After
a year or two in the book making business I ran into a page of copy
I'd never seen before. It was entitled Colophon. My mentor,
and friend, Patrick explained that a colophon was just a way to
communicate significant information about the book including, but not
limited to, the typeface, the name of the designer, the typesetter,
the date of publication, the stock that was used for the text and
cover, the printer, the binder and even the run length.
Often
the Acknowledgment page in the front matter carries the burden of
identifying and acknowledging the assistance of others that
contributed to the book's creation. But about the time the husband
and children are being appreciated for their patience, I think
something more formal might be more appropriate at times.
Perhaps
adding a colophon to most trade paper titles may seem a bit much. The
first book I printed with a colophon was a museum catalog for an
upcoming show of the WPA Artists at the University of Michigan Art
Museum. It was a well designed, classy job cover to cover. And right
there, at the end of the book, with all the designers, editors, and
paper stocks was our company name.
Do
you think everyone in the plant paid special attention to that title
as its production moved through their departments?
Deciding
what titles would benefit from the addition of a colophon is
difficult. Generally I think literature and art books would be the
most common but non-fiction books that meet exceptional levels of
content, manufacture and materials could acknowledge an array of
editorial and structural providers.
I
collect a lot of books and admit even most of the dustier ones lack
a colophon, and the newer ones don't reveal much except they were
done in Asia.
It's
too bad.
Generally
when printing offset books the page count involves adding a blank
page or two in the back meaning page count and price wouldn't be
affected by adding a colophon page.
Let''s
be honest. You know all the time spent designing your book, selecting
text stocks, involving a trusted printer, etc. sets your book apart
from others in the field.
Perhaps
the addition of a colophon would not only acknowledge the
craftsmanship involved in it's production, but also inform the reader
how the successful design was rendered.
Selling
What You Don't Own
Exactly
what constitutes the purchase of an ebook remains in question, at
least overseas. Dutch courts ruled that consumers can sell “software
rights” and so Dutch bookseller
Tom Kabinet offers second hand ebooks, upsetting the major Dutch
publishers who have responded with a flurry of lawsuits.
Scrabble
Pros take Note
As
word and word usage evolves, it gets harder and harder to keep up
with. The final arbiter on all Scrabble game words has just accepted
around 6,500 new words. That's over 10%
of a college graduates entire vocabulary.
Independent
Bookstores on the Rise
It's
heartening that the number of independent American bookstores is up
27% in the past five years. All better? Well, tiny little France
supports more independents than the entire U.S.
Amazon
Controls Your Books
When
Audible (owned by Amazon) upgraded his app for listening to his books
on his iPhone, this writer realized that by “buying” all his
books from Amazon, he not only didn't own his books, he
couldn't even control how he used them. Their football, their
rules I guess.
Amazon
and Audible Dictate Terms
Amazon
has been unable
to finalize a contract with the last of the big 5 publishers,
Penguin Random House. Will it use the same “freeze out” it used
against Hachette last year to force Penguin's hand? Meanwhile, its
subsidiary Audible is attempting to force German publishers to accept
a new contract by
threatening to stop offering their audio titles on Amazon.
#
is Popular
Oxford
University Press reviewed 500 words to find the most frequently used
new word by children/youth authors. That would be hashtag.
Thriving
Bookstores...in Asia
For
whatever reason, this is the second article I've posted about
bookstores
open past midnight and packed with customers all the while. This
store is in Tokyo, the former mention was a
store in Taiwan. I can't speak to the cultural differences, but I
approve...and am a little jealous.
The
Future of Scholarly/Academic Publishing
The
world of scholarly journals has totally changed since I worked on
Scripta Technica titles thirty five years ago. Paper and ink is on
the decline, and large publishers like Elsevier, Taylor and Francis,
and Wiley and Sons have come to dominate the field. Can
the authors and researchers regain control? Is open
access the solution?
The
Changing Paper Market
Some
domestic paper mills are booming, just not the ones that make the
paper for your books. Just as the American paper manufactures have
adapted to cleaner, more efficient technologies, the third world
manufacturers have built brand new highly efficient, automated mills.
Unfortunately, serial
deforestation and poached
rain forest pulp is all too common no matter how modern the
factory.
DRM,
the UK and eBooks
British
publishers have successfully prosecuted foreign online booksellers
(including Virgin Media and Sky) for
copyright violations of eBooks or eBook content. The sites
purportedly have over 10 million eBook titles available on their web
sites.
Final
Thoughts
It
wasn't until I started reading and found books they wouldn't let us
read in school that I discovered you could be insane and happy and
have a good life without being like everybody else. ― John
Waters
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