By the Cover

Books are becoming a casualty of the digital age. Academic publishers, in particular, are hard hit by the changing trends. The presses that publish scholarly works never really turned a major profit, if at all. Now, though, even major university presses are faced with the reality of market demand. Most are simply deciding to publish fewer books which they hope will sell.

This got me to thinking. What is it that makes one book more appealing than another? While the proverbial “judging by the cover” might not work, there might be clues as to the title and author.

Here are books that I imagine would be a hit and others that would be destined for the bargain bin:

Best Seller: Power as a Means of Seduction by Bill Clinton

Bargain Bin: Pantsuits in Every Color: A Wardrobe for Success by Hillary Clinton

Best Seller: My Cat is Smarter than My Husband and Other Regrets by Laura Bush

Bargain Bin: Everybody Poops by George W. Bush

Bargain Bin: The Genius of George W. Bush by Tony Blair

Best Seller: What the Fuck Went Wrong with Our Prime Minister? By The British People

Best Seller: James Bond Made Me a Sex Symbol by Daniel Craig



Bargain Bin: James Bond Made Me a Sex Symbol by George Lazenby



Bargain Bin: My Favorite Recipes (Made With Real Human Souls) by Condoleeza Rice

Best Seller: How to Use Another World Leader’s Incompetence to Distract from Your Own Rising Dictatorship by Hugo Chávez

Bargain Bin: 100 Percent Heterosexual – Except for the Times that I Hire Male Prostitutes by Pastor Ted Haggard

Bargain Bin: Leading an Authentic Life by Liar Ex (Who Told Many Lies)

Bargain Bin: I’ll Shoot You in the Face: A Story of Friendship by Dick Cheney

Bargain Bin: I'll Shoot You in the Face: My Time at the National Endowment for the Humanities by Lynne Cheney

Bargain Bin: I'll Shoot You in the Face: My Relationship with the Gay Community by Mary Cheney

Best Seller: Dear God, Take Their Guns Away by Mary Cheney's Baby

Best Seller: Comedy as a Better form of Journalism by Jon Stewart

Bargain Bin: Lies as a Better Form of Journalism by Rupert Murdoch

Best Seller: The Genius of Star Wars by George Lucas (published 1978)

Bargain Bin: The Genius of Star Wars by George Lucas (published 2007)

Best Seller: My Life in Pictures by Jacqueline Kennedy



Bargain Bin: My Life in Pictures by Karl Rove



Bargain Bin: How Viagra Cost Me a Job at the World Bank by Paul Wolfowitz

Best Seller: We Were Just Shocked that Somebody -- Anybody -- Would Sleep With Paul Wolfowitz by The World Bank Board of Trustees

Bargain Bin: More Hate, More Executions, More Poverty: A Blueprint for America by Texan Republicans

Best Seller: At Least We Aren’t the United States by the People of Canada

Bargain Bin: I Don’t Recall: The Inner Workings of the Department of Justice by Alberto Gonzalez

Bargain Bin: How to Make Smart Choices in Love, Real Estate, and Finance by GayProf