A trend in publishing is releasing special editions of books. This could be by doing another print run with illustrations or sprayed edges. The Hunger Games had a run with an alternate cover style, one with a pastel and floral aesthetic, which was completely different from the original cover. This trend is not recent by any means—special editions of books have been released for decades now—but what has been happening is that the number of recently published books that are getting rereleased as special editions again and again has increased.
What this mass production of the same book in different fonts leads to is overconsumption and a kind of “status symbol.” The multiple editions of the same book end up looking like shiny collectables, especially to people who enjoy showing off their bookshelves or like having a particular aesthetic. People who really enjoy a particular author’s work will be more likely to buy multiple copies of the same book if they look different as well, as a way to “support” the author. But I raise the question, is it normal to own 5 copies of the same book? How many of these special editions actually get read compared to the ones that just sit on a shelf and look nice?
The status symbols come from owning the unique editions. It’s a way for people to show their dedication to reading or to a particular author, and while I’ve never heard about someone actively looking down on others for not owning particular copies of books, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s someone out there who does. The vast majority of people who do own the special editions, however, tend to flaunt their new copies in addition to the other ones that they own. It’s a showcase of wealth in some cases, where the editions may have cost much more than other versions of the same book.
Alongside buying multiple editions of a book because of cosmetic differences, a trend that has picked up recently has been owning multiple copies of a single book to use for different purposes. With people prioritizing aesthetics now, they buy multiple copies of the same book, of the same edition, and designate each copy their own role. The most common that I’ve seen is owning at least one copy for reading and one copy to display (to never actually be read). This in itself has not been affected by consumerism, but it feeds into it within different circles. It’s especially prevalent in online spaces, be it reading influencers or online reading spaces like BookTok or Bookstagram.
And when it comes to owning multiple copies of the same book, it’s important to know that the authors don’t usually benefit all that much. They get the majority of their profit from selling to stores, though some of that money goes to the publishers and editors as well. Most of the actual profit from sales goes to the distributors—be it an online store like Amazon or a physical store like Barnes & Noble.
How often do you take note of the backgrounds in videos? It’s not something I think of specifically whenever I’m watching people, but there’s one instance where the kind of background is difficult to miss: book videos. People who review books in video format, talk about book trends or their reading goals, or do “book haul” videos all have a very consistent backdrop: shelves lined with books. On the surface, this makes sense; dozens of books are expected to be seen as they’re building content around their love of reading. But shelves that span an entire wall from top to bottom, and are full? It’s a book lover’s ideal dream, but there’s an underlying note of how much money has been spent on all those books. Books are notoriously not cheap, and in some videos, you can see multiple copies of the same books. It feeds into the overconsumption that is tied so heavily to consumerism, and if you look at a lot of these influencers… many of the books they own they haven’t even read. The books just sit on a shelf.
Reading influencers themselves, by name, contribute to how others participate in consumerism in these communities because their audiences are influenced to follow their same processes. Owning (or not owning) special editions isn’t the only way people can create arguments on why someone is being the “right” type of reader. It feeds into overconsumption on a broader scale, because people will think they also need hundreds of books to be considered a “proper” reader. Or they need to buy books in bulk, have their own “book hauls” even if they don’t release videos of them on social media. These expectations are not financially feasible for a lot of people, and seeing these trends consistently perpetuated by reading influencers can make people feel embarrassed or ashamed because they can’t reach the same standard.
While I agree that consumerism has a generally negative impact on reading spaces, I also believe it has its benefits. If you’re someone who cares deeply about the aesthetics of your home, multiple print runs with different covers or page designs may be just what you’re looking for to find editions that match your taste. If you typically loan out or annotate your books while you read, you may need multiple copies of the same book to avoid losing any or to have a “clean” copy. And reading influencers are amazing at reaching wider audiences for new or obscure books, especially by showing off book hauls and talking about which books they’re excited to read. It is, however, important to keep in mind the way consumerism has led to predominantly overconsumption within the reading community.
Grace McCool, Pine Reads Review Writer & Editor