Sprayed edges, unique covers, and ribbons: the growing popularity of specialty book editions

When I stopped by my local Barnes & Noble earlier this year, I encountered a new display: a tall set of shelves were loaded down with books, most of which had their spines facing in, rather than out. Where I'd expected to see the white paper facing me, I instead saw a riot of colorful designs: the edges of the pages printed with various colors and shapes.

While readers and collectors alike have long gravitated towards special or limited releases from an array of specialty publishers such as Centipede Press, The Folio Society, or Subterranean Press, larger publishers have increasingly begun to turn toward releasing editions of anticipated new and classic books, often with extra features such as high-quality paper, bindings, and slipcases, additional artwork, endpapers, that makes these books stand out on a shelf

This effort coincides with the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, which allows book collectors, readers, and reviewers to show off their latest acquisitions to their followers. Their rise and growing popularity are indications of an industry adapting to a new generation of internet-savvy readers and the stubborn allure of beautiful, physical objects in an age dominated by digital counterparts.

Decades into the onslaught of eBooks brought on by the likes of companies like Amazon and Apple, the physical printed book still holds considerable appeal for readers. It's a technology that's been refined over the centuries, distilled by market requirements and low margins into a form that stubbornly holds off the attempts from tech bros to fundamentally change or improve upon it. Pages of paper glued and sewn together still have their place in homes, offices, bags, planes, and everywhere in between.

But while the underlying form of a book hasn't changed that much, good design is an essential part of the packaging. A stellar cover can make a book stand out and entice a reader to pick it out from the lineup on a shelf, while a crappy one can mean quick relegation to a remainders pile. And collectors might opt to shell out some extra cash for an edition that goes above and beyond what you'd typically find at on bookstore shelves. Bookbinders and publishers have long gilded book edges with gold or paint as a means to protect the paper from acidification over time, while specialty publishers have produced their own editions of books for decades.

For some readers, a book isn't just its contents: it's an object that signals a lifestyle, a fixture in the home to show off in one's social media presence or as a zoom background. Publishers have begun to recognize that it's these extra features, such as special endpapers, sprayed edges (sometimes called spredges), bookmark ribbons, and special or one-off covers, along with additional content like bonus scenes, introductions, or author essays, that can be used as a tool to market a book and build hype for an author's new release or for authors to reward their existing fanbase.

Increasingly, publishers and specialty subscription companies are leaning into special and collectors editions as ways to bring out limited editions of titles for the dedicated fans who want something that goes above and beyond what they can usually find in a store. While companies like Book of the Month and The Folio Society have been sending books to subscribers for decades, a new crop of publishers are honing on on those groups of readers, enticing them with monthly deliveries of special copies with those extra bells and whistles.

These specialty publishers, such as The Broken Binding, Owlcrate, Fairyloot, and Illumicrate, generally offer a subscription model where customers receive a themed box with a book, sometimes with additional perks accompanying it. These subscription services have been able to carve out a business with a combination of special and limited edition covers and artwork, and perks that include everything from scented candles to mugs to bags, and more. They also typically offer up their limited editions directly to readers through their storefronts.

Tori Hart, a fellow book reviewer (and my former boss at the Vermont Historical Society) noted that she's seen a rise in these sorts of special editions in recent years. "There's been a huge increase in the number of book boxes that offer specialized/customized editions of books at fairly reasonable prices," she explained to me in an email.

Hart noted that the rise of communities like BookTok and Bookstagram have helped fuel the desire for readers and collectors to pick up these special editions, and that publishers are starting to recognize that there are opportunities that they can take advantage of. "I think the ease of access to these customized editions was driving people to purchase from book boxes rather than their Indie stores or places like Amazon/Barnes & Noble," she noted. "Publishers here needed to step up their game to keep up with outside competition."

"We’ve seen a significant increase in demand for special editions, from hardcover editions with extra features to seriously deluxe collector’s editions," Tim Holman, the President and Publisher of Orbit Books told me in an email. "Orbit has published a number of special editions over recent years–including books in the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski and The Expanse series by James S.A. Corey, and Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice–and it’s definitely an area of our publishing that’s expanding."

Holman noted that Orbit has leaned into this demand with a new line of books they're calling Gold Editions, which saw new, high-end editions of N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy and Hannah Whitten’s Wilderwood duology released this year, and with more slated to arrive next year.

He pointed to a handful of factors that he sees behind this initiative: the proliferation of book-oriented social media accounts, the rise of subscription boxes, and booksellers. And of course, readers wanting a high-quality book for their shelves: "I think what’s behind it, though, is a bit of a shift in the way a lot of readers appreciate books as physical objects–particularly when there’s an emotional connection involved."

"It’s not just that people want a physical copy–they want a physical copy that feels special and is something to really treasure," he explained. "This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon, of course, but it’s something that a lot more readers seem to be looking for–and finding."

