Do we remember the time when very special edition books had sprayed edges? How special they used to be and it felt great to have on our shelves. Now every other book has a sprayed edge, which I am not complaining about. However, I think they have become less special, especially when it is a solid sprayed edge versus a very unique design. Let’s talk about it!
When the trend started
Sprayed edges go back to the 10th century to beautify books. It was originally used to protect books and manuscripts, sometimes identification. In today’s modern era, they are a stance of beauty and uniqueness in books.
I believe the trend really started with book subscription boxes. During the pandemic, a lot of people swapped over to book box subscriptions. To name a few: Owlcrate, Fairyloot, and Illumicrate. I had subscriptions to these in the mid 2010s, however the pandemic shut down book stores and people started reading more. With the subscription boxes, there was always a special edition book inside which, more often than not, had a sprayed edge.
These spray edges usually came with a unique design, something floral, intricate, etc. They are honestly gorgeous, and I have held tight to a few of my copies because they are so pretty.
Because of this, the demand for colorful edges went up and we started seeing more special edition books to be released from big retailers like Barnes and Noble. The subscription box companies also realized sprayed edges were gaining popularity and started selling series in special editions.
The Outcome of Popularity
While this is something that really took off and people were loving it, it seemed other authors and publishers had the idea to do sprayed edges on their mass production books. To a lot of people, this felt like a money grab, however we can now have a rainbow of sprayed edge books.
Where the problem started to settle was likely the quality of the sprayed edge. When the sprayed edge became mass produced, people started to believe it was becoming part of a money grab. The feeling of the sprayed edge, the thickness, the flaking started to really turn people off for the prayed edge. A lot of times these mass produced edges don’t have a design on them and are solid colored, almost they decided to spray paint the edge and pop it on the shelf to grab attention to a book or series.
Sometimes, the execution of a solidly painted edge is well done. Other times, they look great, but usually only on special editions that have had more time to plan out the printing and quality of the edge.
Making it “Less Special”
Does the overuse of sprayed edges start to lower the quality of books? Does the mass production of sprayed edges make special editions “less special” when everyone is doing it? Is charging more or having to buy a second book for a “special edition” worth it because it has a sprayed edge and a cute new cover?
This is all a matter of opinion, but in a way, the mass production of sprayed edges can totally feel like a money grab from publishers. Maybe it’s for advertising, maybe it’s because of the gained popularity, in the end it doesn’t stop people from feeling like it’s overused.
I think Fourth Wing’s first edition with sprayed edges was so popular that it really captured the publisher’s attention for sprayed edges. What makes this particular situation so unique, is the publisher continued to put out the same sprayed edge on the book, but it wasn’t as sought after like the first edition. People were selling the book for hundreds of dollars on resale, but now we have a mass produced series with sprayed edges. Does that make the series unique itself? Yes. Does that make the first edition copy a little less special? Probably to some people.
If you feel like sprayed edges are so cool, no matter if it was mass produced or not, there is nothing wrong with that. I just couldn’t help but notice this hot topic floating around. Sprayed edges are still a unique feature of books and there has been a reason for the demand. They’re pretty, you can decorate your shelves with them. I think it’s a fun way to make your bookshelf fun regardless of the quality, but there are two sides to every coin.
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