Recently, online I bought a copy of E.L. Doctorow’s *Welcome to Hard Times*. It’s a Penguin Random House Trade Paperback. That is, made by one of the Big Five publishers.
However, the quality is clearly subpar. I have handled a decent amount of print-on-demand (POD) books in my time, and if I didn’t know better I’d *swear* this book was produced POD. Stark white cheap paper, that velveteen-feeling cover that better POD books have, and the terrible print quality that the worse POD books have. I’m talking a kind of artifacting of the letters, where it looks as if microscopic bugs have been munching at their edges.
What’s worse: this isn’t the first time I’ve had this hunch while handling a book. What’s going on? Am I crazy?
by RogueModron