Dissappointed In Book Quality Lately? Options

Is anyone here besides me, dissappointed in the quality of books being put out today. I'm not referring to their content (although you seem to be getting less and less of that also), but more in terms of construction. I know most occult books don't sell in volume to warrant the nice, hardbound tome of a book we all (most?) yearn after as a way of connecting with the scribes of antiquity, but it seems even the nicer-looking "perfect bound" books fall apart rather quickly. I still have books from the seventies I've had since they were new that are still in fairly good shape. I even have some of my mother's books from the 40's that are not damaged. yet, I find that new books I buy have only about a 50% chance of surviving the first reading.

Anyone else come across this problem?

Welcome to the world of increased profit margins and decreased quality. I've noticed that on more than a few books too. I also live in the desert, where things like that deteriorate faster than most due to the low humidity.

I always keep a bottle of Elmer's Glue on hand for book repair. The gel glue works best, as it's thick and doesn't run. If the binding is cracking and pages are loose/falling out, put a narrow line of glue behind the pages, set them in FIRMLY, and weight them down to let them dry. Don't pick up or open the book for the next 24/48 hours, or until it's firmly dry. It usually solves the problem and makes the book sturdier than before.

I'd love to get some of my old paperbacks I inherited from my grandfather Perma-Bound, though. That's what they do to paperbacks in libraries to make them more durable.

I have thought this too and I did a quick inspection of my bookshelf only a few weeks back and I notice that the stitched books that seem to collect a few pages at a time and run a thread through the middle are ok but the glued ones fall apart easily after some months or it you try to flatten them to read them. I am thinking this is because we don't tend to hang onto books for as long as we did, we pass them onto charity shops etc.

I bought a lovely and well written book on symbols last month but I think this one is also glued - hence what seemed to be a good price for it.

I think I would rather buy one less book a year but have it of durable quality.

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I have thought this too and I did a quick inspection of my bookshelf only a few weeks back and I notice that the stitched books that seem to collect a few pages at a time and run a thread through the middle are ok but the glued ones fall apart easily after some months or it you try to flatten them to read them. I am thinking this is because we don't tend to hang onto books for as long as we did, we pass them onto charity shops etc.

I bought a lovely and well written book on symbols last month but I think this one is also glued - hence what seemed to be a good price for it.

I think I would rather buy one less book a year but have it of durable quality.

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Totally agree on this. I would rather pay 10 bucks more for a hardback, even a bit more if I really like the book. I have some glued-together paperbacks that I am paranoid will break within the next few years, even if I don't read them. Baffles me why they would put out a 500+ page book and not have it bound well.... again, profit margins I suppose. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/angry_pissed_off_emoticon.gif)

I know, its the new age crap they sell.

Agreed. I personally love hardcover, and am willing to pay extra for the added life, but they just dont seem to pubish many books like that.

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I know, its the new age crap they sell.

So true

One thing to also consider is how we treat our books. How many of us “crack” the spine of books by flipping the left side behind the right as we read? I do. True, this is much more comfortable and permits us to see the text near the spine better, but it destroys the book.

Sadly, I think the days of beautifully leather bound tomes are behind us – we have entered the age of the virtual and our books are becoming just that (ebooks and pdfs). The quality of books will continue to deteriorate until they are eventually replaced by the virtual market. In the end, the only thing cheaper to produce than shitty binding is no binding at all.

For us bibliophiles this is a depressing prospect. However, this does not mean that we cannot rebind our books, in particular those we find personally meaningful. Take those volumes you really cherish to an antique book dealer, they can turn a mass market paperback into the masterpiece of your collection. Alternatively, you can rebind them yourselves. Or, if you are willing to shell out the extra $$ you can always count on the quality of some of the smaller more specialized publishers. Check out ( for one example) Ouroboros Press.

Sadly true. Many narrow focus books are pod or digital printed now, not stocked. Other bigger sellers (like Modern Magick, for example), go to second editions that seem decently put together. But hard back is the way to go. My original MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE is thirty some-odd years old. The cover is gone, but the cloth is intact, if dirty, and it's been used endlessly. I like to shop for reference books (if they've been around awhile) at used bookstores online, especially ones that honestly rate condition (like Alibris). But, new books, I assume they'll be cheap unless they're hard cover or they have a decent Amazon rating (indicating some volume, and probably better quality). I also find newer books on specialized subjects getting thinner and thinner, and not just in page weight.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always find it annoying that bookstores (or even online stores!) don't stock books in hardcover anymore. Like they don't want them to last. The only book I have been able to acquire in hardback is the recent edition of Book 4, which I must say was worth the extra money for the superb quality.