"When I first got involved with purchasing from book boxes," Hart told me "it seemed like any printing of special edges had to be done outside the US, as it was not something being offered by domestic publishing companies or printers." It's only been in the last year, she noted, that it seems that bookstore chains like Barnes & Noble and the major publishers have really gotten in on the game, publishing a number of books and highlighting them in stores with dedicated displays.

There are some indications that focusing on this group of readers is working. According to The Guardian, The Folio Society saw its sales grow by 55% since 2017, a huge turnaround after the company was in "freefall" for years. In that time, it's worked to release a steady stream of new editions of classic books with special artwork, slipcases, and other special features.

Major publishers are also taking note and are beginning to release their own specialty editions or publishing programs: UK publisher Gollancz released a limited edition of William Gibson's Neuromancer to commemorate its 40th anniversary, complete with with a slipcase, new cover art, and interior art while Orbit began releasing its aforementioned Gold Editions earlier this year.

Macmillan has also joined in, launching a new "limited edition" imprint, called Fablelistik Editions. According to Publishers Weekly, will "publish limited editions of books drawn from the public domain as well as from Macmillan’s backlist" starting next year.

The imprint's release will be a trio of limited editions of Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which will see a lettered edition (26 copies at $3,950 each), a numbered edition (275 copies at $895 each), and a collector's edition (2,500 copy run at $265 each). After that, it'll release lettered, numbered, and collectors editions of V.E. Schwab's The Invisible Life of Addie Larue – which already had a special trade edition back in 2021.

As with Orbit's project, these copies will only be available through the imprint's website, rather than traditional retailer sites. (And presumably, some of these copies will quickly make their way to aftermarket retailers like eBay.)

Last month, I visited Katherine Arden at her home here in Vermont, where she showed off a shelf containing all of her novels. She published her debut Winternight trilogy (The Bear and the Nightingale, The Girl in the Tower, and The Witch of Winter) between 2017 and 2019, which became a runaway hit and which neatly align with the growing fantasy / romance / romantasy genres that book box companies have been selling, and as a result, her shelves are loaded down with a hefty stack of variant editions featuring sprayed edges and specialty covers.

"I think sprayed edges and multiple fancy editions are somewhat (although perhaps not exclusively) a phenomenon of the fantasy market," she explained to me. "Fans in that space will certainly collect multiple beautiful editions of books they especially love, and there's a thriving world of book swapping where collectors offer editions in their collections in exchange for other editions."

The wide range of editions comes with some added benefits: as customers turn to companies that curate their offerings, they can serve as a means to introduce their readership to new authors. "Having multiple special editions gives a wide potential readership the possibility of coming in contact with one of my books," Arden explained, and "because all those editions are posted to social media, [they're] are often given to members of book clubs and subscribers to book boxes as part of a monthly package."

Arden echoed Hart's observations that social media is a huge contributing factor here. "People want books that they can take beautiful pictures of. I also think that in a very crowded marketplace for new titles, [those] special editions (the fancier the better) signal to readers that this is a book to pay attention to. People are drawn to bright, pretty things, and publishers are working hard to make their books look nice as a result." 

Once the realm of specialty publishers and retailers, publishers are increasingly releasing their own special editions to the public, something that Arden speculated has been spurred on by lower printing costs, making it more economical for publishers to include them in their trade editions.

In November, Harper Collins published an collector's edition of R.F. Kuang's debut novel The Poppy War with an updated cover, while Gregory Maguire's Wicked got a special collector's edition to tie in with the recent film adaptation. It comes with green stained edges, a ribbon marker, and an elegant foil-stamped cover. Other recent editions include Paul Tremblay's recent novel Horror Movie, which came with stained red edges and a dust jacket made out of a very slick type of paper. J.R.R. Tolkien's novels regularly get the re-release treatment, with special editions featuring the author's original artwork, special sprayed edges, embossed foil titles, and pull-out maps of Middle-earth.

Holman noted that Hachette has begun to "partner with retailers to produce exclusive special editions."

"Most recently with Barnes & Noble for deluxe hardcover editions of Rachel Gillig’s One Dark Window, Two Twisted Crowns, and her new novel coming out next year, The Knight and the Moth–and we’re expecting there to be more retailer exclusives over the next few years."

Are these additional features essential to readers or are they superfluous bells and whistles?

Your milage will likely vary. For fans of a particular author or title, such editions can be something that simply looks good on a shelf, comes with a better cover, or contains additional art that adds to the reading experience. For others, it might just be something that simply looks good on a bookshelf, or makes for a gift that demonstrates a bit of additional thought and care directed toward the recipient. Or, you might see these special editions as a mere gimmick: an easy way for a publisher to entice some of their customers to purchase a second copy of a book they might already own, or as an opportunity to bump up the price for a "Collector's Edition."

At the end of the day, any book might sit on a shelf between readings, blending into background as part of a home or space's decor and character. These special editions can serve as a visible badge of one's fandom and appreciation of those stories, the background of a photo on Instagram or Tiktok video, or just as a special copy for a reader to treasure.

Thanks for reading. What special editions have you picked up over the years, and what prompted you to pick them up in the first place?