Judging a Book Becomes More Complicated with Deckle Edges, Colored End Papers, High-Quality Paper, and Attention-Grabbing Cover Art

Selling Old-Style Books by Their Gilded Covers.  (The New York Times, 12/3/2011)

Excerpt:    Many new releases have design elements usually reserved for special occasions — 

• deckle edges, 

• colored endpapers [from Amanda's Parfait blog], 

• high-quality paper and 
• exquisite jackets 

that push the creative boundaries of bookmaking. If e-books are about ease and expedience, the publishers reason, then print books need to be about physical beauty and the pleasures of owning, not just reading.