One of the stranger items in the Donald Westlake canon is his 1961 biography of Elizabeth Taylor, written as John B. Allan. It also might be the last item you’d expect to return to print, but thanks to the efforts of Westlake fan and Violent World of Parker reader Seth R., it has. I’ll let him tell you about the book and his exciting new venture, Blackbird Books:
There used to be a two-tiered system in the book world: There were the fancy hardcover books—the real books—chosen by the literary doyens in New York, put out by the likes of Random House and Harper, and sold in bookstores. And then there was the mischievous sibling, the cheap pulp paperbacks filling the wire racks at drugstores, airports, and bus stations. Frequently written under pen names, these books tended to be short—usually under 200 pages—plot-driven, and packaged with flashy, eye-catching covers.
Sneered at by the New York literary establishment, it was these books which, in many cases, had the best stories, the most enduring and timeless appeal, and, just as important, the biggest sales. In fact, a certain criminal named Parker got his start in a 35 cent throwaway back in 1962.
Of course, Donald Westlake also had a contract with Random House, and, as prolific as he was, wrote for many publishing houses, both big and small. But it was his pulp paperbacks that are arguably the most memorable. The same holds true for many other authors whose work found its home in the gritty pulp pages of the paperbacks of the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
Unfortunately, many of these classics are out of print and have been for years. Hard to find, expensive, brittle, and musty, these books deserve better.
At the same time, I had my own books that I wanted to put out in the world. And with the traditional agent/publishing system coming apart and the rise of independent publishing, I saw a way to kill two birds with one stone and strike out on my own.
So I started Blackbird Books with the goal of putting pulp classics back in print as both high quality, acid-free, print-on-demand paperbacks and as e-books. I’m also publishing a limited number of new works in the great pulp paperback tradition.
Our first two reprints have been The Case of Jennie Brice by Mary Roberts Rinehart (with illustrations by the great Earl Mayan) and Elizabeth Taylor by John B. Allan, a.k.a. Donald E. Westlake. More Westlake and other reprints are forthcoming.
In these reissues, I preserve as much of the original reading experience as possible. The text, of course, is original (with typos and spelling mistakes fixed), but so is the cover art, book blurb, and even the fake bio for John B. Allan (Ironically, Westlake’s fake John B. Allan biography has him graduating from the University of Chicago, now the purveyor of his Parker series. It’s also my own alma mater!).
The wire racks may be gone, but luckily e-books and print-on-demand have come to take their place in the storytelling ecosystem. So enjoy, and if you have any favorites you’d like to see back in print, let me know.
* * *
Now that Seth’s said his piece, let me add a few words. I have both the print and Kindle edition of this book, and can tell you first-hand that he’s putting out a superb product. The print edition is quality all the way around–binding, layout, cover, paper–at the supremely reasonable price of $8.95. The care taken in producing this book is obvious and extraordinary. Compare the original cover to Blackbird’s updated cover:
The essence is preserved, and Liz looks a good bit more elegant for not being smushed, don’t you think? (Although her boobs aren’t as prominent, which may have been the point of the original crop job.)
The Kindle edition is superior as well. I’ve complained to anyone who will listen about the poor quality of many e-books, even big titles from the big boys. Elizabeth Taylor looks great on a Kindle, and includes a cover (thank you, thank you, thank you!). And it’s only $2.99.
So thanks, Seth, for making this curiosity available to the curious and for creating such a high quality product. Best of luck with the new venture! I’m looking forward to finding out what other gems Blackbird Books has for us down the road.
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Great idea. Print-on-demand is the future of independent print publishing. See my recent interviews with POD publishers Matthew Stadler (Publication Studio) and Matthew Moring (Altus Press – great pulp reprints)
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/144045-print-on-demand-and-the-future-of-independent-publishing-part-1/
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/144043-print-on-demand-and-the-future-of-independent-publishing-part-2/
I hope Blackbird Books obtains the rights to a lot of out-of-print Westlake. How about Comfort Station? Sassi Manoon? Up Your Banners? Ex Officio? So many titles have been out-of-print for decades.
Matt
I am a mother of 3 chiedrln. 1 aged 9, who attends grade 4 at Ecole St. Mary, 1 aged 5 who attends kindergarten at Ecole St. Mary and 1 aged 4 who attends Preschool at Headstart and will attend Ecole St. Mary for kindergarten fall 2012. I am looking for spots for all 3 of my chiedrln (at the same place) that is in the bus district for the school. We live in North Central and I work M-F, 8-5 downtown. My name is Katherine and I can be reached at 570-7742. Thanks!
