s always demand posters. The one great argument against them
is that posters good enough to attract attention, that is, with a good
design and in colors, are somewhat expensive for book advertising. If
properly exhibited, they sell books, but the difficulty lies in the
fact that if they are _too_ attractive, they are likely to find their
way into a poster collector's portfolio before they have been exposed
long on the board. Yet, especially with leading books of fiction, this
is one of the risks that must be taken, for with each such
publication, the public eye must be caught with the fact of the book's
issue, and for this purpose a striking poster has no equal. For
serious books inexpensive clear type posters are quite sufficient.

The book being now nearly off press, there will be needed some matter
for the paper jacket that slips over and protects the cloth cover
while the book is on the stall. Most important is the brief note on
the front that serves to indicate the quality of the volume and thus
guide the purchaser. On a book of fiction fifty or not more than
seventy-five words of the very best possible presentation of the book
is required. Here is the place where most of all the prospective
purchaser's interest must be aroused. Here the most felicitous
publicity inspiration is needed--and the problem is to indicate the
story, yet not tell it, and to pique curiosity to the buying point. On
books of a serious nature a jacket note is just as essential, if not
more so, but the problem is different. The prospective purchaser of
such a book as "Irish History and the Irish Question," "The Flower
Garden," for example, has an interest in the subject already aroused.
What he wishes to know is the scope of the volume and the manner in
which the subject is treated. The note for such a volume, therefore,
should contain a plain, straightforward statement of the importance of
the book, the point of view taken, a brief table of contents
indicating the most important divisions of the subject, and some
mention of the author's special qualification for writing the volume.
On the back of the paper "jacket" and on the little flaps that turn at
the sides of a book, it is customary to put advertisements of cognate
books. Often these paper jackets are treated in elaborate poster
style, and for good reason, since as a rule they are the first part of
a book a buyer sees, and his attention is not likely to be attracted
if only cheap paper b