All posts by trav

At the heart of it all, I’m a fan. A fan of books and bookstores. A fan of fiction and non-fiction. A fan of authors and publishers. And most of all I’m a fan of great conversations sparked by books. All that to say - I really need more bookshelves.
Book Column, Book Covers, Book Design, Upcoming Titles

Go Set a Watchman Releases in 4 Weeks

2 Comments

Ok, folks – Harper Lee’s new book hits book store shelves in less than a month, on July 14th. You can pre-order all of the internet or your local bookstore. It’s been fun seeing how awareness of the book has developed. And it all started with the origin of the manuscript and all the questions surrounding that.

Now the covers are out. As with just about any book published today, it’s fun to compare the U.S. cover with the British cover. First, we have the U.S. cover, which seems to be purposefully designed to match the vintage To Kill a Mockingbird cover.

Go Set a Watchman is set 20 years after the end of TKAM, but the cover certainly lets you know you’re in the same place. Here’s the original 1st edition cover:

To_Kill_a_Mockingbird

While over across the pond they seem to have gone a little more modern noir feel I think, but the type is period.

Most of the time I usually prefer the U.K. counterparts to U.S. covers, but this time I’m non-plussed. The fact that the author’s name is set the same as the title feels weird. It’s as if the marketing and design teams could not come to an agreement so they just threw their hands up and said “Make it all the same size” or something.

Though I do like the way they shadowed in the words To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a bit literal for me, but it’s ok.

Both covers have an October harvest vibe as well. Maybe that figures in heavily to the story? We’ll have to wait and find out! It will be interesting to keep up with the reviews once they start rolling out when the book is released on July 14th. And to watch sales numbers. I know some folks took a step back when Harper Lee’s letters didn’t fetch a reserve price at a recent auction, but the crowd that buys million dollar scribbles is a totally different crowd than those waiting to see what Harper Lee has to say about Scout and Atticus.

What do you think of the covers? Have you pre-ordered the book or are you tired of the hype?

Book Column, Gifts for Book Lovers

Book Ties

Leave a comment

Is it cliche to do a post on bookish ties this close to Father’s Day? Or is it just timely? Yeah. . . I’m leaning towards cliche as well. . . so if you have to buy a gift for Father’s Day, make it a book.

But these ties are pretty dang nifty so I’ll share anyway. It’s tough to find ties with books on them without it looking like a cheap novelty or hokey. These ties all come from the fantastically fun Literary Gift Company over in the U.K. so I went ahead and converted the prices to U.S. dollars below.

The vintage Penguin Book Covers tie is pretty cool, in that pop art kind of way. But it seems even non-book people are drawn to the iconic Penguin book covers. Not sure why. This will run you $38.95.

booktie_penguinbookcovers

This Lorem Ipsum tie would appeal to anyone who has ever worked in book design before. The text has become the defacto standard for placeholder text when designing layouts. Anyone have an idea what font is used in the tie? This one rings up at $52.98.

booktie_loremipsum

Here’s a tasteful tie featuring yellow books painted by Van Gogh. Many painters use books in their masterpieces and Van Gogh was no different. This one features a stack of books he used in an 1887 painting and looks a little more classy that the other ones. This will run you $38.95

booktoes_vangogh

 

 

 

Book Column, Book Covers, News

Book Designer Paul Bacon Has Died

2 Comments

Paul Bacon is a name that is at the top of all book designer lists. He pioneered many of the looks and styles we see on shelves today. His eye and sense of composition in every 6″x9″ space was amazing.

You can read the full obituary on Paul Bacon, who was 91, here at the NY Times. From what I’ve read, though he is well known for his thought-provoking minimalistic covers he seems like the kind of book jacket designer that was always a designer first and an artist second.  Book designers seem to fall in two categories: the artist – they’ll fight you on your opinion and get angry when you want to “mess up their art” and the designer – a professional that understands there is a mission to accomplish and will employ all the artistic tools to see it happen.

Paul Bacon was one of the greats. No doubt. Here are a few of his now classic book jackets that I bet you’ve seen in bookstores and in libraries.

Catch22 Compulsion_Meyer_Levin_cover OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest RagtimeDoctrorowHardcover Slaughterhousefive

 

I’m thankful the NY Times ran that obituary. I had no idea that Paul Bacon was a jazz musician. I knew he’d done a Thelonious Monk album cover, but I didn’t realize he played.

Book Column, Book Talk, Publishers

Big Books Do Not Mean Better Books

Leave a comment

I ran across this conversation-provoking New York Times Book Review opinion piece a few weeks ago, where the author wondered “Does the Size of a Book Suggest Significance?”. It’s a fast read. Go read it. Then, please, come back here and share your thoughts.

Do authors and publishers every inflate a book’s size? Most definitely. Big books stand out on the shelf better than thinner tomes and they get picked up by customers more often. A bigger spine seems to communicate a sense of value to a paying customer. It’s a “more bang for your buck” kind of thing. But thankfully, due to new formats and more knowledgeable customers, things are poised for a shift.

Without a doubt many of the recently published books I have read could use a good pass by a skilled editor with red pen and machete in hand.

It should all boil down to being of value to the reader. But it’s tough. Books have always had a hard time with communicating value. One was to communicate value is by size. An 800-page book is often seen worth the $30 price-tage, whereas today some 288-page books are ring up at $26. One benefit of ebooks happening is the focus on content, value of the work and the words on the page. Not just the girth of the container.

While I do not think  “efficiency” in the NYT Book Review article is the best way to describe what is needed, I 100% agree with what he is calling for.

A good author/editor team will distill, purify and clarify.

Big books need to be pruned. So many times authors hide behind “backstory”, “character color” and “world building” to tack on details and increase page count. I agree that they should do away with all the distracting, confusing fluff and just focus on what pushes the characters forward and drives the plot. That is how you serve the reader.

Of course, some books will be big and should be big. There is no denying that. But publishers should work hard to build a house that focuses on tight wonderful stories that capture every author’s purest prose and plot while capturing every reader’s mind and heart.

What do you think? Do you ever find yourself rolling your eyes while reading big books? Ever wish you could sit down with a book’s editor and talk things out?