I hate to be the party pooper/spoil sport here, but all this Print On Demand hoohah kind of bums me out, and I swear it’s not based on jealousy. For many years, even before the advent of the internet, which made the hunt for these rarities exponentially easier, the THRILL of the hunt was the thing. I spent many an hour traipsing through the darkest of thrift and used book stores to put together a very decent collection of not only the canon of our beloved DEW/RS but many other out of print and obscure tomes by those worthy of seeing print more than just the one time. I’m an obsessive collector at heart and print on demand just takes the fun out of it. Yes, you can pay outrageous prices by dealers on the web if you really want to take the easy way out, but imagine the utter exhilaration of walking into some ‘book nook’ in Bumfart, Nevada and finding that legendary copy of Comfort Station for one third cover price, just down the shelf from Power Play at half cover price as I did one cold, dark morning around 1997. I’m not bragging, though it sounds like I am, but really, there’s almost nothing like it, and I tell you this stuff is still out there. Yes, I know folks just want to read the book, but in cases like collecting the works of DEW, it’s that hard to describe rush of blood to the nether regions when you find that gem that makes it all worth while, and you guys know deep down exactly what I mean. Good luck to Blackbird, but nothing beats stumbling onto the real McCoy, and we know it! It’s that frustration that keeps us healthy and not complacent, which can be what we become when all we have to do is basically clap our hands, blink and voila! No fuss no muss……I know everyone’s pressed for time, etc. but that’s also everyone’s excuse….end of sermon….now get down to your local Goodwill and dig….
Sure, I love the fun of the hunt, too. And those first editions are still going to be valuable. But surely a writer of Westlake’s stature deserves all his work in print so people can continue to discover him. Of course, the Liz Taylor book is surely more of a curiosity than an essential work…
I guess I feel that since I had to go through the hassle everyone else should too! Sure I realize that’s assholish and a tad douche like, but you kids nowadays have all the ease of the touch of a button….damned hellions! But you’re correct, Westlake should be out there and available so he doesn’t fade away like so many writers before him….I’m just a tad resentful I had to spend a portion of my life seeking out the elusive tomes, when I could have just waited and the works would have just come to me…what must I have been thinking….a lack of faith in progress, I suspect!
I sympathize, but back then, unless you had a tremendous travel budget (or a job that sent you all over the place) and a tremendous amount of leisure time, there was some stuff that was just never going to be found. I picked clean every used bookstore in Austin, San Antonio, Las Vegas, and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana. I went to the collectors fairs whenever they rolled through town. And after years of this, I was nowhere close to completing my set of 182 Bantam Doc Savage reprints. I doubt I would have completed my set before I died of old age had technology remained frozen at pre-Internet levels, and this is living in a decent-sized city. When I was a kid I lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere. How would I have ever completed my set had I settled down there?
Besides, just because a book is available again doesn’t mean that first editions, rare editions, and inscribed copies are no longer cool. I have multiple copies of several Parker novels for just this reason (no inscribed ones, alas).
There is something for eneryove in this collection. English and Armenian speaking kids alike can enjoy these classic stories with a comical twist. The books in Armenian are an excellent read for kids in Armenian School programs. The illustrations are engaging and since the stories are familiar, our kids are more eager to read these in Armenian and reinforce their Armenian speaking and reading skills.
Whereas, of course, I do…
I can sympathize with A. Kelp on this one as well; part of being a collector is that slightly ugly thing of owning something few or no other people have (an issue I addressed in this post on P. M. Hubbard). But at the same time, I want as many people as possible to be able to get their hands on Westlake’s work, and if that means POD or eBooks, well, so be it. The other thing to bear in mind is that there are lots of people for whom secondhand books are anathema: some folk just won’t buy anything other than “new” editions. (Weird as that might sound!)
Of course, for me, on the Elizabeth Taylor book, that’s not an issue…
I’m pretty much just the opposite as I hardly, if ever, buy anything new, and have never even considered a POD version of any book. If I’m tuned in and there’s a copy out there, damn the torpedoes, etc. etc. Nice signed copies, BTW, NJ! I’ve always attempted to pick up DEW in pocket size pbs, but I did score a lovely hardcover 1st of Adios Scheherazade for a mere pittance once and kept it even though I had the PB, because I love the book. I think you’ve got the bug bad if you’re looking for cover variants, and I salute and sympathize with your fever. I did manage to obtain a signed copy of Harlan Ellison’s Sex Gang for a reasonable price a few decades ago (actually signed twice as Paul Merchant and Harlan Ellison)but in reality signed copies don’t matter much to me. If I found one at the same price as unsigned I’d snap it up, but it’s not a real selling point for me. What I did find once, and still have, is a Gold Medal review copy of Point Blank with the slip, and that was something I had never come across before. Yes, technically it’s a reprint, but that slip’s an original…..never find a POD of eBook with that little bonus, eh???
Kelp:
What do you mean “the slip”? A slipcase? Some publishing term I don’t know?
Sent you a scan. Check your email!
Sorry to come back to this thread late, but it’s a thought that just occurred to me.
Couldn’t a POD edition easily end up being the rarest of editions? Say a venture like Blackbird picks up the rights to a book for two years of POD. Maybe it does OK, but not well enough to warrant renewing the rights. Maybe it sells a couple hundred copies. After that, no one else is likely to pick up the rights. Presumably, there are thousands of copies of any edition published in the standard manner. Perhaps the POD edition becomes a sought-after collectors item!
I doubt that, but I thought the idea was worth floating.