Box Sets Anyone?

 

I love a good book box set! In fact, I love them so much I was given two sets for Christmas! There is something satisfactory about seeing them on a bookshelf - sitting there all neat and organised... hinting at the personality of the owner who owns them.

I think it may stem from when I was younger. The first novels I enjoyed were series, written by the formidable and talented Enid Blyton. A series, written by the same author, provided a reassurance that the book you were spending your pocket money on was going to be of the same standard as before. Of course, it was also the era of the Reader's Digest book sets.

Once again, they were neat, organised and appealing to look at. As a teenager, I was fascinated by their gold embossed lettering and swirls. Unfortunately, I also found them a little daunting and didn't read them. Their hardback covers reminded me of the sort of books found in the libraries of a grand stately home so I assumed they were too educated for the likes of little old me, a farmer's daughter growing up in rural Cornwall. It wasn't until I was a young adult that I came across the set again and took another look. To my surprise I discovered that the books were just normal books and that I had read several of them already, just with another book cover. This experience taught me a lesson... book sets are just as much about being ornamental and projecting an image of the owner, as it is about the books inside the covers.

Now is the era of the box set, which has all the advantages and intrigue of the above but now neatly slid into a carefully designed box. They are so popular that publishers now use box sets in a number of ways in an attempt to get a reader to buy not one but several books in one hit.

So what are the types out there? Lets take a look and the categories I have found.

Standalone novels by the same author.
My Jane Austen box set, published by Wordsworth Editions, is a perfect example of this. Austen's six novels, which were published anonymously in her lifetime, proudly bear her name on each spine and take pride of place on my shelf. Notice that the spine area is just as important, if not more so, than the book covers inside, which is unusual for a book.

Box set include Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey,
Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Sense and Sensibility

Series by the same author
The Complete Anne of Green Gables Collection by L. M. Montgomery is published by Arcturus. Over a series of capers and experiences, it tells the 'coming of age' story of Anne during the 1800s. Although written in the early 1900s, we can see that great care has been taken to appeal to today's reader. Bright colours and contemporary illustrations on the box cover and spines are used to appeal to a demographic that may not normally go for historical fiction.

Standalone novels by the same family.

The Complete Brontë Collection, once again published by Wordsworth, is a good example of family box sets where the customer gets three authors (Anne, Charlotte and Emily) for the price of one box set. These types are less common for obvious reasons as not many families can boast so many successful writers. This particular box set is a good example of how publishers can use box sets to sell less popular books. How many of you have read The Professor, Shirley or Villette? If you had a box set you might give them a try.

Agnes Grey, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Jane Eyre, The Professor,
Shirley, Villette, and Wuthering Heights

Standalone novels with the same protagonist

Although the Anne of Green Gables collection has the same protagonist throughout, I see it more of a series due to the fact that she grows up through the books. Sherlock Holmes Collection by Arthur Conan Doyle, published by Arcturus, is in a different category again as each story is a stand-alone tale, yet with the same protagonist throughout.

Collections by age

Box sets are perfect for children - and their parents who are desperate to encourage their children to read.  Little Miss: My Complete Collection Box Set is published by Farshore. It includes all 36 Little Miss books. Designed to appeal to toddlers and children aged 2+, careful consideration has been made regarding who the protagonist is and the readership it is likely to attract. You will also note the change in design of the box. Less important is the 'ornament' appeal, now its about keeping the books together so they can be tidied away at the end of the day, hence the lid.

Collections by company

Box sets are about reassuring the reader that the publisher has done the work for the reader by choosing good quality books for them. That reassurance can also come from the company or business that has produced something else but can be linked and add sparkle to the books that inspired them initially or were inspired by them. A good example of this is Disney Storytime Collection, published by Autumn Publishing. The reader knows the stories and the illustrations already, but now have the books to read too!