all the "paper" publishing houses are closing their doors, slowly but surely, those that have adopted "print on demand" technology (and the reason there are no more hardcovers) are going ok so far, but the content in the books is what i see depleting ever faster, the demographics of sales driving the checkbooks of the publishers - even agents have quit the business, and that's a big deal - what's the point in writing printed books anymore if it dosen't get published, not because it wasn't good or they didn't want to publish it, but because 'spotted dick' just signed his 200000th book deal (more of the same old stuff about the same old thing) and they had to spend all their 'author money' on that! - is it the investulators demanding more and faster return, or are we on the bleeding edge of the demise of the printed book?

for example it costs x amount to print a book and distribute it, and it costs x - (paper, ink, printing, distribution, packaging) to produce it on burn-at-sale rom, and that's a big, big difference in the pocketbook of the investulators

i see books being released on flash before you know it, with a great big save-the-trees campaign to promote it - the burn-at-sale machines are ready today, the publishers are only waiting now for the music industry to sort out the pirating and buying issues so they don't get burned - and it only takes one company to put a paperback-sized screen on an ipod to pull it off tomorrow

the larger chain bookstores are dragging their feet though, as they will have no real unfair advantage anymore over the tiny subject-focused bookstore, either can produce a book on-site with the tiny credit-card-machine sized box

e.

I still prefer bound books, and even eBooks I download, if I like them, I'll print them out. I guess I'm just old-fashioned.

I still prefer bound books, and even eBooks I download, if I like them, I'll print them out. I guess I'm just old-fashioned.

I'm soon to commence on a Philosophy book. When I get it published, it will surely be bound in a quaint old-fashioned way (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif).

I like old-fashion books as well, I despise paperback for one.

SONA used to sell hardcover books but that too has went by the wayside. For starters since this is such a niche market there's no call to print a 1,000 copies ahead of time as that is a waste of money sitting on your shelves and it's taxable another big problem.

They had bought this machine and these hard cover stocks that allow them to make a hardcover book on demand. But, like everything else, it is time consuming and perish forbid if the a page gets out of whack, well there's money down the drain.

Secondly, when you sell hardcover books, most retail locations won't take them unless you have something written on the spine. Why? Because they claim customers like to browse just the names not pull them off the shelf. (Silly? I thought so too but that is what Borders, B. Dalton Booksellers, Waldens and Barnes & Noble told me when I inuired to them about carrying my stuff in hardbound).

Which brings me to the point that dust jackets for such hardcovers can be made but the cheapest printer I found wanted an minimum order of 1,000 for them AND at $3.00 a piece so that's $3,000 just sitting there. Most printers are of the mindset that if it's going to be done, it has to be done in enough quantity so they can set the dies on their machines and run it.

This is why they chose to go with plastic comb spiral formatting. Yes it's less expensive (though it too is time consuming) AND it allows for you to lay the book open and flat on your altar (or if you have a bookstand like I do) so you can operate hands free.

In truth, what anyone is selling is not a book/booklet but rather the information. But like someone already pointed out even that is sliding down worse than the book's quality.

Don't get discouraged though, you can get some places to turn your books into your own, unique hardcover tomes. Ever thought of taking your BEST material, writing it out neatly, illustrating it with colors and then taking it to a binder and having a copy made for yourself? They can do this and even insert different colored ribbons for bookmarks for you. It's a nifty idea and I highly recommend it. Then label the thing your own Necronomicon or Book of Eibon or Tome of Skelos, whatever. That way when some dunderhead says there is no Necronomicon, you can shove it up his arse! ;o)

All the Best,

Mabey to increase profit margins we could write a book on sigils then after a month release the decoder and then the 3rd edition can be meaning and dos and donts lol with a final edition called (IMG:style_emoticons/default/oops.gif)

It is sad of the quality of late and also sad most of my library was destroyed by faulty storage this past winter
great thing for this site for quality will recomend Phil hine and Peter James Carroll

MOLOCH, you make some good points.

But economics doesn't change desire.
There are some publishers that still deal exclusively with fine, hardbound books (the Folio Society being one), but they print nothing on more esoteric studies.

I have indeed considered having my own work bound, and copy and recopy my work until each page is absolutely perfect, but alas, it will be awhile, as I only have 120 pages or so.

I guess in a way, people's love of money is the downfall of quality. They only want to buy the cheapest things, and the manufacturers have to cater to that because otherwise, they won't sell the top-shelf stuff except to people of taste.

Can a printers make a paperback into a hardcover?

I'm sure I've seen empty hardcovers, all you'd need is the writing on the cover of the book. Not to make your own, talkign about turning your paperback collection into a hardcover one.