As new (and old) books make their way to a Kindle, Nook or Ipad near you, are readers no longer inclined or interested in standing in the aisle of a bookstore to decide, hardcover or paperback? Have we become so entitled to instant gratification that we have lost sight of the beauty of the book? Now I will gladly admit to being amongst the population of e-book readers, where with one tap of a virtual button I can have a 300-page book delivered to me in less time it'll take for the popcorn to finishing popping in the microwave. I will also admit, however, while e-books are convenient and most times the cheaper route to travel, I refuse to turn away from the physical book. The one I can touch, with the pages I can flip or the ends I can fold when a bookmark can't be found. We all know books aren't created equal but they are created with the reader in mind.
Printed books, whether hardcover or paperback, can be of great significance to a reader. As one person mentioned, it may be the smell of the paper. It may be the bumps along the cover, or it may even be the inscription left by your mother or grandmother as she presented you with your first or favorite book.
Last semester I was enrolled in Book Arts, a class that transformed readers/writers to creators of their very own handmade books. From the cutting of the book cloth, scoring of the book board to the stitching of the signatures, every element, cover-to-cover was my decision and my creation. It took work, attention to detail, patience, room for trial and error but most of all creativity and connection to the text. The end result was something I could carry with pride and say, "I made this". As we've already begun the initial stages of designing book covers, I'd like to throw out the following.... when designing do you find yourself thinking of the hard/soft copy of the book or how it will solely look on a computer monitor or 7-inch tablet? As a reader have you found yourself investing more in e-books and shying away from the paperbacks and hardbacks? Do you think the end days for bunny ears, penciled underlinings and notes on margins are coming...and soon?
Just think, if you were a fan of the Percy Jackson book series, could you see this on your Kindle?
