Paperbacks from Hell [N.F. - Literature, Art]

Rise of the Blockbuster

There was nothing the ’80s respected more than blockbuster success, and only brand names—V.C. Andrews, Anne Rice, Stephen King—would survive the decade. Blockbuster books permanently changed the publishing landscape, and it was all thanks to power tools.

The Thor Power Tool Co. case of 1979 radically changed how books were sold. This U.S. Supreme Court decision upheld the Internal Revenue Service’s rule that companies could no longer “write down,” or lower the value of, unsold inventory. Previously, publishers pulped about 45 percent of their annual inventory, but that still left them with warehouses full of midlist novels that had steady but unspectacular sales. The pressure to sell quickly was off because publishers could list the value of the unsold inventory far below the books’ cover price. After the Thor decision, these books were valued at full cover price, eliminating the tax write-off. Suddenly, the day of the midlist novel was over. Paperbacks were given six weeks on the racks to find an audience, then it was off to the shredder.

A successful book now had to sell blockbuster numbers. And manufacturing blockbusters took a team, starting with the blurb writer, who created the breathlessly enthusiastic marketing copy for the back cover. Then the marketing department came up with flashy gimmicks to help each book stand out in a crowded field. Publishers gave out porcelain roses, perfume, and garters bearing the names of their latest romances.

But the most powerful promotional tool was the cover, presided over by the art directors, who were treated like kings. Art directors set the tone for cover artists, often drawing sketches of what they wanted to see. They made the big-picture decisions. The hardcover art for Peter Benchley’s Jaws was a stylized shark with no teeth. For the iconic paperback (see here), Bantam’s art director Len Leone kept the basic layout, but hired Roger Kastel to paint an ultrarealistic, sharp-toothed shark instead. The paperback sold 6.2 million copies.

James Plumeri at NAL had a sophisticated sense of style, and his Stephen King covers were designed to intrigue readers with their quiet, centered images and plain black backgrounds. He left the title off the cover of ’Salem’s Lot, wanting readers to pick up the book and open it to see what it was called. Instead, bookstores shelved it backward, leading to a quick second printing with the title prominently displayed.

Milton Charles came up with iconic cover treatments for best sellers like The World According to Garp and Jacqueline Susann’s The Love Machine before moving to Pocket, where he worked on Flowers in the Attic. Like all art directors, he was a problem solver, and the problem boiled down to how to turn a book browser into a book buyer.

In a 1977 interview, Charles declared himself “unenthusiastic about cover tricks” such as the use of foil and die-cut covers. But after the success of the V. C. Andrews books he became an advocate of foil covers, embossed covers, stepback art, and die-cut covers, because ultimately the point was to sell books. If foil caught the reader’s attention, then foil it would be.

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