Whenever I walk into a Barnes and Noble these days, or even an indie bookstore like Red Fern Booksellers, there’s usually one thing in particular that catches my eye. And that one thing is the latest craze in books—sprayed edges.
Before I get into my blog for October, I should probably introduce myself in case you don’t know who I am. My name is Willa R. Finnegan, and I am the thirteen-year-old, award-winning author of Snow: Cursed. When I wrote my debut novel, I was eleven. When I published it, I was twelve. Now, here I am. But that’s beside the point. Let’s dive into October’s topic!
Here’s the main reason why I enjoy sprayed edges so much: because it incorporates art into every aspect of the book. It really ties everything together and sort of makes the book even more appealing to me as the reader. Writing and art coinciding in that way is just so ridiculously cool! Honestly, it’s really hard for me to explain how much it catches my eye with that little pop of color or even insight as to what the book is about. I’m not sure I did an incredible job explaining my thought process…so how about I give you a scenario and show you?
You get out of your car and walk across the parking lot, staring up at the letters on the side of the building that read: BARNES AND NOBLE. You open the door, and step inside, inhaling the immaculate smell of all the books. You are SOOOO excited, because this Barnes and Noble has the exact book you want, and you’ve been waiting FOREVER for it to be in stock there.
You rush toward the Young Adult section...only to stop in your tracks because you were caught off guard by the shining flash of gold in your periphery. You pivot, turning away from YA and the book you had once coveted so dearly. You try your best to ignore the fact that you only came here for that one book.
But…it’s too hard to turn away from the sprayed edges of the Twilight 20th Anniversary Special Edition you’ve seen ALL OVER BookTok. You gasp, running your fingers along the green hardcover, unable to control yourself. And you do exactly the same thing you’ve seen in all of those videos prior to this fateful encounter—you take the pages in your hand, and turn them to the left, then the right. You see the faces of Edward and Bella staring back at you…and you are compelled instantly to ditch the book you’d come for and fleece your book fund because that special edition is $40.
Next time you walk into a bookstore, I want you to think about sprayed edges, and really contemplate what they mean. It’s kind of fun to think about why we’re drawn to things when it comes to books!
I hope you enjoyed this blog today! Please join my mailing list for my newsletter. I’ll see you again in November!
