Book Biz: Page Design, Captain Underpants, Amelia Bedelia

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I’ve collected books for a long time. I think I was a collector before I knew I was a collector. One day you just wake up and realize you have a few hundred books packed into your one bedroom apartment.

I’m not a “serious” collector, though. I don’t dream about ribbed leather spines or first editions with pristine dust jackets and the authors signature on the title page. I collect books that I like, and once in awhile books that are outside my interest but have redeeming attributes like a thumb notched 1930s cookbook or a small guide to ships of the Great Lakes from 1968. Not a very sophisticated collector.

But last weekend I went to our local library’s book sale. I’m never the first one in the door, and if I arrive before eleven I must be really hustling. Books are $3 per full grocery bag and they host sales every six months or so, which means you only live with a book that wasn’t as good as expected for six months.

After I’d circled most of the tables of books (The Picture Cookbook by Life magazine 1962!) there was one table that had some fellow camped in front of it. I’d gone around behind him twice but his tortoise pace meant it would be another ten minutes before I could see the final few boxes. I checked out the audible books and CDs.

Finally he moved on and I walked over to the last boxes I’d not inspected. I looked over to see what the hell was taking him so long; reading the spines of twenty or so books wasn’t very time consuming. Aha! He wasn’t reading book spines. He was picking up books, turning them over and snapping a picture of their bar code with his smart phone. He then turned his phone over to check the book’s price on Amazon (I’m guessing) and that would inform his decision whether or not to drop the book in his bag. It was “show-rooming” in reverse! He wasn’t looking to buy low, he was looking to sell high. And judging by the nearly empty bag he toted, he wasn’t having much luck. (I wonder if his competition was there when the doors opened?)

I sorted through my “new” books when I got home. Only one of my books had a bar code! To my mind the price checker may have missed the best books available. Curious, I checked some pricing on the internet and found that two of my books were available for over $30 on BookFinder.

I don’t know why but it struck me as a real waste of time to scan book after book without seeing the title, the author, the year it was printed. At some level I accept books as commodities, but really! Even remainder houses have a sense of content.

Some days later I read about a book that I thought may be helpful for research on a project I’m working on, so naturally I again went to BookFinder (although it was available from a number of sources as a free download) . I was looking for the title Quaint Nantucket and it was published in 1896 so it’s clearly in the public domain. This link should take you to my search results.

The first four options (displayed under the “New Books” heading) were for ebooks as .pdf for $9.99. And then there were some Print On Demand paperbacks starting at $17.20: plain text covers, uneven scans reproduced on a laser printer. Wow.

Even more surprising, the least expensive book under the “Used Books” listing was an actual 1901 copy. It was listed as “very good” condition. Then there were POD hardcover copies that started at a dollar and a half more and went progressively higher. I had to wonder how deep into digital editions someone would have to be if an unpredictable scan, reproduced with toner “ink” and bound cross grain that cost more than an actual copy of the original book made sense.

I know the writing, publishing, editing and retailing of current titles is in a state of flux, but older titles that were made by craftsman, edited by professionals and sold by people who loved the feel and smell of books aren’t getting any respect and I don’t know why.

Last minute addition: Too late for the newsletter, Claire Messud author of The Woman Upstairs, answers a question from the media about the “likability” of her protagonist. I think you’ll enjoy her answer.

What You Should Know about Page Designpage design.svg

Thirty some years ago when I started making books, most publishers neglected to specify page margins so production planners (aka “book engineers”) were taught very basic principles of page design. Today, whatever looks okay on the screen seems to be fine, but there are actually historic guides to assist the creation of attractive, easy to read pages.

West Virginia Schools to Read Sci-Fi?

A West Virginia state representative has introduced a bill to include science fiction reading as part of state school curricula in hopes it would encourage interest in math, engineering and the sciences. If it motivates kids to read I’m all for it. (Unfortunately, their fifth grade science camps, funded by the Defense Department, are facing the budget ax.)

1640 hymnalMost Valuable Book in the World?

Well, it’s certainly in the top tier. A copy of the Psalms printed in a run of 1,700 books in 1640 in Cambridge MA is expected to fetch around $30M at auction next fall.

Booksellers Keep Fighting

A group of brick-and-mortar book sellers have asked a court to deny a motion to dismiss their lawsuit for restraint of trade against Amazon and the big six NYC publishers.

Would You Like an Opinion?

Avon Romance has introduced Share Your Book. Authors will be able to upload excerpts from their writing for others to critique, with the promise that occasionally editors will poke around the offerings. Too early to tell if this will evolve into a helpful community or (more typically) losers who will flame everyone’s submissions or interject their irrelevant political biases.

Re-Examining the Death of Books (and Publishers)

Predictably, Wired magazine sees doom and destruction in the book business as ebooks continue to redefine the industry. But a closer look at their conclusions paints a very different picture.

Leveling the Retail Field

Efforts to require collection of sales taxes on all internet transactions seem likely to succeed, offering some relief to Main Street retailers and ironically protecting Amazon from the next Amazon.

Kodak Ready to Emerge from Bankruptcy

After cutting a deal giving its UK pensioners its remaining photographic and imaging business, Kodak seems to have cleared the last hurdle to emerge from bankruptcy a much smaller version of its former self.

Even Better

Kodak announced it made a profit during the first quarter of 2013. Kodak hadn’t posted a profitable quarter since 2010.

Xpedx to merge with Unisource

Although I reported xpedx was closing all of its paper supply stores last February, it’s just been announced that xpedx and last surviving rival Unisource plan to merge and salvage what’s left of the paper/printer supply retail industry.Captain Underpants

Defending Captain Underpants

Each September I participate in recognizing the paranoia that leads to banning books during Banned Book Week. Now the American Library Association has listed the ten titles most frequently challenged in schools and libraries. Instead of Salinger, Vonnegut or Morrison, author Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants titles for ‘tween readers ranks number one in complaints.

A New Weekly for Baton Rouge

The Newhouse family has announced it’s beginning a new weekly newspaper in Baton Rouge, LA. Why? This story goes beyond the press release..

Amelia Turns 50!

Children’s book icon Amelia Bedelia turned 50 this year. Like everything marketed today, her brand has been extended past Peggy Parish’s (her creator) death in 1988 by her nephew who added twenty-seven titles to her canon. If you’re not familiar with Amelia, above is a short video of Amelia Bedelia Goes Campingto share with your favorite youngster.

Adapting for Mobile

Some major publishers have released horrible mobile content. Here are some tips so that you don’t.

Final Thought

Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
S
tephen King 

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I've worked in book manufacturing for over 30 years, closing my company Baker Johnson, Inc. in 2005. Currently I work freelance with a large group of publishers, advising them on the printing options available to them as the book industry endures major restructuring.
My wife Cathy is a retired psychologist and spent most of her career working with the youth at Maxey Boys Training School. She is a small mammal rehabilitator with Friends of Wildlife.
Our daughter Whitney is a PharmD working in the Denver area evaluating the pharmaceutical requirements of nursing homes. Our son Eliot lives in Waterloo and is an editor at Mathematical Reviews in Ann Arbor.