Paperbacks

Today, here in Italy, I received some copies of the paperback version of A Cloud of Fraud from Amazon. I don’t know exactly where they were printed, but here they are and I am thrilled to lay my hands upon them. I call them my golden nuggets because the cover is gold.

A word now about covers for on-demand printed books. I honestly cannot say that I love the quality of this one. The design is mine and of course the gorgeous artwork is Carlo Crivelli’s. The painting is a detail of the Magdalene he did that hangs in the Rijksmuseum. It’s the printing and the paper that I’m gently complaining about. I should not do that, but I’m not in love with it.

This is an area where the author with a traditional publisher that will take the time and trouble and expense to print a book beautifully is way out there ahead of everyone else. The price is quite different, too. I realize that. I, however, grew up and went to school with the idea that a book was a special object that deserved respect and treasuring.

All of that having been written, Amazon and self-publishing is a gift to many of us who don’t have the time in life, or the following, to make traditional publishing a possibility. We don’t have agents, either. But we have wonderful stories to tell, as well as we possibly can. So my paperbacks remain my golden nuggets.