The prospect for large-print books is looking good, because the eyes have it—fatigue, that is. They are tired from staring at computer screens for hours on end. And as Americans wrinkle, they suffer from the growing effects of myopia (nearsightedness) or hyperopia (farsightedness). According to the recently published fourth edition of "Vision Problems in the U.S." released by Prevent Blindness America, the number of Americans with age-related eye diseases that will result in vision impairment is expected to double in the next three decades. Even now, more than 150 million Americans shell out some $15 billion on corrective eyewear annually.

A huge market for large-print books seems inevitable. And indeed, a cautious enthusiasm emerges from mainstream publishers entering and/or paying greater attention to large-print book programs. Libraries have long been the principal market for large-print books, but booksellers are becoming more receptive to stocking these books, which have carried some stigma in the past. Many readers haven't wanted to betray a failing eyesight by being seen relying on large print, but that may well be changing.

Warner Books is marking its first full year in the big letter business. "We launched in the fall of 2001," says Rebecca Oliver, coordinator for Warner and Little, Brown Large Print Book programs. "I'd been licensing our books for large-print editions, and when we saw how the advances were getting pretty amazing from publishers like Thorndike, Wheeler and Random House, we knew there really had to be something out there." Now Oliver can boast of her company's own large-print editions of books by David Baldacci, Nicholas Sparks, Nelson DeMille and others. She remarks, "We thought: What better way to support our authors than with a complete program of trade editions, audio, e-books and large-print?" The house has settled into a list of five to eight a season, publishing them in hardcover at the trade price. "We're very pleased with the results," says Oliver, "and we'll probably expand in the future. We recently launched the Warner Faith imprint, and I'm exploring what we can do with the CBA market."

"In the last three or four years, we've gotten into large-print books as we hadn't before," says Adam Rothberg, v-p, corporate communications, at Simon & Schuster. "But we're pretty selective about what we choose. We tend to pick house authors and do five or six a season. Women's fiction is a real stalwart. Though we're comfortable with the program at its present size, as we continue to acquire more bestselling authors, there is room for some growth." Published in hardcover simultaneously with trade editions at the same price, the books carry S&S, Scribner and Pocket Book imprints and all are listed in the lines' various catalogues.

The three-year-old Large Print program at HarperCollins has increased to about eight books a season, or nearly 25 a year. "It's a small market now," concedes Carrie Kania, associate publisher of the imprint, "but we are looking to the future. The market will certainly grow, which is why we try to pick the right books that will fit the demographics and that will contribute to the backlist, which is up to nearly 100 now. We're able to draw from the top of the lists at HarperCollins and William Morrow, and we do really well with bestsellers by authors like Lisa Scottoline and Elmore Leonard. Abraham by Bruce Feiler has been a great seller for us, and based on its subject matter, it allowed us to start mailing to church groups." Mailings, radio giveaways and sending review copies to appropriate venues are among HC's promotion efforts. Kania says that the strongest backlist title is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, and she has very high expectations for Prey by Michael Crichton, due November 25, which will have the largest print run of any HC large-print title so far. (She declines to quantify the initial run.) Next spring will bring new works by Louise Erdrich and Kathleen Woodiwiss. The books are trade paperbacks released simultaneously with the hardcover editions and carry the same prices.

The demographics to which Kania alludes are generally agreed to be the country's older generations, although she puts the core audience at 45 and up. Reflecting some of the books' usage by even younger citizens, Mary Beth Roche, former director of publicity at Random House Audio Publishing Group (which includes the house's Large Print editions), is not alone in saying, "Personally, I've started using large-print books at the gym. The larger font makes it much easier to read while I'm on the treadmill and exercise bike."

Christine McNamara, publisher of Random House Large Print, concurs with Kania: "It is a challenging retail environment today, but we're working with accounts to improve it. What we point out is that these are not your grandfather's large-print books, which traditionally looked like they were offering remedial help. In going after the retail market, we've concentrated on design. We want the books to look attractive both on the outside and the inside. We match the effects of the trade edition, whether it has foil or embossing or whatever, so they are virtually indistinguishable." A sticker identifying the book as large print can be peeled off to add to the look-alike aspect. Supporting the line with ads, postcards and easel-back posters, RH this year launched an "Easy Fit" campaign with the tagline: "Large Print is as comfortable as your favorite jeans." On the publisher's list of some 60 large-print books this year are such titles as My Losing Season by Pat Conroy, Standing in the Rainbow by Fannie Flagg and The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman. All hardcovers, they are published at the same time as trade editions and are priced $2 higher. When large-print books are reprinted in trade paper, they appear at the same time as regular mass market editions.

In another effort to enhance its outreach, Random House has teamed up with AARP to get out the message. "One of the things we've done is to join them on a road show," says McNamara. "AARP sent an RV up the eastern seaboard, hitting quite a few cities and mounting huge events. We were able to give out a lot of information, including blads for the large-print edition of The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley." Random House has also met head-on the issue of in-store location and display for retailers, a sometimes tricky situation because large-print books embrace all categories and genres these days. So where does a store position its stock of these titles? "When we got into the field in the fall of 1999, we launched our spinner," says McNamara. "It takes a foot of floor space and holds 60—75 books, providing an instant section of large-print books." The spinner is free with a supporting order. Also, when national accounts promote a specific title in the front of the store, McNamara encourages them to include copies of the large-print edition as well.

