I went into a book shop in Muswell Hill recently and picked up William Golding's Lord of the Flies after being inspired by excerpts from his biography (published in the Times, I think) and also John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath (which I'd never read before as my dad was worried I'd mess up his lovely Folio Society version).
The thing that struck me in this bookshop was the overwhelming mass of colours, designs, formats fighting to get your attention. Aside from Penguin, there don't seem to be as many book series as there used to be.
Now I'm no expert on book publishing (maybe there were never that many book series, maybe in marketing terms it's better for a book to stand out on it's own) but it branding terms, if I've read a couple of books from one series and enjoyed them, I'll feel more inclined to carry on reading through the set - trusting the quality and branding of the publisher.
Plus, they always look so nice in my bookshelf.
Below: Batsford's series of guides to the UK
Pick up a copy of The Britain of Brian Cook if you can find one. London: Batsford, 1987. ISBN 9780713457001
