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New Whitesnake and RJD books
A publishing company called Rufus Stone Limited Editions that appears to specialise in, well, very expensive limited edition rock books has announced two new relevant releases:
Whitesnake – The Definitive Biography
This unique coffee table sized indepth book traces the history of the band from humble beginnings playing Rafters in Manchester in front of 500 people to their current position as one of Classic Rock’s most successful stadium acts. Written by Simon Robinson, John Tucker and Nigel Young, The Definitive Biography celebrates the success of Whitesnake with the full story, comprehensive discographies and an extensive gig list together with hundreds of rare and many unseen colour pictures, and memorabilia from across the band’s career.
This huge volume, available in two strictly limited edition versions, including a 250 copy HARDKASE edition, is a must for all fans of the band and will become a true collector’s item in years to come. The standard edition (just 750 copies) costs £175.00 each and the HARDKASE edition (250 copies) costs £225 each plus p+p
Ronnie James Dio – A Photographic Memoir
Renowned music photographer PG Brunelli traveled the world with Ronnie from 1983, photographing him onstage, backstage, at home and in the recording studio. This special, large format hardback book takes the best of PG’s photography and weaves a memoir of Ronnie’s life starting onstage at Donington Monsters of Rock in 1983. Together with unique written contributions from Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford, Doug Aldrich and many of his peers, colleagues and fellow professionals. This book has been compiled with the knowledge and approval of Ronnies wife, Wendy.
Available in two limited edition versions, starting at just £40 (plus p+p) Ronnie James Dio – A Photographic Memoir is released at the end of November 2010. To secure your standard or HARDKASE version (£150 plus p+p) early ordering is essential. £10 from the sale of the standard version and £30 from the sale of the HARDKASE edition will be donated to the Stand Up and Shout Cancer fund.
Thanks to Mark Smith for the info.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
I love the books but why are they so expensive? I wish I could buy them both. It’s great that some of the money is going to Ronnie’s cancer fund from his book but why is the Whitesnake book so much? Can anyone answer that?
September 26th, 2010 at 22:42Just ordered both books. P+p is 30 pounds(4,5 kg). And don’t forget 6 pounds for handling. Didn’t buy the hardcase though as they don’t fit on my shelf. hehe. And now the long waiting starts. But i will be worth the wait or……..?
September 27th, 2010 at 12:25So expensive and yet not able to spell right!!!
Hardkase?
Btw, written by Simon Robinson?
On his blog I read about this product and cant remember he said he was involved.
September 27th, 2010 at 12:50A bit later I also read that not only he or the band were involved but some , ahem, other parties.
Add.
The book is said to be based on an older book by him.
I have not understood he did authorise it NOW.
DC and band are not involved so why is that expensive???!!!!
I know for sue DC is very much intpo money but Simon?!
One experience I ll NEVER forget….
DC waving and staring into the crowd at a certain point as a signal to security where to pick out fans with cameras .
I still see it come again and again on video.
September 27th, 2010 at 12:56I gues most people think he s just majong contact.
I did not talk about the RJD book btw.
If anyone is willing to buy the book even at a high price because he or she feels the CAUSE is great, which is ofcourse, CHAPEAU/THUMBS UP!!! from me.
But personally I m inclined to say I d have preferred to make my own choices.
I want to have both books but doing donations…..
September 27th, 2010 at 13:25Not sure if I have a right to reply here but I thought I’d give it a go.
I am responsible for publishing these books, designing them, producing them and marketing them. I have been a designer for 25 years and I am an avid fan of rock and blues music. Early Whitesnake is just one of my favourite bands and I am fortunate enough to have seen them in all their glory at the end of the 70’s.
The idea of creating “expensive” music books has been developing for a long time and it is a response to the way book publishing is now changing, just like the record industry itself has and is changing. Other companies already produce books that are very expensive ranging from £200 at Genesis Publications to literally thousands at Kraken Opus.
I want to produce a range of music books that fans and collectors will be proud to own and frankly would be impossible to produce outside of a bespoke, handmade context. The books need to be desirable in terms of the production methods uses and the photography and written content we invest in. To put this into context, if we were to produce the Whitesnake book in, say China, to the same quality, we would need to produce and sell more than 10,000 units at about £50 each to make it viable. Unfortunately there are not 10,000 Whitesnake fans out there who would buy a book at this rate…
So, we have created a different model. Real fans will get a fabulous book that they would not normally expect on the artiste they love and the book becomes an investment because it is a limited edition. There is absolutely no attempt to rob or fleece anyone, just a strong desire to create something long lasting and beautiful.
We did approach the artiste in this case on a number of occasions but quite simply we had no reply. In some ways that makes selecting the photographic and editorial content easier, the books becomes more independent. I can assure there is some really good stuff in both these titles and forthcoming titles.
