FWIW, I learned, many moons ago, that you use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives, ie, if you would put an "and" or "but" between them, use a comma. Example: a tall, slender lady, but a little old lady. You might say "a tall and slender lady," but probably not "a little and old lady." Using that reasoning, I think you could eliminate the commas in first, hard-cover, vanity press edition. At least the one after "first." Guess I could make a case for saying "hard-cover but vanity press."

Or is the coordinate adjectives rule no longer relevant (if it ever was)?