A post from Shady Characters

We have a winner – and the final competition!

The second round of The Book giveaway came to a close yesterday, and I’m pleased to announce that Angela Boothroyd (@StudyingOnline) is the winner. Congratulations to Angela! Her signed copy of The Book will be on its way soon.

Cover of The Book
Cover of The Book as designed by David High.

To celebrate the publication of the US edition tomorrow, I’m going to do things a little differently this week and give away both of the two remaining copies of the book. To enter this last round of the giveaway, just do one of the following:

  • leave a comment on this post, making sure to supply a valid email address so that I can contact you in the event that you win, or
  • reply to or retweet the tweet announcing this contest, making sure to follow @shadychars so that I can send you a direct message if you win. (Please don’t create multiple accounts or repeatedly reply to the message — Twitter may ban you as a result. One entry is fine!)

This last round of the contest will close at noon GMT on Sunday 28th August 2016, so make sure you enter before then. After that I’ll pick two winners from the list of all unique entrants, and I’ll happily post their copies of The Book to them wherever they are in the world.

Good luck! And don’t forget — if you don’t win in this final round of the competition, The Book will be available for purchase in all good bookshops before you know it.


Update: The competition is now closed! I’ll announce the winners soon.

36 comments on “We have a winner – and the final competition!

  1. Comment posted by Jonathan Geer on

    Love this post’s font. If the book uses it, I covet a copy for that reason alone. What is the font, please?

    1. Comment posted by Keith Houston on

      Hi Jonathan – thanks for the comment! The font is Monokrom’s Satyr. Headings are set in the companion typeface, Faunus. The Book is set in Adobe Jenson Pro, but it’s a great typeface in its own right!

  2. Comment posted by Jan on

    But how can I win both of them with just one entry? :-)

  3. Comment posted by Tina Lund on

    Would very much like to win a copy of THE BOOK – would be a perfect starting point for a course I am in the process of creating for a group of Danish ESL student on reading, libraries and banned books.

    1. Comment posted by Keith Houston on

      Hi Tina — that sounds intriguing. Let me know if you do end up using The Book in your course!

  4. Comment posted by David Johnson on

    What would the Tremulous Hand make of this tome?

  5. Comment posted by opk on

    Count me in. Would love to win a copy.

  6. Comment posted by Bethany Bowen-Wefuan on

    This book sounds fascinating! Hope I win a copy

  7. Comment posted by Ashford on

    Con­grats on the new book. Can’t wait to read it!

  8. Comment posted by Thomas Lotze on

    Hope I win a copy this time, I’d love to have a signed one. :-)

  9. Comment posted by Roman Gebath on

    Third try. I hope I will win this time :)

  10. Comment posted by Peter Owen on

    Third time lucky I hope.

  11. Comment posted by Esme Greenfield on

    Yet another fan hoping to be lucky!

  12. Comment posted by Jeremy W on

    Completely misunderstood the last time, but now I theoretically have twice the chance compared to previously. Fingers and toes crossed :-)

  13. Comment posted by Bill M on

    I’d love to have a signed copy. I do have a copy on the way even though it is not signed. I can’t wait to read it.

  14. Comment posted by Thorsten Christiansson on

    I have been reading your book since a couple of days, and was trying to recommend it to a friend, when I realised that I wasn’t sure how to pronounce your name. Is it /ˈhjuːstən/ or /ˈha͡ʊstə̃n/ ?

    1. Comment posted by Keith Houston on

      Hi Thorsten – my family has always pronounced it /ˈhuːstən/, but we’re very much in the minority! In the UK, almost everyone else seems to use /ˈhjuːstən/.

      Thanks for the comment, and I hope you’re enjoying the book!

  15. Comment posted by Zeissmann on

    Great, it’s not me again. Better luck next time, I guess. I would be very happy to receive a copy of The Book, honestly I would.

  16. Comment posted by Randolph Watkins on

    The bookcover is appetizing. Let the banquet begin!

  17. Comment posted by Bob on

    I don’t want to have to read this on my Kindle so enter me in the giveaway. I think it would be a bit ironic to read a book about physical books on an e-reader.

  18. Comment posted by AmySo on

    Just discovered this and am SO excited to see it in person!

  19. Comment posted by Steven Guiney on

    What a wonderful concept; a book about books!

  20. Comment posted by CHARLES WEST on

    “THE COMMENT” – a comment, in response to the final competition for the book “THE BOOK”.

  21. Comment posted by Amy on

    Very sorry to have missed the actual in-person launch, but nevertheless enthusiastic about The Book/the book. To your continued success!

  22. Comment posted by Fernanda Scarlato on

    I’ve just realised that I make books, but I don’t really know much about the history of bookmaking.

    I’m curious about the book cover. Is it red book cloth on the spine, and printed raw chipboard in the rest of the cover? It looks really elegant.

    1. Comment posted by Keith Houston on

      Hi Fernanda — the material on the spine feels like vinyl, or something similar. I’m not quite sure how to describe it! The boards are some kind of heavy laminated card — perhaps the chipboard you mention. Whatever they’re made of, it looks great in person!

  23. Comment posted by Michael Yurgeles on

    Thanks for your fine work. Books have been a big part of my life for all my life!

  24. Comment posted by Olga Bornstein Wise on

    I have spent most of today reading “The Book” which arrived at my home in Austin, Texas from Amazon.com. Thank you for producing such a beautiful and sturdy book. It opens beautifully because of the sewn binding. The absolutely wellplanned use of color, typefaces, print size make this one of the most reader friendly books I have ever read. And might I add that the content does a beautiful job of synthesizing complex concepts. You put Kurlansky’s book “Paper” to shame.

    Each fall I teach an eight week class to senior citizens. The topic? The history of books and libraries, or from “Gutenberg to Google”. I give five lectures and then students the Ransom Center (rare books) and two other interesting local resources.

    1. Comment posted by Keith Houston on

      Hi Olga — thanks for the comment! I’m glad you’re enjoying the book, and it sounds like you’re one of many people who appreciate the excellent job that W. W. Norton did in producing it. I hope The Book comes in handy for your class!

  25. Comment posted by Frank S. on

    What a great project- thanks for putting in the time.

  26. Comment posted by Stacy on

    A book about books? Sounds ideal! E-books certainly have their uses but give me a real book any day. Nothing beats reading an actual book. Looking forward to reading about the history of one of my favorite things.

  27. Comment posted by Steve Coppinger on

    Late in life, I am learning to read. (Sounds a little over-dramatic and it is). I have read avidly for all of my life, but for many years just read for the ideas, ignoring the structure – both in terms of writing style and the presentation. Now that I have retired as a surgeon, I am entering a whole new world that fascinates me. Fonts, deign, layout: all new and exciting worlds to explore. I would love a signed copy!

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