The Life and Times of John Wilkes Booth

[L Verge]

(07-25-2019 12:47 PM)L Verge Wrote:  

(07-24-2019 05:15 PM)Steve Wrote:  

(07-24-2019 03:51 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Just in layout and presentation, Art's is more appealing -- and was done by a longtime publisher, McFarland & Co. We have dealt with McFarland for years and they can be hard to deal with and charge too much on wholesale, but there is quality there. I have been told that their original purpose in the publishing field was to supply library systems, so a cut above perhaps in quality?

How is Edwards' layout and presentation different?

I have not yet begun to read, so I am commenting only on the visual perception of the two books in respect to style. In another life, I worked for a graphic artist and his print company, so I still remember talks about making things pleasing to the eye from the front cover on. If I knew how to scan and post the covers, it would explain itself.

Art's cover is in full color; the photo of Booth is 3/4 shot of that seated one with him appearing to be glaring at someone to his right and that walking stick prominently displayed and those great ringlets of hair at his forehead; title in bold white with 2-inch letters; title of John Wilkes Booth: Day by Day clearly tells reader that it is a chronology style; and finally, the author's name in white on a simple green strip near the bottom completes the effect. The only other thing that is secondary to the eye is a shadowy background of a period calendar.

In comparison, Bill's cover is all black and white, really an enlarged version of the photo of him standing on a patterned carpet with his left hand holding the top of an upholstered side chair, the photo takes up most of the cover; the title of the book is about an inch high in the upper right quadrant, followed by "A Chronology of His Life and the Events Surrounding Him Including New Information and Insights" in quarter-inch letters (all letters are white and bordered in black); personally, I hate long subtitles; the largest letters on the cover are the author's name about an inch from the bottom.

Turning to the inside text, Art's work follows a standard two-column layout with dates and citations in bold followed by brief paragraphs of happenings. I think it is easier on the eyes. Bill's is full-page text with the use of lists and tabs and indents to cover the material. He does have pages of straight text lay-out in spots, and he does follow one of the rules that I learned from the graphic artist -- make sure you have lots of white space. I have also spotted some info and insights that he promises is new, so I better get busy reading instead of critiquing.

P.S. One thing - neither book's cover has any RED on it. Years ago, James Swanson told me to make sure that there was red because the eye is automatically drawn to it (his stepson agreed - especially for his books, where blood is a continuing theme). A friend who worked at Border's Books said the same thing about red because it displays better when putting out new books.

Some folks have gotten busy reading, and the reports are not good. One more case of typos, simple errors, and no good proofreading before publication.