bookpublishing

Endpapers are a big topic today. If you don’t know what endpapers are, they’re exactly what they sound like–usually a thicker stock paper that appears usually in hardcover books at the front and back. Often they’re very simple, a solid color or pattern. Sometimes, though, designers get really creative to make them match the cover design or interior design.

Today I was reviewing a football book designed by a packager that has a very simple but gorgeous cover design and a more intricate interior design. Then I saw the endpapers and they were an ugly beige-taupe color with no design at all. After speaking with our publisher here about his lackluster response to the endpapers, I requested a more interesting look–even if it only made them look more textured and less bland.

I don’t feel that endpapers are a big deal. I think plain is fine. But when you have the time and the means, which we do in this case, to make a statement, why not? Obviously, you don’t want to overdo it and make the endpapers look more interesting than the rest of the book! But you do want a consistent design that draws the reader in on every page you possibly can.

Alison Morris has a children’s booksellers blog (called Shelftalker) on the Publishers Weekly site and she discussed endpapers today too. Of course, with children’s books, the endpaper design makes a much bigger statement and can have a much bigger effect. It may even be more worth the time and effort to design them as they are more likely to be noticed by a child who is actively taking in all the information than a typical adult reader of a football book who is much more eager to get to the real meat of the book. She includes some examples of nice-looking endpapers. Now, I defer to her taste when it comes to endpapers in children’s books, because I certainly can’t imagine a book I publish that I’d want endpapers like the ones she shows off. However, she does include a link to another site that has some truly stunning images. Here are a few of my favorites:

Garth Williams - Fairies by David G. Klein

The Wonderland of Knowledge by Nancy Stahl

Misty of Chincoteague by Heidi Shmidt

House of Pomegranates by Heidi Shmidt

Susan’s Neighbors by Lou Brooks

Last one… clearly NOT for a children’s book:

Dutch Treat Club 1940 by Stephen Kroninger

There are many more to drool over here.