It’s Not Just The Covers: Some Ways in Which the UK and U.S. Book Worlds Differ

Famously, the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw erstwhile said that “England and America are 2 countries separated by a communal language”. As a Brit who lived successful Washington, D.C., for a decennary and lone precocious returned to London, I’d accidental we’re separated by a batch much than that. Having been steeped successful the publication satellite for arsenic agelong arsenic I’ve been gone, I’ve besides noticed a batch of differences betwixt our publishing industries. 

But if you’ve ever looked intimately astatine the bookshelves of a British bookstagrammer, you mightiness person noticed thing else, too: astir each the paperbacks are precisely the aforesaid size. There’s much assortment successful the U.S., but successful definite genres — erstwhile I was a bookseller successful the U.S., I spent a batch of clip tending to our romance shelves, and it wasn’t conscionable due to the fact that it’s 1 of my favourite genres. It was due to the fact that of however aesthetically pleasing it was that they lined up truthful nicely. British bookshop shelves are astir each similar that. 

That said, British paperbacks seldom person deckled edges oregon French flaps. I emotion moving my hands implicit U.S. paperback covers. Many of them person a unsmooth benignant of prime that is pleasing to touch, and that we don’t truly person successful the UK. Here, though, sprayed oregon decorated edges look to beryllium progressively common, and sometimes, acknowledgment to exclusive editions, a mode to nonstop publication buyers to circumstantial shops, whether that’s indie bookshops oregon a concatenation similar Waterstones. 

And arsenic for the look of covers, the creation is endlessly debated among bookworms, with immoderate preferring British covers and others American ones. But determination are different subtle differences, too: American novels often tell you they’re novels; British commercialized fabrication often features a “shout line”, i.e. a pithy distillation of the story: “Have you ever been tempted to commencement again?” oregon “All she ever wanted was a small credit”. And portion American ARCs often person covers identical to the finished copy, British galleys often diagnostic a rubric oregon taxable connected the front, oregon a antithetic plan from the last copy, with the rubric lone appearing connected the spine.

Aside from the hours, determination bash look to beryllium different differences that use crossed the board. Unlike successful the U.S., wherever work time is astir ever Tuesday, the mean time successful the UK is Thursday. But that’s overmuch much flexible, not slightest due to the fact that for large books, the day is acceptable to coincide with the work time crossed the Atlantic. Books are known to travel retired connected Wednesdays oregon Saturdays, though – and with a fewer embargoed exceptions, cipher seems fazed if you enactment a publication retired a fewer days early. 

Also, whereas galore – if not astir – U.S. indies person websites wherever you tin bid conscionable astir immoderate book, British bookshops thin to person a curated online shop, and expect customers to telephone oregon email if they request to bid thing other that isn’t specifically featured there. For that reason, I was particularly excited erstwhile Bookshop.org launched successful the UK; possibly it’s the ten-years-in-America successful me, but it seems to maine that if we’re trying to lure radical distant from definite online bookstores that marque it precise casual to bargain immoderate book…we should astir apt besides marque it casual to bargain immoderate book. A batch of radical aren’t going to telephone oregon email if they can’t easy find what they’re looking for; they’ll conscionable spell to 1 of the different online places. But I digress. 

Many UK books aren’t published successful the U.S., and those that are often aren’t fixed arsenic overmuch selling arsenic they deserve. (A large crushed wherefore I started The Brit Lit Podcast was to amplify them crossed the pond.) The Lido by Libby Page — a beauteous publication astir a assemblage coming unneurotic to prevention the section excavation that features an unexpected relationship betwixt a young writer and an older widow — was immense successful the UK erstwhile it was published successful 2018, and it’s 1 of my favourites of caller years.

I ever struggled to handsell The Lido — oregon Mornings with Rosemary, arsenic it was rebranded — successful the US, and I’m not truly definite why, but possibly for 1 last quality I’ll mention: the British marketplace seems to emotion thing called “up lit” — defined by the Guardian successful 2017 arsenic “the caller publication inclination with kindness astatine its core” of which Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine was an aboriginal example. The Lido/Mornings With Rosemary is simply a large illustration of that sub-genre, and inactive gets recommended each the clip successful Facebook groups erstwhile idiosyncratic is asking for a feel-good read. By contrast, my bookshop colleagues successful the U.S. had a precise antithetic explanation of a feel-good read. As agelong arsenic the ending was somewhat hopeful, they enactment it successful that category, careless of what happened on the way. Up lit certainly isn’t a word that has travelled, adjacent if immoderate of the books have.

It’s been absorbing to proceed to observe the differences betwixt the UK and the U.S. erstwhile it comes to books and publishing. I tin spot the bully and the little bully successful both, and sometimes similar 1 mode of doing things and sometimes the other. I missed British books erstwhile I was successful the U.S., and present that I’m successful the UK, I miss the American publication world. It’s 1 of the galore ways successful which, for amended oregon worse, I’m present firmly mid-Atlantic successful my outlook.