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| Hearsay: |
What exactly is the purpose of the dust jacket these days? Speaking personally, I can say the dustjacket, and the press flack, is what I use to calm the baby when he freaks out that I’m opening a package and there’s nothing in it from him. Later, when he’s finished, I collect the dustjacket back again, piece by piece a “dustpan”. Now you know where that term came from.
What is the point of dustjackets? The clue can’t be in the name: on the shelf, the most dust-prone part of a book is the top, which a jacket doesn’t cover (these days, anyway). Decoratively, too, they are a recipe for disappointment. Bring home your expensive new hardback, lift up its gorgeous plumage, and underneath – in the UK at least – you’re liable to find rough-textured and drably covered board, with the only graphic element a cruder reproduction of the lettering on the spine of the jacket. In America, land of the deckle edge, your chances of a pleasant surprise are greater; but the jacket remains an unnecessary and vulnerable encumbrance. That, at least, is how it has always seemed to me – and some in the book trade appear to be reaching the same conclusion.
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February 26th, 2010 at 11:33 am
I completely agree about dust jackets being useless and cumbersome. Hopefully we’ll see some stylish/interesting alternatives on the market soon.
As a side note, I’m not sure the link in your post is correct. Was this the article you meant to link to?:
[ed note: fixed, thanks]
February 26th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
Think you hate dustjackets as a reader, that hatred pales compared to those of us retail book people. There is nothing harder to return unsold than hardcover books. One tiny mark, a slight rip or fold, any sign that any human being had touched the book and the publishers would call it shopworn and not refund any money for an unsold book. Because of this we carried, with a few exceptions, trade format books.
February 28th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Stephen Kings hard cover ‘Lisey story’ is probably the best looking book without the dust jacked IMO. Publishers should look into going in that direction and get rid of the dust jacket!
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:36 am
It’s always a point of irritation, these dustjackets. It’s always, “What the hell do I do with you now?” There have been several books I’ve spotted that rid of the dustjacket altogether and just printed the cover on the, well, the actual hardcover, and it looks nicer and more efficient.
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I was sold on my latest read, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s “One Amazing Thing,”
solely by the jacket blurbs (from Jhumpa Lahiri, Louise Erdrich and others). Now I just
hope they were sincere.