Don't Judge a Book... by it's cover?

The New World of Publishing

  One day a few months ago a co-worker who knows I publish books decided to talk to me about this phrase. He had been in a discussion at church when somebody used it on him. Thinking it over he decided to ask me about this.

  This phrase is known to be at least a hundred and fifty years old, but it is more likely to be well over two hundred. At around that time, the majority (but not all) of the important books were “published” with vellum instead of paper. (1680s) Vellum is a prepared animal skin like calf or lamb. And each letter on the page was handwritten with care. This greatly reduced any illustrations on the cover. Henceforth, this is the atmosphere this phrase was most likely created in.

  Jumping forward about a hundred years (1860) to the American Civil War, paper was becoming plentiful so lightweight vellum shifted a bit to the side as more sturdy leather graced the cover. Some books now started showing up with embossment in the leather as well as Gold inlay for words on the spine and cover. Even more rare other colors on the cover were getting used. Illustrations increased with the use of better inks, unfortunately, most of those had high levels of mercury.

  By the 1890s, color and creativity were starting to explode. Many publishers jumped in, offering products. Soon they either faded into history, got bought out, or continued on to become the company names we know today.

  This was the early years of the first “Dime store novels,” that got mass-produced and distributed to corner stores in every corner of America. Many professional authors and publishers looked down on these books. But without this early surge not only would our modern publishing world not be what it is today. But literacy would also not be as high, cheap books mass produced for a dime fueled a deep hunger within young readers, laying a foundation in many things. 

  From the 1920s on, publishers understood that judging a book by its cover is what everyone did. The more creative and colorful the cover was, the more it attracted people's eyes. And attraction equals money in the pocket.

  As the computer age advanced, writers no longer had to suffer endless rejection letters from the big publishers. Self-publishing started rising up. Unfortunately in many cases, this also drove the quality of writing downward, as being a published author no longer meant what it once did.

  Nowadays millions of people have become self-published. But a large chunk of those are in serious need of an editor. This is one of the reasons I do not have a pile of books published under my name. 

  Many universities nowadays, in order to meet government quotas under racial equality have been forced to inflate the grades (for graduation) of people who do not deserve it. This is happening in many fields, not just English. I have heard more than one story of a professor being fired because he or she refused to graduate students who did not deserve it. But I am digressing down a rabbit hole rant, so let's get back on the subject.

  Competition for book publishing is intense. Covers, colors, and everything must be thought over. Planned out well with little room for error. Unfortunately in the last few years, much of this has now changed with wokeness entering into the publishing world. I use Engram distribution and under the umbrella of their organization, a person is often highly encouraged to join one of the “professional” writing groups.

  If you look into these groups many of them are political cesspools of wokeness, attempting to influence your vote. In a recent article called, “The Fight for the Future of Publishing,” by Alex Perez. It was exposed that if you are a straight white male with a bend towards Christianity your books will never see the light of day.

  So nowadays, can you judge a book by its cover? No, apparently you can not. You judge it by its political, racial, religious, and sexual orientation. Does this craziness make any sense?