Everything is #@%!ed or Everything is f*cked?
So does this post need a content warning?
If it qu*cks like a duck, is it just a duck by any other name?
Or put another way, when are two books with different ISBNs actually the same book?
Possibly when the publisher wants or needs to cater to readers and booksellers who may be more or less sensitive to curse words on the cover?
Introducing two editions of Mark Manson’s Everything Is #@%!ed: A Book About Hope…
Published in 2020 by Harper Paperbacks, these two volumes are otherwise identical in format and design, with both versions of the cover and book designed by Leah Carlson-Stanisic.
But while ISBN 978-0-06-304147-9 is only #@%!ed, ISBN 978-0-06-295656-9 is much more clearly F*cked. And the spelling variants also extend to the reference to Manson being the author of #1 New York Times bestseller The Subtle Art of Not Giving a #@%!… or a F*ck… as well as other elements of the paratext, such as the back cover text, endorsements, title page, and copyright page.
Interestingly, the respective copyright pages also cross-reference each other, with the #@%!ed version actually including a spelled out reference to the F*cked version but no actual ISBN…
…while the F*cked version instead lists the #@%!ed version’s ISBN along with labelling it as the “merch” edition.
And note that for its ‘official’ copyright page book title, the F*cked version doesn’t even bother with the asterisk.
Meanwhile, if you look the book up on Amazon, you actually get an additionally redacted image when you first pull up the book:
But if you visit Mark Mason’s website, it only references the F*cked version of the book.
Without access to sales figures or insider information behind the decision to produce both versions, we can only guess at the actual motivation. Was one version only made available to specific markets? Were there specific requests for a less spicy version for booksellers who still wanted to set up a prominent display for what was also a New York Times number one bestseller? Was it a preemptive move by the publisher, just in case?
Happy wondering!
– Winston
P.S. This post was created as part of The Book Cover Project exploring the role of book covers in publishing.
