What's it all about?

The Bookplate – what is it?

This is my take on the thing which seems to mystify some and to delight others. I suspect that, to those who are not familiar with these mysterious objects, they conjure a mind picture of a china or metal plate inserted between the pages of a book.

It is a very old thing, something which has come down from the middle ages, when Gutenberg and Caxton began the whole business of printing books. Yes, I know that the invention of printing is sometimes attributed to the Chinese, but the principle of moving type was first devised in Europe before it came to England. And what an upset it caused! It’s hard to imagine now, that not so long ago, a person could be burned at the stake for producing or possessing such a simple thing as a book.

Of course, only the wealthy could afford them even though the cost had fallen dramatically, compared to the hand-written ones that had gone before. Nevertheless, owners of these books felt it necessary to mark them as their property. The simple way would have been to simply write one’s name inside, but we must not forget that, even though they owned books as a mark of wealth and culture, many owners could not themselves write.

Ex Libris is a posh Latin term meaning “Out of the Library” and with a name appended, meant “Out of the Library of so-and-so” or simply “This book is mine”. The term ‘Bookplate’ came to mean that page or folio in the book which contained the words “This book belongs to” or “Ex Libris” whether it be inscribed direct to page, or whether it be a separate piece of parchment glued on.

When I first began buying and obtaining books, many of them still had a folio (page) inside, upon which were printed the words “Ex Libris” with space for one’s name. Some of them, especially those from Reader’s Digest, came with a loose plate, printed as a bookplate “Ex Libris”. This could then be signed and stuck in, if the owner so wished. I used to buy American and English science fiction magazines and novelettes, some of which I still have after 40 or 50 years. There was always (it seems) an advertisement for bookplates. One could send off to the magazine and purchase a quantity of any particular bookplate, usually the flavour of the month, delightfully engraved with an image from the lead story. One could then go mad and stick these in all one’s books.

How I wish I’d done that! The numbers of my books that have been borrowed and never returned are legion.

When I began the process of collating my own short stories into an anthology, forming my autobiography, I soon discovered the difficulties in engaging the attention of a publisher or agent. There are so many, and one has to accept that their raison d’etre is to earn money; therefore they look for potential best sellers. In other words, to print and sell thousands, if not millions.

I realised that I could not, without a great deal of good fortune, tap into this industry, to become part of it. I could have easily gone to a vanity publisher. No thank you very much. I could have gone to a printer and had him print a number of copies for me. This would entail a considerable outlay, with the very strong risk of me having stacks of the things around the house, unsold and performing useful tasks such as propping up the sideboard and the kitchen table.

Because of the incredible advances in the printing industry, a new form of publishing has sprung up. POD is the new buzzword in the publishing industry – Print On Demand. There are in existence, huge printing machines that not only print the pages of a book, but collate and glue them together, and then mount the result (called ‘the block’) into the covers. This method has been in use for many years, as an advance from the time when pages were set by hand using loose type; the pages were printed on large sheets which were then folded and so on.

Now, these machines are so made that they can handle the production of one book at a time, when requested – in other words, printed on demand. All the content, the manuscript and cover details are stored on a disc or computer hard drive, until required. Someone orders, they print. Blank paper goes in at one end and the finished book comes out the other! A book, any book, need never be taken ‘out of print’ now.

This new technology is turning the conventional publishing industry upside down, and many established publishing houses are beginning to embrace it. There are also many new publishers, set up to take advantage of it. There is however, some sort of stigma attached to the new technology. There are many writers who believe that an author or writer has not succeeded unless his or her book has been taken up by an established publisher.

Rubbish! The idea behind writing a story or creating a book is to place it before the public in order that they may buy and enjoy it, or benefit from it. It has been amply demonstrated that even the best authors may have trouble in finding a publisher, and does it really matter by what method the book appears?

What is the author to do? He could have the book printed and publish it himself, all costs coming out of his own pocket. Vanity publishers (sic) thrive on this feeling that writers have, to see their masterpiece in print. There are straightforward printers who will produce the work and who promise nothing more than that.

Now, there is the POD technology, which is coming to be embraced by even the old and established publishers. Now, there really is no need for them to print thousands of potentially unsold books. They can be printed as required, with a minimum quantity of 1 copy. This makes it better for the environment, I guess.

Now, I chose to use Lulu, because it was the first of the kind that I came across when I was researching. There are other firms who do the same thing, but I liked Lulu and I’m glad I chose them. Their system works (no doubt others do too).

A very old and precious practise has grown up with books – I refer to the author’s ‘signing’ them, often with a short message to the buyer. Many of my buyers have asked for me to sign their copy. Of course, I’m delighted to do so, but there exists a small problem. A massive problem, actually.

Were I sitting in a bookstore, then it would be simple for me to do the necessary as they purchase their copies, but when the buyers are scattered around the world? Because of the nature of the business and the related technology as relates to Lulu, a buyer in the US has his or her copy printed in America, and for the buyer in the UK, the book is printed in England. There is also a printer in Barcelona, Spain (for Europe) and there may well be one in Australasia.

So, how do I get to sign the book as my readers so dearly want? It would cost a fortune in transit and packing costs for them to send the book to me, for me to sign and return. Imagine this! Let’s say a book is ordered by a reader in California. Their order goes to North Carolina, from whence the data goes to the printer in New Jersey. The book is printed and mailed to California. The reader wants it signed, so he/she sends it to me in England. I sign it and send it back.

Possible? Yes, certainly! Expensive? Most definitely!

In an attempt to overcome this problem, I created a bookplate. I say “I” but again, but I had great help with the technicals. My dear friend in the US used her expertise with a photo program, fiddled with the picture I emailed her and created what I needed – an image to create the bookplate (see, Sharon, I kept your name secret). Another example of the wonders of this technology that we all enjoy.

I have printed the bookplates and I inscribe and send them to those who ask. Much less costly than sending the actual books back and forth – possibly not quite the same, but at least, now they have my ugly mug in their book, as well as my scribble!

To be honest, when my proof copy arrived from the printer, my Beloved Bride snaffled it as soon as it came out of the package. Then she had me sign and insert a bookplate, dedicating the book to her. Casting my normal modesty aside, I have to say – it looks lovely!