The folks over at the Abebooks blog have published their picks for 30 Books Worth Buying For the Cover Alone. Only seven of the 30 use photographs. So illustration seems to be the way to go if you want to get noticed in the cover design crowd (of course, these are all fiction titles).
I REALLY like these two:
But have to wonder about this choice:
The image just seems to literal and obvious to be chosen as worth “buying for the cover alone”.
Book Patrol shared this video, from CBS, where a few bilbliomaniac’s, in France, were followed around and asked about their obsessions. At times it makes me want to throw everything to the wind and become a book scout. I wonder how I would fair with just Birmingham and Atlanta to farm?
The 3rd Annual Student Book Collecting Contest, over in Tuscaloosa, is under way. Both graduate students and undergraduate students have until March 27th to catalog and submit their entries. There is an essay to write and it turns out that 80% of the book collection, er, must be books… hmmm. Seems they are allowing some cd’s and dvd’s to be included… anyway… there are cash prizes with the 1st Place winner getting $500 and a chance to compete in Fine Books & Collections annual competition.
Awards are April 16th at Gorgas Library and might just be worth the drive from Birmingham, if the collectors show enough creativity and fun with their book collections.
I love this idea of “subscription publishing”. Beyond the fantastic economic plusses (ie impact to cash, scaled print runs, etc.) it seems a great way to build buzz and get people looking forward to a body of work, not just once, but again and again. Small indie publisher Featherproof Books (publisher of local Birmingham author Susannah Felts) is trying such a model, with the launch of a new imprint Paper Egg Books.According to Publishers Weekly:
All print runs will be determined by the number of subscribers who sign up for the program; they will pay $20 per year to receive two books — either a novella, flash-fiction or short story collection — one in the fall, the other in the spring.
You don’t have to look far to find someone crying “print is dead”. But it’s not. It’s just going through a very long overdue (and stressful) evolution. Or maybe de-evolution? It seems that most of Charles Dickens work was serialized “back in the day” and it worked out well for him. Last year, Penguin released The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters in serial form first and built quite a following in Britain. Though it didn’t work out so well here in the States.So best of luck to the crew at Featherproof, we’re all watching!