When you publish a book, you discover all sorts of interesting things you probably didn't even think of. Even for me, and I'm an aggressive over-thinker. 

Coming up this week, my second book "Sigil Witchery"  will have been officially on the market for two months. I say officially because technically the publisher release date was 1/8/2018, but it came back from the printers a couple weeks early, so we all got an early Solstice present!

It's been extremely well-received, including spending over a month topping the New Releases in Witchcraft and Magic Studies charts on amazon.  I was prepared for a much larger backlash about the method, or other content aspects of the book.  But really, there hasn't been too much of that (that I've seen.) 

But the thing that has surprised me probably the most? 

People talking about it's "odd size." I really was not expecting that AT ALL.  Really! 

The book roughly measures 8" x 8", so yes, it's square.  But there's a reason for this, and it was decided very early on at my suggestion.  This shape allows the book to be used more easily as a reference manual. The book is designed to be a workbook - complete with spaces for you to make notes and draw in. Which I know can be a hard thing for some folks to do!

We couldn't do another kind of binding (like spiral bound), so the square shape allows it to stay relatively open on a table for easy reference.  If the book was any wider, then it definitely becomes a more difficult shape for display for bookshelves in stores.  This size allows it to not be too awkward/extreme in size, while a more standard size (say 6" x 9") would require you to hold the book or break the spine to get it to stay. Neither of those things are good ideas to me. 

Being able to use the book easily definitely was one of the most important things to me as the author.  I guess the last thing I tend to think about is how a book may fit on my own bookshelf later.  Then again, I have a slew of art books, and those often come in odd sizes to accommodate the artwork. I consider it a fun challenge to artfully arrange my library by both subject and size. 

I guess if you're worried about the size, you can get in on kindle via amazon  - though obviously you can't quite draw in a digital book either! That's another thing I wasn't really thinking about: interacting with the book on a digital level.  But several folks have assured me, they happily keep a notebook handy so they can do the drawings and make notes in there. :)