The 21st century has brought many new and exciting innovations to the world of books. Booktok is allowing stories to quickly ascend to the top of the bestseller lists and lets people share what they’re reading to millions of strangers at a time. AI gives us the ability to write a story in seconds (yet we don’t know if that’s truly good or bad yet.) And while the topics above are mainly about how the online world affects books, there’s another trend I’ve seen popping up that relates more to the physical books themselves- limited edition books for collectors. These editions can look more beautiful than some of the oldest books in the world, and they are often hard to track down- as when they’re gone, they’re gone. But are these rarities a truly beneficial addition to publishing- or is there some drawbacks to the special painted edges and endpapers?
First, what do you mean by “Limited Collector’s Editions”?
Limited Collector’s Editions (which I’ll refer to as LCEs), also known as “Deluxe Limited Editions”, “Limited First Print Runs”, and a bunch of other titles (I don’t think there’s even a universal term yet), are special editions of print books that are meant to be fancier than their regular counterparts and bedazzled with special features. They are most common with fantasy titles (The romance-specializing publisher Entangled seems to be a pioneer of this trend, as they put out a lot of LCEs with their “romantasy” titles), though I’ve seen them with some other genres. Sometimes LCEs may be wildly available at all bookstores, while others may be limited to one bookstore chain (such as those B&N exclusive editions). In addition, LCEs most commonly happen with new hardcover releases, but can also happen when a book is later released in paperback for the first time too, and straight-to-paperback releases.
A key thing to know is that these editions are truly limited- in general, the books are only printed with these special features in the first print run, which varies based off of the author’s popularity, but for debut authors it will be the first 3000-5000 copies printed and can be up to 100,000 copies for big authors. That may seem like a bunch of special editions, but remember many people are going to be purchasing the book due to it being a limited edition, each bookstore only receives a fraction of the total copies, and people will preorder the book ahead of time to guarantee a copy. After all those initial copies are gone, you’re going to need to get the copy from the second print one, which will just be a regular book with no special features. From what I’ve seen on bookstore shelves, it appears most LCEs last on shelves for 2-5 months before all the copies are sold out, but this may factor on book popularity.
As for what actually makes these books so special, there are many features an LCE can have. For literary fiction, it’s mostly as simple as having all the copies in the first print be signed by the author. But for other genres, the features go above and beyond. They mostly include, but are not limited to, foil details on the covers (basically the letters in the title are shiny), illustrations or patterns inside the front and back cover, and sprayed edges (where the edges of the book are painted in a color other than white, a personal envy of mine because the only books I own with sprayed edges are much more widely available collections of Edgar Allan Poe stories and Death Note 3-in-1 editions.) Some of the more anticipated titles may also have a special bonus chapter to continue the story.
Here are some examples of some recent LCEs in the YA genre, with emphasis on the sprayed edges:
The Pros of LCEs:
The top benefit of releasing limited edition books is the same thing I will say as the top benefit of BookTok- it helps authors and books get seen. One thing I’ve noticed with books with LCEs is that the authors who wrote these are often either debut authors or authors whose works aren’t noticed as much in mainstream publishing. The decision to make an LCE of a book is most likely decided by the publisher and not the author. Therefore, when an author decides to make a special edition of a lesser known author’s title, people will rush to get it because it’s a special edition, and if the actual book is good, the author will quickly be noticed and discussed.
Another thing these LCEs can benefit are local and indie bookstores. Since most people are going to be eager to receive these editions as soon as possible, people will come to the indie bookstore to get a copy, especially since it will most likely sell out online quicker, and by buying it at a smaller local bookstore, they will be more supported and make a profit. And Indie stores have noticed- some big-name titles have exclusive editions of the book that can only be found at Indie bookstores, adding further incentive to shop at these smaller businesses.
The Cons:
As with every innovation, there are also some drawbacks that come to releasing these special editions. The main issue is how these editions are overwhelmingly designed to value aesthetics over promotion of the story. Many of these editions are meant for people to impulse-buy these books simply because they look really nice (I’ve had this impulse many, many times. And I’ve been able to resist it.) So most likely, people won’t buy it for the actual story, just the aesthetics. This ultimately promotes this strategy as a way to simply make money, rather than convince people to support the author’s writing.
And money relates to the other con I’ve found with LCEs- the cost. Books are becoming extremely expensive due to inflation, and new hardcovers are especially pricey nowadays. The average cost of a new hardcover book in the Adult age category (where most of the LCEs are) in 2024 is 30 dollars. But adding in all those special limited features will also mean the base price will go up, and LCEs on average are worth 33 dollars at the start. It doesn’t help that after the initial print run copies are all sold out, people may resell their LCEs on eBay or similar sites for 70-100 dollars or more. It’s not worth it to pool a few more dollars on an already expensive price just for sprayed edges or shiny details, especially when a cheaper edition will soon be more widely available.
So, should LCEs stay in the publishing world? Yes, because they provide a huge profit for both authors and those who are selling them. But for those who actually purchase these special editions, there’s more harm to our wallets from these beautiful, limited editions.
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