tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174931926240040143.post3209373998852265614..comments2023-11-05T09:52:43.926+00:00Comments on Sonofabook: Middleweightcharleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16580118367334638930noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174931926240040143.post-68462945316120113462010-04-04T11:32:06.578+01:002010-04-04T11:32:06.578+01:00You're a brave man to embark on that one (but ...You're a brave man to embark on that one (but perhaps you didn't actually purchase it!)<br /><br />I've done quite a bit of that mid-weight writing referred to in the advert and am pleased to be out of it.Tom Cunliffehttp://www.acommonreader.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174931926240040143.post-51325840471708413762010-03-30T12:57:38.836+01:002010-03-30T12:57:38.836+01:00All of the above, but not only that: the damn thin...All of the above, but not only that: the damn things don't even have any text on the back to say what the book is about, or author info or the like. (At least the ones I've seen in the flesh don't.) It really is lowest-cost, lowest-interest publishing. I remember someone from Faber saying they had to sell just 50 copies of each Faber Finds title to start making money on them. Frankly I'm surprised it's so many.John Selfhttp://theasylum.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174931926240040143.post-9133102550514330962010-03-30T11:12:47.816+01:002010-03-30T11:12:47.816+01:00Welcome, John. Faber Finds: a good deed in a naugh...Welcome, John. Faber Finds: a good deed in a naughty world, or a scam? I think the latter, disguised as the former. If you really think a book is worth reissuing, you give it a bit of love: design the text, apply some thought and individual skill to the cover, commission an introduction from a current writer to lead new readers in. (NYRB, of course.) For the FFs, the text is scanned and flowed into a template; the covers are produced by an algorithm (or a four-year-old with a spirograph), and the books are priced way above what you can usually find them for on Abebooks. This is about making money from cheaply-bought rights with little risk.charleshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16580118367334638930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9174931926240040143.post-18293162047856691322010-03-30T10:02:15.598+01:002010-03-30T10:02:15.598+01:00I really do think that being 'rescued' by ...I really do think that being 'rescued' by Faber Finds is somehow worse than remaining out of print. At least then we can hope for revival by a handsome, 'proper' imprint. Angus Wilson is alive and well in NYRB Classics - ironic that no UK publisher has thought his books worthy of breathing life into - and William Cooper's <em>Scenes from Provincial Life</em> is shortly to be reissued by Penguin as one of their Decades series, with cover art by Peter Blake. Unfortunately it comes in a fat volume, twinned with the inferior sequel <em>Scenes from Married Life</em>, as the rights holders wouldn't let Penguin issue the first book on its own.John Selfhttp://theasylum.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com