Wait, isn't that Montreal?
It seems almost cruel to again focus on Nabu Press, but what better way to begin this day, the 150th anniversary of Sara Jeannette Duncan's birth, than to take a swipe at those dishonouring her work. Using a stock photo of a Slovakian castle for a novel set in India is one thing, but what I find more interesting is the botching of fair Sara's name:
Sara Jeanette (Duncan) "Mrs. Everard Cotes" Cotes
What dog's breakfast lies beneath that cover?
First edition:
New York: Appleton, 1893
A Christmas bonus:
Further ineptitude from POD publisher Echo Library of Fairford, Gloucester. The surname is correct.
Related posts:
POD Cover of the Month: Montreal for Tourists..
POD Cover of the Month: Rila of Ingelside
POD Cover of the Month: Romany of the Snows
"That picture again! Lordy Lou!" (as my long dead aunt might exclaim) I think Nabu has about five photos that they recycle for their reprint abominations. I found six more books from Nabu (none of them novels) that use the same photo above on the cover with this one taking the prize for the longest title and the strangest content. Someone has A LOT of time on his (or her) hands at Nabu.
ReplyDeleteYou ought to read the comments on this page from irate customers who foolishly purchased books from Nabu -- aka BiblioBazaar, aka BiblioLife, aka BookSurge which is now owned by amazon.com. What a surprise to learn that BookSurge was founded and started by the same people behind Nabu! Back in 2008 BookSurge was sold and is now known as CreateSpace, the self-publishing machine of the amazon empire.
I think you're right about the cover images, John. The same six or so repeated, seemingly at random, without any consideration of the text. Further evidence to support my belief that no human hand is involved in the production of a Nabu book.
ReplyDeleteThe oddest thing about their books is that image of Spiš Castle. Nabu plays it safe with most cover images - a clock, a pocket watch, a compass, some old books, more old books - but here they are so very specific. Slap this on the cover of almost any book and it just looks wrong. A pen? You're pretty safe.
The comments are very interesting. Why so many blurred pages?
I think the comment about the "phantom fingers" explains it. I take it that the staff is photocopying or scanning the pages manually and someone's digits got in the way. The blurry pages are because someone is going too fast and taking the book off the screen before the scanner has completed passing over. It's happened to me when I'm scanning DJs.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right. All these years I'd thought that Nabu and their sorry kind were doing nothing more than lifting material from sites like Internet Archive. That said, with 600,000+ titles, they must have done some work on their own.
ReplyDeleteMinimum wage phantom fingers, I expect.