BDB Hardcover Books : The BCE guide!

Hi, Daggers!

So , in today`s post I want to talk about something that has been an re-occurring topic.

Let`s say, You found one of the first Black Dagger Brotherhood books in hardcover , on Ebay, Amazon etc , and you get your book , go to place it in your bookshelf , and see that it is an inch shorter than your regular AKA trade hardcover books.
This is because the book is something called a BCE = Book Club Edition.

This means that your book has been printed by a ” Book Club”. Usually an imprint company that the original publishers own. Signet is owned by NAL, who again is owned by Berkley Books ( former Penguin Random House).
These books are usually printed with cheaper materials than the original publishing house, and is usually not worth much to a collector. That does not mean they are worthless.

The very first BDB hardcover book, the dark lover/Lover eternal were first published by a book club called Rhapsody . Then the bookclub changed its name to Signet , and it released the first 11 BDB books in the BCE format. Lover Avenged has the regular format for some unknown reason.

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How Can You tell if it is in fact , a Book Club Edition?
The clues to finding out if your book is a BCE , can vary, depending on who the book has been published by. Some clues to identify a BCE may be:

• Some of them are not priced . And might also have a blank box where the bar code usually is.
• Hardcover editions of the BCE tend to be a little smaller than a regular hardcover book. You might also feel a little weight difference, the BCE being lighter.
• Paperback book club editions are often a little larger than the trade paperbacks.
• The paper used for the pages is often thin and have a lower quality than trade editions. This to keep the costs down.
• The boards (the main book cover) might be bound with thick paper instead of cloth/leather.
• The dust jacket may be made of thinner paper and have a slightly different design. Some might even come without a dustcover.
• The book’s endpapers may be white instead of colored.
• You might find some empty pages at the beginning and end of the book.
• There might be summaries from the book clubs other books , at the end of the book.
• The dust jacket it self might have a notation of “Book Club Edition” on it.
• The name of the book club is usually on the copyright page.
• The book synopsis might be missing from the back cover.

The first five BCE are the original hardcover books of this series.
The Black Dagger Brotherhood series was originally only published as paperbacks, crazy, right?!

Warden decided to reissue these 5 first books in 2012,these are the ” Collectors edition” and thus there has been confusion in the book collector community ever since.
Many of the book sellers DO NOT say that their book is a BCE, in their listings.

But luckily , there are some pointers you can check before ordering the book in question;

The Cover

This is by far the easiest way to see if the book you are wanting to buy , is a BCE or a regular sized hardcover.

When Warden started reissuing the books in 2012, She changed the font on the covers.
From a slender standard font to a bold font with a metallic border around her name.

After “Lover Avenged” , the covers have almost no visible difference.
But there are some details you can look for :

Let`s do the “Lover Avenged” BCE first , since it has the most easy distinctions:

*It is the only book in the entire BCE series that is regular sized.

* The Inside covers are plain white , with no patterns:

*The back has an extra identification number

*The BCE boards are total black,whilst the original edition has a grey or blue boards:

Lover Mine is the only BCE book that comes in 2 colors!
It is available in either black or white hardcover boards.

Also , The first 7 BCE books , do not have the “#1 New York Times Bestselling Author” tag line on the top of the marrows:

So ,for the last BCE books , it`s a bit harder to spot any difference.

• Nr 1: The size. The BCE books are 9 inches tall , whilst the regular editions are 9,5 inches tall.
• Nr 2: The dust jackets on the BCEs are glossy , and of very thin paper.
• You can clearely see the difference of the Shadows matte cover and the BCE`s cover:

• Nr 3: The inside of the Hardcover boards are WHITE.
• Nr 4: The back of the books have an extra identification number.

• Number 5: The Author introduction is usually different.

The ISBN number

The genius part about books , is that they all have a thing called ISBN , which stands for International Standard Book Number . This means you can actually check if the ISBN number in the listing matches the one of the edition you want!

But there’s a catch to this as well. cause after lover enshrined , the BCE has the same ISBN number as the regular ones.

The Book binding

The BCE are usually binded with a cheaper material, since they are “samples”.
You can actually see and feel the quality difference.

You can also see a difference on the marrow design :

The Inside

As you can see, the BCE does not have colored pages or the price tag.
And instead of the reviews from other authors , it has a synopsis.

At the back of the book , the BCE has an author introduction and a picture of Warden herself. Also a list of the previous books in the BDB series the book club has published.

Publisher

All the 5 first BCE books are published in 2007 by SIGNET. Except Dark Lover/Lover Eternal which was published by Rhapsody. If the listed book you are looking at has signet as its publisher , it is the BCE. The BCE books after Lover Enshrined is published by NAL.

The Print Page

Here you can see a clear difference as well.
The publisher info on the left is different in the BCE and the print info is also a clear giveaway.

Excerpts

Since the BCE are in fact , Book Club releases, they often include excerpts from previous published books. Like the earlier BDB books , “Dark Lover” , “Lover Eternal” etc.

The Price tag

Even tho these BCE are technically ” First editions” , they are less valuable than the reprints , due to the quality and them being “samples”. They are still pricey tho.

The first BCE edition in this series were “Dark Lover” and “Lover Eternal” combined in 1 book. This one is the priciest one of them all. With “Lover Awakened” next.

“Lover Revealed” and “Lover Enshrined” are around 50$ and “Lover Unbound” around 50-100$.

The White book board version of “Lover Mine” is super rare , as it is a special edition.
It has gone for $60-$120.

Same with “Lover Unleashed” , “The Shadows” and “Lover At Last”.

These prices vary based on where you buy them. Ebay and Amazon is always overpriced.

Sites to check would be:

https://www.alibris.com/

https://www.bookdepository.com/

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/

https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb ( U.K based)

https://www.abebooks.com/

Warden herself has asked her fans NOT to buy the books at the blood prices they are going for these days. She is working on getting the 6 first hardcover books reprinted.

I collect both the BCE along with the regular BDB hardcovers , since they are a big part of the BDB history.

Hopefully ,these pointers will help you in your search of these amazing , but rare, books!
If you have any questions ,let me know!

Until next time , Daggers up!

The BdaggerB