Hey hey hey,
Welcome or welcome back to the Big Kids Book Club and our brand new segment – Monday Musings.
It’s Monday, the week has just begun, and we have thoughts and feelings about things… let’s discuss them.
So, the plot of today’s musings is… Sprayed Edges.
Sprayed Edges on books. They look cool. They feel cool. But are they really cool? Or are they just there to get us to shell out for the slightly more expensive limited edition copy of our books.
Now, Sprayed edges aren’t exactly a common occurrence. They are something held in high regard in the bookish community, and something that only the best (or best marketed) books get a hold of.
And in the recent years, with the rise of books not only as objects for entertainment but also art, we’re finding more and more books getting these colourful editions given to them.
But why are we as a bookish community so obsessed with a little colour on the edges of our pages?
Well, let’s take a look at this trend as it’s crept into the zeitgeist of publishing from the 2010s to now.
With the explosion of YA as a niche part of the children’s literary space to it’s own fully fledged phenomenon — inclusive of its own sub-genres, tropes, and memes — there was the need to make books more eye-catching and standout from the mass media of the internet and other mediums which were flashier than the printed word had become.
Enter the age of the cover wars.
More and more foil lettering. Brighter tones and hues. Less drab depictions of the same reused stock art characters, and more time spent making those mini billboards we call book covers hook us in.
It was a time where even today you can almost age a book depending on the trends found on the cover. Was this book published in the pastel colour period? Or perhaps it was in that pop-art period, where all covers held the same sketched protagonist on the front? Was it in the bubble font months, or maybe in the time simply known as “The Blank of something and something else”.
And just as other trends can now carbon date our bookish tastes, so too can we see the increase in find other ways to have our books standout from the rest.
When the cover wars go stale, then where else is there to innovate.
Enter the time of the coloured edge.
Of course, it started out rather simple. We had a matching or blended colour sprayed onto the page edges, as though they themselves were an extension of the cover. These stole our attention away from the dreary and pale tones of off-white that had been the norm for so long.
Only it wasn’t to last.
Not when technology moves so fast that industrial spray machines are now clever enough to add patterns or stencils to those pages. To make the exterior now a singular marketing tool. A pleasing promise of the pages within, and the bounty we hope the story will produce.
And there’s no greater place we see this extension of sprayed edge editions as a marketing ploy, than through Covid — here comes the dawn of the box subscriptions!
Now, book box subscriptions had been a thing for while before Covid. Both Owlcrate and Illumicrate started life in 2015, and Fairyloot not far behind in 2016. These are still, to the time of writing this, some of the most popular YA — if not general literary — box subscriptions. But when the world stopped us physically being able to go out to our local library or bookstore, then the promise of a new book and tons of book adjacent goodies added gasoline to this practice, and with it the power these book box services had within the YA publishing landscape.
For what truly makes Owlcrate stand out from Illumicrate, or Fairyloot, etc…
Well… not much if you are just glancing at the basic product. But they each get something that the other doesn’t have.
It’s very own special edition copy of their book of the month.
Now, If you’ve been living under a rock for a while, he’s the scoop on how these boxes work.
You — the customer — pay a subscription for a box of goodies to arrive at your home every month. In this you’ll get a Hardback book – usually something released that month or very close, and a collective ton of knick knacks and treats (signed bookmarks, candles, fan art, tote bags, and more) which normally fit into a theme that the book is portraying.
Only, at least for the three examples above – Owlcrate, Illumicrate, and Fairyloot, this isn’t possible as the big three as I shall be calling them from now on are so vaunted, that they have extensive waiting lists to get your hands on them, and their editions are often sold out. Therefore, you’re not getting your hands on them, or their sweet, sprayed edge special editions.
This overdemand on the boxes comes back to our discussion on sprayed edges. In the recent years, publishers have used the power of the boxes to create one-shot editions of the normal book with changes exclusive to that brand. And one of the easiest ways to make an edition change from the bog-standard Hardback edition you’d find in any Barnes & Noble or Waterstones is the inclusion of limited edition sprayed edges. This trend is so ubiquitous with these boxes that to see a book without sprayed edges would be an earth-shattering revelation!
Now, I ain’t ragging on the use of these boxes as a way to bloat the market with sprayed edges on books. I like sprayed edges on books. I think they look amazing, and especially nowadays with the technology to apply patterns and symbology to the edges, truly makes books in pieces of art, even before you crease open that dust jacket.
But hear me out. That trend of having to have sprayed edges makes me wonder if we all love sprayed edges really, or if the publishers have simply made us think we love them but keeping them behind inaccessible barriers such these subscription boxes. Don’t’ get me wrong, it’s a 10/10 marketing ploy, and we as consumers have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker. Though I do wonder how much longer we can keep innovating on this gimmick. After all, there’s a new mass marketing tool in town — one that dwarves the subscription box — puts them to shame.
And its name is TikTok.
And it ain’t playing.
To be Continued…
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