Thumper Thinks Out Loud

.Start Rant.

I’m a member of Quality Paperback Book Club. They aren’t the problem; I love them. They sell trade paperback books at reasonable prices, and every once in a while I get a free one. Plus they always have something going on, where I can buy a book, get one half price, stuff like that. QPB’s da bomb.

My problem? When you mail order books, you can’t actually see the insides.

I bought several books this month, stuff I’ve been wanting to read for a while. I love to read, it beats TV by a mile. But this morning I was going through that stack of books, trying to decide what to read first…most of them have print so small that I can’t read them, period.

Now granted, I’ve hit the age where I probably needed bifocals a year ago, but this goes beyond age related reading difficulty. I couldn’t have read the type size in these books when I was 16 and only had so-so vision instead of my current near-blind state. I honestly doubt even someone with 20/20 vision could comfortably read 400 pages of this type size.

I understand the economics behind it: the larger the type, the longer the book; the longer the book, the more it costs to print, thus cutting down on potential profits. Move to a smaller type size, save paper, save costs, etc. I know this because I’ve wrestled with book layout a time or two, trying to decide what font to use, what size, what the per-book print cost will be, and how that affects the bottom line list price.

But still. If the potential customers can’t read the freaking book, what’s the point of taking it to print???

Yes, I could resolve my issues by dragging my sorry ass to the bookstore to actually take a look inside the book before plunking down my cash, but doesn’t change the fact that tiny print is out there, tormenting the world with its lack of readability. I want to be able to read my freaking books!

.End Rant For Now.