Binding finalised

Two days ago the dummy with a fully concealed binding arrived. I liked the binding as little as I did the half-concealed one. They are both awkward to handle. I have decided on an open-wire binding. It looks more like a book of recipes. Unfortunately, libraries won't like it and neither will bookshops, especially the big chains. I console myself that because bookshops need a markup, which makes the book rather expensive, it is unlikely that the anthology will ever be sold through bookshops. It is important that the price be reasonable. This is an everyday poetry book. And as for libraries, I really do sympathise. I worked for a few months in the processing unit of a library and got quite proficient at neat labels and printing. Where there is no spine, the label has to be stuck to the back cover, out of sight on a shelf. As a user, trying to find a particular call number amongst a wide swathe of spineless publications on a library shelf is daunting and irritating. Although there aren't many poetry books with wire bindings, few of them ever do have spines wide enough to accommodate either title or call number; a wire binding will therefore not be so out of place.

I actually quite like the way the pages fall open with an open-wire binding and the book when open, lies flat; it doesn't hold anything back: here is your poem; enjoy it. Yes.