Blogflux directoryTaking issue with Dan Poynter's "Self-Publishing Manual"
Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual is an extraordinarily helpful book about how to publish a book and start a small press. I recommend it to anyone who wants to publish a book.
Like every how-to book, it contains both good and bad advice. I want to pass on two pieces of advice that I disagree with, for others like me who might otherwise be tempted to treat Poynter's book like a bible.
First, Poynter suggests that on the book's spine, the title appear from top to bottom, like so:
T
H
E
B
I
B
L
E
I find titles like that really hard to read, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that. When I'm looking for his book on my shelf, I look for its combination of colors (bright red with gold lettering).
Second, he recommends stamping review copies on the outside pages with a message like "Review Copy" or even some humorous version. The most eloquent response to "defacing" books in this manner appears on the website for the Midwest Book Review and says it better than I can say it here. Suffice it to say, don't do it, it's an insult to the person who receives it and effectively destroys the book for anyone who might want to take it home and keep it on the shelf.
Like every how-to book, it contains both good and bad advice. I want to pass on two pieces of advice that I disagree with, for others like me who might otherwise be tempted to treat Poynter's book like a bible.
First, Poynter suggests that on the book's spine, the title appear from top to bottom, like so:
T
H
E
B
I
B
L
E
I find titles like that really hard to read, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that. When I'm looking for his book on my shelf, I look for its combination of colors (bright red with gold lettering).
Second, he recommends stamping review copies on the outside pages with a message like "Review Copy" or even some humorous version. The most eloquent response to "defacing" books in this manner appears on the website for the Midwest Book Review and says it better than I can say it here. Suffice it to say, don't do it, it's an insult to the person who receives it and effectively destroys the book for anyone who might want to take it home and keep it on the shelf.
I invite you to turn and look at a shelf full of books. How many spines can you read at a distance?
Note that the books are standing on end.
Doesn't a book have an advantage if the title is in block letters and vertical?
Many reviewers sell review copies to the Strand Bookstore in New York or on Amazon. Some of the books circulate back into the book trade and get returned to publishers for a refund.
What can we do to defend ourselves from this practice?
Reply to this
Yes, it is easier to read vertical type on the spine of a book -- if the title is short. But many titles are long, and when a publisher chooses to add the subtitle to the spine, they are even longer and don't fit vertically at all unless the type size is very, very small. Also, I think that book buyers/browsers are accustomed to tilting their heads a bit to read titles. Interestingly, in this country books are published with the bottom of the letters on the left. Overseas, some are reversed. I am looking at the dozen 4-foot shelves within my line of sight. Only one book has its title written vertically:
S
K
I
B
R
T
I
S
H
C
O
L
U
M
B
I
A
D
O
U
G
H
T
Y
That book was published in 1991. If it was ahead of its time, it was way ahead!
Claire @ www.claire-walter.com
Reply to this