![]() There was therefore a ready market among older readers for books adhering to the prewar standards they remembered, a market at which Folio aimed. Hardback publishing improved after the war, but lagged behind US standards in size and paper quality, and cloth bindings were replaced by the ersatz paper lookalike still common today. There was a rumour that the government was issuing toilet paper with the legend "owing to shortage of paper please use both sides." The paper used in wartime Penguins had a life expectancy of about five years. For a while, for example, the only ice-cream available was made by Walls from the rendered fat left over from its sausage-making operation, produced appropriately in a cylindrical mould. The original Folio Society was a child of its time, post WW2 when just about everything was rationed and/or of poor quality. That is, if some of the narrow-minded FS Devotees do not have a coronary event or a cerebrovascular accident at the suggestion of books that are worthy alternatives, i.e., in a similar price range, to current FS offerings. Liberate your minds and checkbooks - there is a wonderful world of beautiful private press books awaiting you. Because it is not a true private press that uses letterpress printing, the FS can publish substantial works requiring hundreds of pages. The FS publishes books that no other fine/private press does.Ģ. Its bibliography remains far-ranging, spanning a wide range of topics, genres and time periods. The steady increase in FS prices now makes the book prices of a number of splendid private presses competitive with FS prices, and many of these books are far superior. Open your minds and book collecting horizons and begin to explore other fine & private press books. There is, of course, an obvious alternative to becoming frustrated and angry - then exorcising the modern-day Folio Society demons from one's life and bookshelves. While there are many other complaints I could list, I will stop at what is already 4x the normal ratio for a strike-out in American baseball and cultural parlance.īy opting out of marketing emails, I will, of course, be reliant on you good people to continue to make us aware of sale announcements, special codes and offers, and other order bonus items (such as the Folio Diary, Mystery books etc.).Īnyone feel I missed a major component in the decline and fall of our beloved Folio Society? Omnichannel as demonstrable evidence of the complete abandonment of Charles Ede's original mission Strike 12 - that the Board of Directors still retain the services of Ms. Strike 11 - the unfair treatment of ROW customers in terms of pricing (though admittedly, it just puts the ROW in the same league as the long-beleaguered Australians) ![]() Strike 10 - retraction of previously announced intent to publish certain limited editions Strike 9 - closely related to the above, outsourcing customer service to unknowledgeable order takers who are not even FS employees and who regularly promulgate inaccurate or misleading information Strike 8 - terminating many long-standing, highly revered employees Strike 7 - closing the London reading room Strike 6 - discontinuation of payment plans for larger orders Now all we get are incomplete and/or unfinished series or seemingly related books published in random order with inconsistent design (covers, illustrators, etc.) Strike 5- shifting away from publishing many worthy multi-volume sets. ![]() Strike 4 - increased shipping costs ($11 for the first book?) in the absence of the transparency in Strike 3 above Strike 3 - price increases generally for US customers and the continued stubborn insistence on using some inexplicable Forex rate rather than allowing direct purchase in GBP with actual shipping charges Strike 2 - discontinuation of introductory discounts of 20% on new releases But I am now closer than I've ever been, for the following reasons: While my frustration with current FS policy and practices is at an all-time high, I have not yet decided on a complete direct purchase boycott. I am sick and tired of the 3 or 4 weekly emails that offer nothing newsworthy and simply clutter my inbox and remind me of all the things I dislike about the current edition of the Folio Society. Readers Digest, I had to unsubscribe from the Folio marketing emails today. I never would have expected to do this, but thanks to the misguided efforts of Ms.
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