February 7, 2019
This is, first and foremost, the question that defines my job. As a bookseller, it is my duty to help you find a book (or more than one) that will satisfy you. Whether it’s a specific title or just a general idea of what you need, as long as I can help you in some fashion, my duty is fulfilled.…
June 8, 2018
Let’s be honest: despite the adage, we are all guilty of occasionally judging books by the cover. We know we shouldn’t, but sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves. This month’s roundtable topic was suggested by Nicole Taft, bookseller par excellence. She sees a lot of book covers, and wanted to talk about books that we, as readers, picked up simply…
August 30, 2017
When someone mentions fantasy book covers, inevitably a stereotypical image pops up. One of knights standing near dragons, perhaps a chain-mail bra-clad woman with him. Or at least, that’s what used to be the norm. As today’s standards of what’s “cool” and socially acceptable continue to shift, so do the covers of speculative fiction books. Fantasy, science fiction, and horror…
August 3, 2017
There exists the old adage: Don’t judge a book by its cover. This is quite true, as the inside of a book can be excellent but the cover doesn’t do the story justice. Yet at the same time, having a good book cover is very important. It doesn’t matter if you’re with a big publishing company or self-published; a top…
March 2, 2017
Mass market paperbacks are interesting creatures, as are some trade paperbacks. 99.99% of all mass markets, if they are slated for return, aren’t actually returned. Not whole, anyway. One of the most horrifying things a bookseller will ever learn to do is strip a book. Stripping a book means that the front cover — and the back too if the…
February 22, 2017
A lot of people get confused when faced with a book that has two covers. Is the inside different? Is this the same book? The confusion only deepens on those rare occasions when the title changes. However, gentle readers and moviegoers, this is simply a cover change up.
December 19, 2016
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, a weekly column where we gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we’re all about fashion-forward Star Wars accessories, a network that does genre TV right, an addictive and spooky podcast, and…
November 23, 2016
Covers that change faces are the bane of every series-collecting reader. New covers can appear at any given time, often without any kind of warning. It’s fair to expect that the art from the hardcover won’t be the same when the book is released in paperback. But when you’re picking up a series of books and suddenly there’s a shift…
October 18, 2016
Welcome back to Cover Chic, where we take a look at what publishers are doing with their cover art to grab our interest. Previously on Cover Chic, we pitted US covers against UK covers. Today we focus on the US market, and how books can get a second chance at snagging an audience with a redesigned cover. But is the…
September 20, 2016
Welcome to Cover Chic, where we take a look at what publishers are doing with their cover art to grab our interest. You may have noticed that the United States and the United Kingdom often have different cover art for the same books. This doesn’t make sense to me, because if one design was used for the book worldwide —…