Occasionally I splurge; but not THAT much.

So, in the past week I got a check I'd almost despaired of getting, and that plus a better-than-expected showing at San Japan was enough for me to drop about a C-note at Amazon and get a number of things: Allegro non Troppo, the animation tour de force of Bruno Bozzetti (yes, I misspelled it), the second season of the Muppet Show, a couple of books which sadly were not as good as I'd expected, and a couple more items which hopefully will arrive in a day or two.

That, plus taking advantage of a translated-manga clearance and other el cheapo books at Half Price in Humble and the purchase of Super Munchkin and Clue (I want a copy before they change it from Agatha Christie to tabloid news- no joke), adds up to me spending a lot more on myself in the past month than I have, well, in about the six months prior. I do that sometimes, and if WLP were bigger I'd do it more often.

But there are definite limits.

H. Beam Piper happens to be one of my favorite science fiction writers- I regard him as one of the last true pulp sci-fi authors. I'm especially fond of his book Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and I own a paperback copy of John F. Carr's sequel volume Great King's War that is, put bluntly, falling apart.

John Carr has written two further books in the series, but they (and now Great King's War are only available through Carr's self-published editions, which are available through www.hostigos.com and pretty much nowhere else.

Reason being: they're hardcover at $45.00 MSRP.

Repeating: $45.00 a pop.

Plus $10.00 per book S&H.

And I should truly love to read the books, indeed to own the books... but fifty-five dollars is simply far too much to pay for one book, especially since, well...

... it might or might not be good, but it's not Piper. Piper committed suicide in 1964, mere months after Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen hit the bookstores. He died not knowing that several of his manuscripts had been accepted for publication with options for sequels, thinking that he was bankrupt and a failure as a writer. Great King's War is a book only of interest for those who truly loved Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and so I expect are the other two books.

And I do truly love the Kalvan books...

... but I don't love them $55 per volume worth.

If anyone asks why, when other small-press erotica outfits offer forty pages of work at $20 per, when WLP's last comic issue was 96 pages for $12.95, the answer is: I believe that people who love a very specific thing should not be gouged for those rare volumes that are created with them in mind.

And that's why WLP's graphic novel line, which will begin as soon as a certain artist finishes artwork I've been nagging him about for months now, will NOT be $55 per goddamn volume.

Occasionally I splurge; but not THAT much.

So, in the past week I got a check I'd almost despaired of getting, and that plus a better-than-expected showing at San Japan was enough for me to drop about a C-note at Amazon and get a number of things: Allegro non Troppo, the animation tour de force of Bruno Bozzetti (yes, I misspelled it), the second season of the Muppet Show, a couple of books which sadly were not as good as I'd expected, and a couple more items which hopefully will arrive in a day or two.

That, plus taking advantage of a translated-manga clearance and other el cheapo books at Half Price in Humble and the purchase of Super Munchkin and Clue (I want a copy before they change it from Agatha Christie to tabloid news- no joke), adds up to me spending a lot more on myself in the past month than I have, well, in about the six months prior. I do that sometimes, and if WLP were bigger I'd do it more often.

But there are definite limits.

H. Beam Piper happens to be one of my favorite science fiction writers- I regard him as one of the last true pulp sci-fi authors. I'm especially fond of his book Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and I own a paperback copy of John F. Carr's sequel volume Great King's War that is, put bluntly, falling apart.

John Carr has written two further books in the series, but they (and now Great King's War are only available through Carr's self-published editions, which are available through www.hostigos.com and pretty much nowhere else.

Reason being: they're hardcover at $45.00 MSRP.

Repeating: $45.00 a pop.

Plus $10.00 per book S&H.

And I should truly love to read the books, indeed to own the books... but fifty-five dollars is simply far too much to pay for one book, especially since, well...

... it might or might not be good, but it's not Piper. Piper committed suicide in 1964, mere months after Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen hit the bookstores. He died not knowing that several of his manuscripts had been accepted for publication with options for sequels, thinking that he was bankrupt and a failure as a writer. Great King's War is a book only of interest for those who truly loved Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen, and so I expect are the other two books.

And I do truly love the Kalvan books...

... but I don't love them $55 per volume worth.

If anyone asks why, when other small-press erotica outfits offer forty pages of work at $20 per, when WLP's last comic issue was 96 pages for $12.95, the answer is: I believe that people who love a very specific thing should not be gouged for those rare volumes that are created with them in mind.

And that's why WLP's graphic novel line, which will begin as soon as a certain artist finishes artwork I've been nagging him about for months now, will NOT be $55 per goddamn volume.