My flipback books have arrived....

The new face of paperback publishing



I was so intrigued by the idea of a little book which would fit in a handbag and stay open without needing to be held, that I promptly ordered a few titles from the UK, because I couldn't wait until they hit the shops here. Today they have arrived and they are soooo cute, measuring 11cm by 8cm.

  

As a hobby bookbinder, I am fascinated by their construction -  the cover is only attached via the rear endpaper and the front endpaper is split so that the cover lies flat when the book is open.

Although the pages are made from "bible paper" the text from the underside of each page is not visible enough to be intrusive when being read and they are  printed in landscape format, so they lie nicely in the hand while being read.

I was discussing these with one of my customers and they wondered how different these would be from the original Penguin paperbacks, which were compact and intended as convenient for commuters to carry on the bus/train. These flipback books are half the size but with an easily readable size font.

The initial range of titles currently available varies across the spectrum, from John Le Carre to James Frey, and Jodie Picoult to Melvyn Bragg. The publishers appear to have attempted initially to attract readers of all ages and interests, so not pitching this format only to a select type of reader. It remains to be seen which group, if any, becomes the main user of these little gems.