I am not on TikTok, so this post might make me sound like the most grand-Millennial ever.
And that is totally fine with me.
In all honestly, BookTok scares me. I already have a TBR pile that stretches across one of the purple shelves. Ian has told me I’m “not allowed” to buy any more books (lol, as if).
If I were to even dip my toe into the BookTok ocean, I’m afraid I would become all consumed and bankrupt.
BookTok trends are seeping through the ether though, in ways beyond just BookTok-labelled shelf space at retailers. A very noticeable one? Sprayed Edges.
The first time I heard about sprayed edges was for Fourth Wing, which subsequently sold out in the US - including on Amazon - and caused a national scavenger hunt to find copies with the sprayed dragon edges. The 10th Anniversary re-release of The Bone Season and the pre-order website crasher, Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Damned, will also come with sprayed edges.
A new New Adult commercial-fiction imprint, Red Tower Books, are the brains behind the launch of Fourth Wing, promising signature “sprayed or stenciled edges, foil, or embossing” as part of their offering.
This trend makes sense in any sort of fantasy genre. The worlds and characters that fantasy authors create usually create die-hard fans, collectibles and international events, such as Comi-Con.
But then I also saw Emily Henry’s latest book, Funny Story, will also have sprayed edges for a limited number of hardbacks.
I think it’s very safe to say that after this summer, sprayed edges are a mainstream collectible, no longer confined for the few or Etsy prone.
Merchandise and collectibles are nothing new. Nor are exclusives.
In fact, I can’t think of a single industry that doesn’t use those three things as another revenue driver.
Taylor Swift The music world has used exclusive content within their products for decades. Why not the book industry?
The first time I remember seeing this was for Target’s edition of Verity. It included an extra chapter in the back that was not only bonus content, but totally changed how you felt about the ending of the book! I remember trying to source Reddit for someone’s snaps just to know what the content was.
And now, Sarah J Maas has not come out with just one extra bonus book for a retailer. For her latest release of House of Flame and Shadow, she has come out with FIVE (potentially seven) bonus chapters, sold across THREE countries.
Excuse me, what? SJM is my fantasy queen author and if I had to go to a deserted island I would only pack her books.
But, still!
FIVE. VERSIONS.
(Potentially seven!)
It seems this is not the first time she has done this, as Ashleigh notes she did it with Empire of Storms. Admittedly, I am a SJM newbie (I read my first book by her less than a year ago), so she has likely has done it for lots of other Maas-universe book launches that I haven’t seen nor will Google easily bring up for me.
Of course I want that bonus content and the sprayed edges. And yet, I have a limited amount of shelves in my home, I don’t need multiple versions of the same book, and I don’t need to spending hundreds of dollars on one book.
I haven’t even touched on the cost of living crisis going on, nor how this effects the environment / sustainability measures.
I have been told making publishing profitable is hard. Beyond BookTok, it’s hard to note down exactly what is best at selling books. It’s also a better sell to retailers for an increased order, if they are getting something exclusive. And, because of who SJM is, they will sell and Bloomsbury will have a very profitable 2024.
I’m all for exclusive content, but is all this a bit much?
If anyone is in the know, does sprayed covers and bonus content sell? Does it work for publishers and authors? Does it work for you, the reader?
(Image source: The Bookish Mom)