If you’re interested in the market for high quality limited editions it is worth reading this article http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/aug/17/photography-books-limited-edition
September 27th, 2010 at 13:46Mark
This is my approach to making guitars!
Can’t compete in a broad market, but Bespoke collectibles – now that’s a different matter.
My only criticism of Books of a Biographical nature, is that they (NOT ALL) seldom comment on the world outside the chosen subject & therefore often lose the context when discussing Decisions & changes made to Musical content, Personnel & Management, etc. All of which is fascinating.
Also, like the Egyptians of old, their Historical records only contain Victories or favourable events that rob the reader of objectivity. Clapton’s Biography was refreshing in this regard.
Why a member of the band chose to use a certain instrument or stage equipment on a certain occasion is more interesting than an image of how tight their trousers were or a comment about how many sales a particular CD made. Often the former is sadly lacking!
I would have to see a sample prior to spending this much money on such an item – everyone’s welcome to try one of our guitars before buying the book!
Now, why did I nail my head to the Coffee table? – it would have been useful some day (The table that is!).
Night all
Edd
September 27th, 2010 at 19:48I, for one, think the Ronnie James Dio book looks gorgeous, and will be placing an order for the HardKase edition over the next few days.
250 numbered, signed copies is not many for a worldwide audience, so I believe these will become very collectible.
Just as an example, the Black Sabbath Hammersmith ’81 live CD, which I believe had a run of 5,000 copies, sold out extremely fast, and then was changing hands for $100+ on Ebay.
I am really looking foward to getting this, and will treasure it for what it is, a high quality book on my favourite artist of all time.
Well done Mark for taking the risky (business) strategy of putting this together.
Can’t wait.
RIP Ronnie. You are still sadly missed…
September 27th, 2010 at 20:21Mark:
the market for a £200 coffee table book is not mutually exclusive one from the market for a £20 paperback. you’ll get a lot of grief here from the latter. and i must say, rightfully so.
September 27th, 2010 at 20:51At US$277-$356 for the Whitesnake book (sans postage and handling), one would think it would be bound in gold leaf and signed by every member of the band.
I would rather have a nice paperback that chronicles the story of the group as I am more interested in the reading and history than showing something off on a coffee table. Several Deep Purple biographies have been published in that manner, some quite good.
Needless to say, I won’t be ordering this anytime soon.
September 27th, 2010 at 21:48Thank you for the comments.
In terms of samples, that’s a good point. As an internet business it is of course difficult to provide these as such… BUT we will have page turning extracts on the site very soon…which may help plus some additional photography etc.
September 28th, 2010 at 08:51@ 9
I sound silly ofcourse but….
I should understand your post but have trouble.
Please put it in other words?
Mark, Rotterdam
September 28th, 2010 at 10:34Mark,
I understand what your saying but I think you would be able to sell 10,000 Whitesnake books at 50 each. For example,when Whitesnake tours in the states they usually play and sell out ampitheartes which hold about 8,000 fans. Multiply that by a tour of 20 shows and you get 160,000 in attendance. If only 16 people per show buy the book, it’s sold out and this does not include the rest of the world. Now I realize your not selling these books at shows but my point is I think your under estimating the popularity a little bit. I would buy it in a heart beat and so would so many others but as we say in America it’s to rich for my blood. All the best with your endeavor.
September 28th, 2010 at 10:51George,
I do not understand your maths ???
You say if only 16 people per show buy the book…well for 20 shows (as you state), that’s a total of 320 books sold ???
Confused by your logic.
September 28th, 2010 at 19:51Kevin,
September 29th, 2010 at 11:09Yes, I messed up big time with the math. What I was going for was 160,000 people divided by 10,000 books equals 16. In other words if one out of every 16 people in attendance bought a book all 10,000 would be sold out. Now that I read what I first wrote, a major DUH! on me. Sorry for the obvious major mistake! But I still say they would sell a boat load of books if they were less expensive. Once again a major mistake on my part.
All the best!
Hee Hee, I see where you were going with this now 🙂
I just placed my order for the HardKase RJD book, and I am OK with the price.
Yes, it is quite a lot of money, but I am getting a book which I know is extremely limited, and will be treasured by me for ever.
I just wish it could be released a little sooner, as I am desperate to get my hands on it now that I have ordered it.
Mark…release date…sooner…:)
September 29th, 2010 at 19:22I did the same as Kevin.
It´s the best Christmas gift I could ever get ! 🙂
Thank you Santa Mark ! 🙂
October 6th, 2010 at 10:16Just had an e-mail from RS with a link to a few page preview of the RJD book, and looking at the pictures just brings back the sadness that Ronnie is gone for ever 🙁
Just reading a couple of the text snippets on the pages, it confirms what I thought about Ronnie from the one time I met him, back in 1992. He was the kindest, gentlest, most generous person you would ever have had the pleasure to meet.
You will never be forgotten Ronnie.
October 25th, 2010 at 16:53