Sunday, October 26, 2008

A Rant

So I just finished The Lady Flees Her Lord and liked it, but I have a major complaint. I don't know if this book is the final product or if there's most before it goes out for the rest of the world, but the construction of the book was attrocious! Super flimsy cover and spine, 10 pages of blank paper at the end of the book and the paper itself was just bad. So flimsy I ended up ripping a few pages just while holding the book in my hands.



And this isn't the only offender. I know we're in the midst of a recession, but it galls me to think of how many new books I've bought lately that are just horribly put together. I buy books because I LIKE the feel of them. The rough paper, the smell of ink, the way the ink bleeds onto my fingers, etc. I hate feeling like I'm spending my hard-earned money on something that will literally fall apart after one reading.



And it's not just smaller publishers where this is a problem. Avon, Penguin, you name it, I've come across it. Is it just me or is this just plain sad? I want to have books that will last a long time, not fall apart. So a word to the publishing world...start spending money on putting together a book that won't fall apart. Your reading public would really appreciate it. Thank you!

1 comment:

Holly said...

Didn't you just say Lady Flees Her Lord was a review book you were sent by the publisher? I'm not sure if you're aware, but Review Copies are very cheaply made on purpose. It doesn't make sense for publishers to send expensive books for review, does it, since they're sending them for free?

If it wasn't a review copy then ignore this, but if it was keep in mind that the publisher needs to think about their bottom line and sending final copies of a book for review doesn't make a ton of sense for them.