Moderator--- I split this from a book review thread as it had nothing to do with the thread.
Well, I had a chance to examine the book. To be honest, I won´t be buying the book. Not because the content is any way bad. It is the very rigid soft binding that is the cause as reading the book as books are intented to be read requires the book to be violently cracked open damaging the spine permanently. I have already sent the publisher a stern worded message to either do books in hardback or with more flexible spines not requiring damaging it while reading.
Unfortunately, I have heard that now Aberjona only caters for the wishes of amazon who prefer f*cking softbacks
Joe - I too would have preferred a hardbound version of the book because it's a valuable book that would be a more welcome addition to my library if it was hardbound. However, after having read all of the book and cracking the cover, it is really none the worse for wear and the pages are not falling out. Possibly the book would not have even been published had the author held out for a publisher willing to take on the risk and higher cost of publishing a hardbound book with paper dustcover. How many examples have we seen in recent years where people here are complaining about the "high" prices of books? We should value the content and not the packaging. Also, I believe that Aberjona is catering to their niche reader market, rather than any particular book distributor. It's a very good book and I'm glad that I took the time to read it.
Uncle Joe, I can assure you that Aberjona's use of trade paper covers has nothing to do with Amazon. It was a deliberate choice of Kit Bonn to publish in trade paper, so that the books would be more affordable.
I will echo John's comments, in that none of my copies, even the well used ones, are falling apart. You may personally prefer hardback, but that's no reason to demean those of us who by choice or necessity purchase paper-bound books.
Hi,I think they should have done a limited print run of 100 hard cover copies.Have them signed and numbered and sell them at cost.This would satisfy the hard core collectors.
If there is a choice I always buy hard cover.I like things to last.
I buy books for their contents and what kind of "story" they tell. I have both Hard & Soft covers and all are in great shape. How the buyer treats them is what type of shape they end up in.
I will have to disagree about the comment:
as books are intented to be read requires the book to be violently cracked open damaging the spine permanently.
As a serious collector of books I can say that I do not do this myself.
I have learned a few lessons and after my son (aged 2 at the time) ripped a dust jacket off a book....all books stay out of reach.
My major concern is costs to buy a book. None of Aberjona's books have fallen apart on me and are still in great shape.
Tom, I am not demeaning buyers of softbound books. As I clearly explained, one option would be to do more flexibly spined softbacks. Aberjona has been in business too short a time to really tell us how their books will hold together over time.
Frankly, I am not too glad to read Snipershot´s comments as my experience is very clear on the fact that no matter how delicately rigid spined softbacks are handled, they will fall apart sooner or later if they are read regularly. A good comparison is readily apparent in the Finnish series Lentäjän näkökulma. Volume 1´s binding is rigid like Aberjona´s while vol. 2 is very flexible. Though open the vol. 2 at least 10 times as often, it is still as new while vol. 1 has several pages already falling out.
Well, I haven't had a bad experience with Aberjona's bindings, unlike some other companies where even their hard-covers didn't hold together! In fact, a hard cover isn't a guarantee against bad binding, unless you know a little neighborhood book-binder, like I do, who can rebind just about anything.
Just as a note, I have a number of very well-used U.S. Army soft-bound technical manuals. I have one on the M-26 tank that has this huge coffee-cup, three-quarter circle stain on the cover. These are all soft cover and date from the 40s or 50s and they are possibly the most rugged books I've encountered as a collector.
Having said that, as a book collector, or collector of books, I share Uncle Joe's legitimate concern over the bindings of a book. Not by Aberjona's but in general. In fact, my worst soft-cover binding experience was with, of all things, a book on U.S. Cruisers in WWII published by the highly legitimate and somewhat over-priced United States Naval Institute Press!
A book represents a significant investment and, unless one only intends to stick it on the shelf as decoration, one should be able to read it without worrying about destroying it.
Some of the very best books, in terms of contents, were paperbacks I bought years and years ago. My problem with them now isn't that the bindings have failed--some have, some haven't--but the highly acidic paper they were printed on which now turns brown and falls to pieces. This was not, IMHO, a fault of the publisher at the time. Back then, a $2.98 paperback wasn't meant to last 25 0r 30 years, but that is what happened with me. Now the books are long out of print and therefore irreplaceable and not to be found at $2.98 or any price. But, such is mortality.....
Very Best,
David
Death is lighter than a Feather, Duty is heavier than a Mountain....
Uncle Joe - If this same 375-page book was hard bound with a colorful dust jacket and priced at USD 55, would you still buy it or would you then be complaining about the "high" price?
The Aberjona Press is a good company and we should support their work.
If it was $55, yes I would because that would be too much for a 375-page book. However, If it was something like $35-40, a figure that would be in line with previous Aberjona hardbacks (the original price for the 600+ page hardback history of the 116. Panzerdivision was $40 so $55 would be way over for 412 pages). Remember, e.g. the somewhat larger format Shattered Sword has some 550 pages in hardcover and its cover price is $35.
And regarding complaints, Aberjoan still uses too large a font. They should start using smaller font like in the latest JJF books.
Advise them to see an optician. I am absolutely stunned by those comments on too small a font. I mean has people´s literacy plummeted by so much in a few decades? I have recently read several non fiction history books from the 1960s and all of them have reasonably small main font PLUS very extensive quotations printed with smallish font*. Yet, people had no trouble reading those books. Or is it that military history enthusiasts today prefer to look at pretty pictures and reading longer texts is simply beyond their attention span/ability?
Well, it seems that Uncle Joe has an axe to grind with Aberjona.....fortunately, the edge is not too sharp.
If you are not happy with the spine of the book, and now it is the font size, I am sure tomorrow it will be something else.
I personally support Aberjona for bringing books to the public that otherwise might not be seen.
As for JJF books, now there are some very expensive books. There are threads on this point alone here on Feldgrau.
This forum here is on books and reviews and NOT on bashing any one publishing company.
I mean has people´s literacy plummeted by so much in a few decades?
The answer to this is YES. Read the reports on the school systems out there and you will be surprised.
The Aberjona Press is a good company and we should support their work
Agreed !
This is a perfect example of how an innocent thread gets hijacked.
You are entitled to your opinion but please put it where it is supposed to be.
This topic was split from a Book Review where it did not belong.
Hmm...as I flit around the country by motorcycle...I vastly prefer softbacks for reading as opposed to hard backs for irregular consulting, for the simple ease of carrying LOL I have to store my hardbacks and magazine binders back home so they're not always readily consultable
However - condition and how long it lasts isn't always a question - for on a point of honour I try to buy secondhand anyway
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
