by Jenny Kimura, Senior Designer and Ebook Conversion Specialist

If you’ve been in a bookstore lately, I don’t have to tell you about the sheer number of “Exclusive Editions,” “Collector’s Editions,” and “Deluxe Editions” that have crowded display tables and shelves from the young adult section to the sci-fi fantasy section to even adult literature. These special monikers denote that a debut novel, a classic, or even just a very popular book, is a must-have, not only from a literary standpoint but also as something to display on one’s bookshelf. I’m talking about the colorful sprayed edges, solid or with patterns; the clothbound cases, with slipcases and ribbon bookmarks; the gilded edges and delicate foiling patterns. Don’t get me wrong, these books are works of art, and as a book designer who has made special editions, it’s truly an exciting time to be designing, but I do wonder when this trend will start to deflate. (Can it really be a “Collector’s Edition” if the book isn’t even ten years old?). Wherever you may fall on whether you’ve seen too many special editions or not enough, or you’re just curious about what all the fuss is about, read on to find out just what makes these editions so popular.

1. Let’s start off with the big one: Sprayed Edges! Sprayed edges are a design feature that colors the edge of the paper block. A solid color is what I see most, but even more special is stenciled or printed edges, which comes in two colors or 4 colors, allowing books to re-create entire scenes, patterns, or other objects on the edges of the book (yes, including top and bottom!). Something to know about sprayed edges is that they are expensive to produce, with a solid color being the cheapest and four colors (or full color) being the most expensive. Another edge option is gilded edges—think of Bibles or an old collection of fairy tales.

Some examples of sprayed and gilded edges. As you can see, some designs are full-color (Heaven Breaker), some are just one color plus white (Immortal Dark and He Should Have Been With Me), and gilded edges (A Fate Inked in Blood) add shine and luxury.

2. Case design: Hardcover books come with a book jacket, but the book itself has what is called a case cover. Most books (particularly, I am talking about hardcover novels) have a paper case with a foil or other ink stamping with the author’s name and the title of the book on the spine. One can get even fancier, however, by printing on both the front cover and back cover case. Another common case design feature is a preprinted case, which means that the case paper has a printed design on it rather than foil stamping. This allows the publisher to create a full-color design on the case.

Some examples of printed case covers, and one with a gorgeous foil stamped design on the front cover (the blue cover).

3. Endpapers: Endpapers are not a new feature—solid color endpapers or patterns have been a feature on books for a long time. But I would argue they were not used on sci-fi/fantasy or young adult novels quite as much until recently. Now, itʻs very common to see full-color scenes, intricate fantasy maps, or character art on endpapers.

Three examples of endpapers. The third book (the solid yellow) is difficult to see in the picture, but it has a texture of honeycombs embossed on the paper.

4. Other book jacket features: Now, while most special editions may have one or all of the elements described above, special additional features may also be added to the jacket, such as foil, embossed (raised) elements, spot gloss (shiny areas where the rest of the cover is matte). Keep in mind all of these are extra costs! While these elements are not exclusive to special editions (see the examples below), special editions are, well, special, in that they may have multiple jacket effects, whereas a regular book may just have one.

While difficult to see in a picture, Citrus has an emboss on the lemon, with a texture that is dimpled like a real lemon peel. The lemon also has spot gloss on it, which makes it shiny and catches the light, in contrast to the rest of the cover, which has a matte lamination. This picture book, The 13 Days of Swiftness, uses real glitter on the cover, so it literally sparkles. And this special edition of Dracula has a velvet cover with a cloth spine, foiled type, and a printed matte illustration on the velvet.

Final thoughts:

I don’t think publishers have run out of creative ways to make special editions unique quite yet, despite the market saturation, so expect to see these fancy books continue to pop up. Some of my personal favorite fancy edition effects include: the die-cut skull flaps on the collector’s edition of Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End, the paper boat you can make with Samantha Sotto’s Water Moon dust jacket, and the velvet collector’s edition cover of Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince. If there’s one thing I think we can all agree on: it’s a great time and the worst time to be a book collector!

Jenny Kimura is a book designer by day, and also a book designer by night. She has created several special edition books and dreams of being approved to print a book cover on glitter fabric (yes, it exists!). You can see her recent work on her website, www.jennykimura.com.