Friday, January 25, 2008

Personalized Classics? Huh?

I noticed an item on this in PW the other day but just got around to checking it out. Golden Books (a division of Random House) is partnering with SharedBook to offer customers the opportunity to buy personalized copies of the Golden Book classic The Poky Little Puppy by Janet Sebring Lowrey.

I mistakenly assumed at first that you'd be able to insert a child's name — and who knows what else — into the actual text of the book. And given the nature of this book, I thought "How on earth does that work with no child characters?" But, thank goodness, I was totally wrong. The personalization comes only in the form of a customized dedication page to which you submit a message and photo. Then SharedBook prints and ships your special copy.

Okay. Not as bad as I feared. I can see some appeal, I guess. But the standard-size Golden Book version costs $4.99 and a personalized copy sells for $25 (I didn't click through the whole process, so there may or may not be an added shipping charge).

Even for the same purchase price, I'd still prefer a nice bookplate or handwritten note.

Edited to add: 100th post!

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