Why Do Publishers Do This?
Have you ordered a book, or been in a bookstore and picked up a brand new novel, only to find the pages look like this?:
You see that copy of Shirley Jackson’s LET ME TELL YOU? See the pages on the side, how they’re all rough and uneven? Here’s a close-up in case you can’t quite see what I mean:
This was not on the discount rack in some podunky, rag-tag, off-the-back-of-a-truck warehouse store. This was on the “New” shelf of our Barnes and Noble. The copies behind it were all the same. It’s not just B&N either; I’ve had new books from Amazon that were like this. Look at this copy of Carolina De Robertis’ THE GODS OF TANGO on a different shelf:
Same rough, uneven pages. I know I could probably return a book in this condition, but if all the books on the shelf have the same problem, what are the chances they’ll find me a “clean” copy? Might they all be like that? Would I have to wait for a second edition, or the paperback edition, to get one that looks good?
While this apparent carelessness does grate on my sensibilities, often I’ll just sigh and take the book anyway (after all, it’s the content that matters, right?). But it makes me wonder why publishers will let books go out on the shelf like this. How much control do they have over the quality of the end product? It certainly doesn’t reflect well on them.
If you have any insight into what’s going on here, please let me, and others who are curious, know!
UPDATE: See Heidi Kneale’s reply for an answer. Do you like this “deckle edge?”
I feel like I knew the answer to this once ^^; It might be something to do with giving the book a more ‘authentic’ look by having the paper look like it’s been cut by hand rather than a modern machine.
I think you’re right, Cole, in that they do sometimes do this deliberately. My daughter pointed out that Lemony Snicket’s “Series of Unfortunate Events” books were like this, probably on purpose. But this seems random, and only with hardcover editions. If it is deliberate for some kind of artsy effect, I wish they’d stop it. I’m not impressed. I’ve got books over 100 years old that look better than that.
It is deliberate. It’s called a deckle edge. Prior to the late 19th Century when paper manufacturing changed, deckle edges were it. After refinements were made in paper-making and machine cutting, deckle edges were no longer necessary. For some reason, they became a status symbol denoting fine, handmade paper.
Today they are used as a fashion statement, to give a book character. I’ve got several deckled books in my collection. I’ve never given any thought to deckled vs undeckled, though I do find deckled pages easier to handle. Personal taste. I never get paper cuts with deckle edges.
Some links about deckle edges:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deckle#Deckle_edge
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/07/printed-books?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/deckledetecting
http://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2012/07/16/deckle-edges-or-uncut-edges-on-a-book/
Thanks for this, Heidi! Clearly, I don’t like deckle edges. It just looks careless. Having seen it on a number of books since I posted this article–and every copy of those books–I was beginning to wonder if it was some kind of style.
I’ve never seen a book like this (thank goodness!). On occasion I have had a book where 1 (as in singular) page hasn’t quite been cut correctly, but I can forgive that. The books you’ve shown though… ugh. I hope it isn’t a new trend, and if it is, I hope it doesn’t make it to Oz =)
Yes, the odd page that missed the edge chopper I can overlook. Maybe I should order books from Amazon Oz… š
I wonder if it has something to do with how the book is bound and that process.
I wonder that too, Patricia, though I hope not. I’d like to think publishers take more care over book quality, especially for new titles. Though I fear in the rush to get titles out, standards might slip.