I am sure I have missed out on other types. I suspect there are box sets by genre rather than author too (ie horror) but this post is long enough already. So next time you are in a book shop or surfing the net, take a look at what box sets are on offer and ask yourself why do they look like they do? Will it look good on the bookshelf in my home? Are there any books you've not heard of before nestled next to the well known ones? Is it the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy second cousin? Happy hunting everyone!

Victoria Cornwall

LEARNING FROM THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF OTHERS by Victoria Cornwall

'Literature cannot be the business of a woman's life: & it ought not to be.'

Poet Laureate

Robert Southey

 Letter to Charlotte Brontë.

At the beginning of her writing career, Charlotte Bronte sent copies of her verses to the poet laureate, Robert Southey, for his feedback. His harsh assessment, quoted above, must have been painful to read, but the path to publication is often littered with criticism and rejection, a lesson Charlotte was about to find out.

It was not until May, 1846, when she joined forces with her sisters, Anne and Emily, did Charlotte finally see her poems in print. However the momentous day came at a cost, both financially and emotionally. Although the verses were published by Aylott and Jones, Charlotte and her sisters had to use their inheritance from an aunt to pay the expense of publication. Yes, they self-published! They would not have the joy of seeing their names on the cover as they felt it necessary to use male pseudonyms to avoid discrimination based on their gender.

Following this, Charlotte and her sisters tried to have their novels published. Charlotte's first novel, The Professor, was repeatedly rejected. It would be published later, but not until after her death. Her second attempt, a novel called Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, was more successful and was finally published in October, 1847. Once again Charlotte used her male pseudonym of Currer Bell. It went on to become a best-seller. Following its success, Charlotte finally revealed herself as the writer. I wonder if she recalled Robert Southey's harsh words as she walked into her publisher's office to introduce herself as the author.

There are many stories relating to an author's bumpy journey to publication. The international best seller, Stephen King supposedly nailed his rejection letters to a wall, replacing it with a spike when it could no longer cope with holding them. It would take six years of rejection letters before his first short story was published. His first novel, Carrie, was rejected thirty times, but eventually went on to sell over a million copies. King takes us on his painful writing journey in his memoirs and writing tips, Stephen King On Writing and, like many writers, it took him many years to be an overnight success.

Through her detailed and technically accurate illustrations, Beatrix Potter became a scientific illustrator long before her fiction career took off. Her first work of fiction, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, was initially less successful and turned down my several publishers. Determined to see it in print, Potter felt compelled to publish it herself. A traditional publisher finally took it on and published it in 1902 on the agreement that Potter would replace the black and white illustrations with coloured ones. Needless to say, The Tale of Peter Rabbit and her subsequent books, quickly became children's classics.

Agatha Christie is world famous for her detective novels, but her quest to be published was as difficult to solve as the majority of her crime novels. Magazines rejected all of her early short story submissions and her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert in Cairo, also received the same fate. Hercule Poirot, the detective who feature in so many of her novels, finally came to her rescue. His first appearance in The Mysterious Affair at Styles was initially rejected, but the manuscript finally found a home with John Lane at The Bodley and was published in 1920. Christie went on to write  66 detective novels, 14 short story collections, the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, and (under the pen name Mary Westmacott), six romances.

So what can we learn from these successful writers? I think H.G.Wells sums it up very well.

The only true measure of success is

the ratio between what we might have done and what we might have been

on the one hand

and

the thing we have made and the things we have made of ourselves

on the other hand.

H.G.Wells

In other words, keep going and keep improving ... and you will be more successful than if you didn't try. It is a valuable life lesson to learn, whichever path we choose to tread.

In April, I celebrated the publication of my fifth novel, Daughter of the House. Were my first attempts at being a published author initially rejected? Yes, several times! Those rejections crushed me and I nearly gave up writing, however today they are just distant memories of an experience I once had ... an experience shared by many of the bestselling writers of our time. My conclusion is that I am in good company and the challenges we face are nothing to be ashamed of.

Fiction by Victoria Cornwall.

By

Victoria Cornwall