It’s my pleasure to give you, as a subscriber to my philatelic newsletter, the first chance to order the Philatelic First Edition of Keller’s forthcoming fifth adventure, HIT ME—and to receive at no cost the souvenir sheet, “Stamps from the Keller Collection.”
New York’s legendary Mysterious Bookshop is publishing the book by arrangement with Mulholland Books. It will be a genuine small-press limited edition, differing from Mulholland’s trade edition in several aspects: it will be (1) a signed and numbered limited edition, (2) printed on a superior grade of paper, and (3) bound in full cloth with gold stamping.
And it will be philatelically enhanced with a custom US 45¢ personal postage stamp showing the book’s cover. The stamp will be affixed to the limitation page and tied to the page with a special “Keller Cancel.”
It’s not cheap at $75, but we think it represents a solid value for a luxury item.
The souvenir sheet’s an even more remarkable value—it’s free! You can’t buy it separately, but it’s yours at no cost when you order the philatelic edition of HIT ME.
If you’re sold, here’s a link to LB’s eBay Bookstore, where we’ve just made the book available.
Still with me? I see some hands raised, so let me take a few questions.
Is the Philatelic Edition a first edition?
You bet. It’s the book’s true first edition, as Mulholland’s trade edition won’t go on sale until February. We can’t promise, given the vagaries of the small-press world, but we’re fairly confident we’ll be getting the book to you in time for Christmas.
And the souvenir sheet?
It’s ready to go. Once we’ve processed your order, we’ll send you your signed souvenir sheet. And Mysterious Bookshop will deliver your book as soon as it’s ready.
Is there a dust jacket? Sometimes limited editions omit the jacket.
Good question. I’m happy to report that the Mulholland dust jacket’s included.
Is the book any good? I figured Keller was retired after Hit & Run.
He thought so himself. Turns out it’s not that easy to give up something you’re very good at—especially in a down economy. (And especially with his stamp budget eating up his capital.) Publishers Weekly’s starred review calls Hit Me “highly enjoyable…In inventive ways, Keller deals with a cheating wife in Dallas, a felonious monk in New York City, a cruise ship in Florida with a protected witness aboard, and a wandering husband in Denver. Meanwhile, he continues to build his ‘worldwide to 1940’ stamp collection.”
You mention it’s a limited edition. How limited?
An absolute maximum of 1000 copies. Once we’ve sold that many, we’ll cut off orders.
And how many may I order?
No more than five copies. (And yes, every copy comes with a souvenir sheet.)
Overseas orders okay?
Absolutely. You can order from our eBay listing for shipment anywhere in the world. Shipping charges vary; the cost within the United States is $3.99 for the first book (and $1.99 for each additional book). International orders ship by Priority Mail, and our charges are $14.94 to Canada, $18.94 overseas.
I’ll stop now and get this out to you. I honestly have no idea how quickly this offer will sell out, but I do know the interest seems very keen, so you’re probably best advised to order sooner rather than later. Once again, here’s a link to the eBay listing.
There’ll be a general newsletter going out in a couple of days, with some more news included. And I’ll be blogging and tweeting next week about the Philatelic Edition. Meanwhile, you’ve got a few days’ head start on the rest of the world.
