What, Exactly, Is A Book?
So I’m writing this booklet called, at the moment, Getting Your Book Written – An Overview. The ideal reader is someone, writer or not, who is thinking about writing a book. As I ponder this, I decide to look up the definition of book. Here’s what I find:
First, I used Google and entered: define: book
Oh my goodness! Here are the first two definitions:
• a written work or composition that has been published (printed on pages bound together); “I am reading a good book on economics”
• physical objects consisting of a number of pages bound together; “he used a large book as a doorstop”
“But wait,” my mind insisted, “what about ebooks?” I read more and soon was reminded of things like a book of stamps, or book a table.
Looking down the list I also discovered:
• The African American Literature Book Club defines a book as: A bound publication of 49 or more pages that is not a magazine or periodical. Forty-nine pages? Why forty-nine? Is that some magical number I don’t know anything about?
Over at Dictionary.com we get:
• a written or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
At least they say usually on paper and bound.
Oh good grief.
I know - we all know what we mean when we say book - or do we? Sure, most of them are produced on paper and bound with either a “hard” or paper cover. But what about ebooks? Don’t they count? How about audio books? Books on CD? Books you can download?
What’s your definition of a book?
When I figure out mine, I’ll share it with you.
Write well and often,
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13 opinions for What, Exactly, Is A Book?
Lori
Apr 12, 2007 at 8:42 am
My definition of a book is anything beyond 50 pages in length that can be read in more than one sitting. Paper is irrelevant. If it takes me more than an hour to read it, it’s a book. And I’m not a slow reader. ;))
alicia
Apr 12, 2007 at 9:05 am
I’m surprised definitions of ebooks weren’t closer to the top of the list, what with technology taking over the way it is.
Michael May
Apr 12, 2007 at 9:10 am
Maybe ebooks and audio books should have their own definitions. They’re different enough from printed books that it doesn’t make sense to me to try to force them all into one category. The way we consume them is too different, especially with audio books.
Anne Wayman
Apr 12, 2007 at 10:00 am
Okay, Lori, why 50 pages? An hour’s worth of reading is interesting… does that include onscreen?
Alicia, apparently it takes a loooooong time to change or add to definitions of words… I was surprised too.
Anne Wayman
Apr 12, 2007 at 10:13 am
Michael, what I’m really reaching for is a way to define a book for folks who want to write one… even audio books, for the most part, have to be wrttten first, don’t they? Sure they do if they’re going to be any good.
jeford
Apr 12, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I think you have to look at books from different perspectives.
The “historical” book I think would be identified by its paper and binding. That is no longer relevant as technology has led us to ebooks, etc. Books have gone through, and continue to go through, an evolutionary process that limits their definition in concrete terms.
As for length, what about children’s books? Picture books are far shorter than 49 pages.
Anne Wayman
Apr 13, 2007 at 9:26 am
Yeah, the 49 or 50 pages, or any number really seems totally arbitrary and I hadn’t even thought of kids books… have settled for almost anything you envision as a book is a book approach… wishwashy, but works I think in what I’m rying to do.
Lori
Apr 13, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Why fifty pages? Just a random number. :)) It’s longer than an essay or a white paper.
Anne Wayman
Apr 13, 2007 at 1:27 pm
of course, white papers can reach 100s of pages, or at least more than 100
WritingThoughts » Blog Archive » Of Note: The Golden Pencil
Apr 14, 2007 at 2:32 pm
[...] has joined my list of “must read” blogs. Consider Anne’s recent post on “What, Exactly, Is A Book?” It’s a topic I had been thinking about myself lately since writing has changed so [...]
Howard
Apr 15, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Hmmmm…
I read a very influential book by Henri Nouwen that was only 35 or so pages. My oldest son’s first book was “Ship” by Chris L. Demarest, all of eight pages.
And then again, I am reading Hugo’s Les Miserables which has whole sections called “Book One” and “Book Two”… I’m only glad my first book is longer than 49 pages.
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latoya
Apr 17, 2007 at 7:35 pm
I’m looking a few different kinds of books that I own and here are some things I notice…
They’re bound. They have a clear direction as evidenced by the title. There are no advertisements. Page one starts with some basic level of knowledge. By the end of the book, you are expected to have learned something or experienced a story. How to sum all this up into a single defintion, I don’t know.
I think it has something to do with the purpose and intent of the book because you can have a white paper bound and that wouldn’t make it a book.
Carma Dutra
Apr 18, 2007 at 9:21 am
Anne,
The definitions are very interesting. I like Latoya’s description especially when she says there are no advertisements.
You have heard the epxression “I should/could write a book!” To me that means someone is going to tell a story or teach a lesson. dictionary.com comes the closest to what I think a book is.
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