reading King recently after years of not reading him, so I never bought a copy of The Colorado Kid. When I started to collect his works again so that I could read or re-read everything, I figured I'd find this one in a book store the same way I see Joyland everywhere (and have now bought a copy). But not a single book store in my immediate area carries it. Not even the second hand ones. The second hand ones have marked it as "rare" and I can't even order it online through my local chain.

Amazon wants, minimally, $35 for it, a thin book that retails for eight bucks. What on earth is going on with that?
If you don't mind a gently used copy, I'd recommend alibris.com or half.com. They have copies for sale for much lesss.
 

Moderator

Ms. Mod
Administrator
Jul 10, 2006
52,243
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Maine
What sort of considerations go into deciding how many copies of any given book will be run at first printing?
I'd just be guessing as that's not part of my job description :smile: but I'd think past sales would be a factor along with production costs and the demographic the publisher thinks the book would appeal to as well as their own abilities to market the book. carrie's younger brother might have more insight into what determines print run numbers as someone who used to work at Penguin and on that side of the business.
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
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Cambridge, Ohio
I'd just be guessing as that's not part of my job description :smile: but I'd think past sales would be a factor along with production costs and the demographic the publisher thinks the book would appeal to as well as their own abilities to market the book. carrie's younger brother might have more insight into what determines print run numbers as someone who used to work at Penguin and on that side of the business.
..."guessing" isn't part of your job???....how about "hindsight"?.....:biggrin2:
 

GNTLGNT

The idiot is IN
Jun 15, 2007
87,651
358,754
62
Cambridge, Ohio
I got back into reading King recently after years of not reading him, so I never bought a copy of The Colorado Kid. When I started to collect his works again so that I could read or re-read everything, I figured I'd find this one in a book store the same way I see Joyland everywhere (and have now bought a copy). But not a single book store in my immediate area carries it. Not even the second hand ones. The second hand ones have marked it as "rare" and I can't even order it online through my local chain.

Amazon wants, minimally, $35 for it, a thin book that retails for eight bucks. What on earth is going on with that?
...there's a ton of listings on Ebay right now....prices from cheap to stupid....
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
So, there was only one printing of Colorado Kid? Is the book smaller in size than the first printing (large paperback) of Joyland?
Colorado Kid is the same size of an original small paperback. There was no trade paperback (larger, almost the size of a hardback) nor was it printed in the newer slightly larger paperback size.
 

kingricefan

All-being, keeper of Space, Time & Dimension.
Jul 11, 2006
30,011
127,446
Spokane, WA
And only one print run?
As far as I know. Maybe John Hanic could answer that one for sure, or maybe Bev Vincent? I don't believe it had a lot of publicity when it was published. At that time Hard Case Crime was probably considered a 'small' publisher. They were publishing crime noir novels, some new, some older titles. King liked the idea of going with them for this title as HCC harkened back to the days when he (King) walked around with a paperback in his back pocket. So, without a lot of fanfare I don't think it sold a lot of copies. I do remember a few members saying that they couldn't even find it at their bookstores as HCC books weren't being sold by them back then. I think HCC is now considered a bigger publisher (certainly not as big as Viking, Doubleday, Putnam, etc.) but they've got a lot of great titles in their catalogue now by some 'name' authors. They've published all of the 'lost' adventure novels by Michael Crichton that he wrote under the 'John Lange' non-de-plume and they signed that contract with Michael before he passed away. Michael even added some new passages to a couple of them.
 

morgan

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2010
29,353
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North Dakota
As far as I know. Maybe John Hanic could answer that one for sure, or maybe Bev Vincent? I don't believe it had a lot of publicity when it was published. At that time Hard Case Crime was probably considered a 'small' publisher. They were publishing crime noir novels, some new, some older titles. King liked the idea of going with them for this title as HCC harkened back to the days when he (King) walked around with a paperback in his back pocket. So, without a lot of fanfare I don't think it sold a lot of copies. I do remember a few members saying that they couldn't even find it at their bookstores as HCC books weren't being sold by them back then. I think HCC is now considered a bigger publisher (certainly not as big as Viking, Doubleday, Putnam, etc.) but they've got a lot of great titles in their catalogue now by some 'name' authors. They've published all of the 'lost' adventure novels by Michael Crichton that he wrote under the 'John Lange' non-de-plume and they signed that contract with Michael before he passed away. Michael even added some new passages to a couple of them.
Thank you once again!
I enjoy Crichton's work (State of Fear is my favorite) and will have to look into the John Lange books. So terribly sad that he passed away. :(
 

carrie's younger brother

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Mar 8, 2012
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NJ
I'd just be guessing as that's not part of my job description :smile: but I'd think past sales would be a factor along with production costs and the demographic the publisher thinks the book would appeal to as well as their own abilities to market the book. carrie's younger brother might have more insight into what determines print run numbers as someone who used to work at Penguin and on that side of the business.
It was actually Simon & Schuster (and then later Time Warner), not Penguin. But that's neither here nor there (I love that phrase!). ;-D

Ms. Mod is pretty much spot on with her very educated guess. I worked in marketing/advertising so I was not privy to exactly what went into their calculations for a print run, but all the factors Ms. Mod mentioned are definitely taken into account.

Like working in any field, working in publishing was a big eye opener for me as to the amount of time and money that goes into the publication, marketing and publicity for one little book. Looking at it from the reader's side of the book (so to speak) we often think of it with rose colored glasses on, but in the end, it really is just like any business beholden to its share holders: the bottom line is $$$. But that's not to say the art, creativity and intelligence factors are not also valued, because they most certainly are. My years in publishing are the most favorite years of my career.