On the Retail Front

Elaine Petrocelli, who with her husband Bill owns Book Passage in Corte Madera, Calif., is a spirited believer in large-print books, enough so that their store has a significant area devoted to them. "We carry quite a few," she says. "It's a big section with two gondolas of books situated right near fiction and biography, which are the most popular subjects for large-print books."

Book Passage is hiking the numbers of its large-print books in part because "they are more easily available from publishers today," says Petrocelli. There is also a more personal reason. "My own mother, who had spent a lifetime immersed in books, had a stroke a few years ago," she reports, "and without books, her life became so limited—that is, until she realized she could read large-print books. No doctors suggested this. No therapists suggested this. It took her daughter a while to figure it out. Perhaps we need to inform the medical community about these resources." Petrocelli offers another suggestion to publishers: Supply booksellers with posters or some sort of sales piece—in large print, of course—to publicize the books. After stamping the sheet with the store's name to let people know where the books could be purchased, the retailer would in turn distribute these to assisted living centers and similar facilities. "I know advertising budgets are limited," she says, encouraging publishers still further, "but I would love to hear radio ads saying something like, 'Brought to you by HarperCollins's new Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende, now available in paperback and in a large-print edition.'"

Petrocelli has clearly done a lot of thinking about educating the public. "We also do many talks on books, especially at this time of year, speaking to both young and old," she continues. "I don't care what age group I'm talking to, I always bring along large-print books. Everyone knows someone who would be able to appreciate them. And when an author comes to the store, if there is a large-print edition, we display it with the regular trade edition. I believe that fewer people are worried now about being seen reading a large-print book, and the more people who read them, the more it will be done." Among Petrocelli's recent top sellers are the aforementioned Portrait in Sepia, My Losing Season and Sea Glass by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown).

Titles from trade houses are the only large-print books that interest Nancy Brown, frontlist buyer at R.J. Julia in Madison, Conn. "Books from specialty publishers have terrible discounts, and they're non-returnable," she points out. "However, we don't seem to be getting as many requests for large print as we used to. Maybe it's because some publishers are making their books easier to read with what appears to be larger print, books by Maeve Binchy, for example. What we are selling more and more of are reading glasses, those with 1.5 to 2 magnification. We can't keep them in stock. In terms of large-print books, though, people do ask for specific authors. Jan Karon is one. Some nonfiction does well. John Adams [by David McCullough] didn't come in large print, and I think we could have sold a lot of that."

"We're trying to make people more aware of large-print books," says Jen Reynolds, buyer for the three-store Joseph-Beth chain in Lexington, Ky., Cincinnati and Cleveland (which also owns the three-store Davis-Kidd chain in Tennessee). "We've worked on our signage, our face-outs. We feature them for Grandparent's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day. I've heard people say so often, 'I'm buying this as a gift for my father' or 'for my grandfather.' " In order, the top four bestsellers at Joseph-Beth recently were: Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (Large Print Press); The New York Times Large Print Crossword Puzzle Omnibus (St. Martin's); The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (Large Print Press); and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Ablom (Large Print Press).

"We buy the Large Print Press books direct from Wheeler," says Reynolds. "A little while ago, they started publishing trade paperback large-print editions at $10.95 and $12.95, and it's so refreshing to be able to get books in that price range. Their edition of Tuesdays with Morrie was the only opportunity to buy that title in paper. The potential is there because once you read a book in large print, you realize the format is comfortable for you. It's really a matter of merchandising, because some customers are not aware of these editions."

Large Print Press is a story unto itself. As of this year, its parent company became Thomson Corporation, which operates the Thomson Learning division. Under Thomson Learning is Gale, and under Gale is Thorndike Press, which publishes Thorndike Large Print books. Karen Huyser, Thorndike publisher, explains that this year, her company acquired Wheeler Publishing, which publishes both hardcover large-print titles and the Large Print Press paperback line. In addition, Thorndike this year acquired the large-print program of Christian titles from Walker as well. "In buying Wheeler and Walker, we're now reaching a whole new market," says Huyser with a good deal of anticipation. Because of their higher price points and lower discounts, Thorndike releases have traditionally gone primarily into the library market, often on standing orders. "With the Walker and Large Print Press books," she says, "we are now offering a 43% trade discount and free shipping." This fall's 10 new titles, which range in cover price from $12.95 to $14.95, include Kentucky Heat by Fern Michaels and Isle of Dogs by Patricia Cornwell. Next spring, Large Print Press will add some 18 titles to its list—including those by writers like Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton and Carl Hiassen. "We will probably do close to 35 or 40 for the year," adds Huyser, "and maybe 40 from Walker. We're ramping up both lists." "Walker was focusing on nonfiction for the Christian market," remarks Thorndike associate publisher Jamie Knobloch. "We're going to be adding fiction." Considering all of Thorndike's imprints, the company has been producing about 100 large-print titles a month, in categories from romance to true crime, science fiction to children's and young adult. "In 2003, we'll be offering 1,700 titles," says Knobloch, who notes that some of these are Spanish-language.

Selling Health and Mysteries

Books related to health issues are the mainstay of the trade paperback large-print program at Johns Hopkins Press, which began two years ago. "We're doing one a season and now have seven books in print," says MaryKatherine Callaway, "and they're doing better than we'd expected. Three or four of the seven have had to be reprinted, so we've been very pleased with the program." The newest titles are this month's Healing Heartburn by Lawrence J. Cheskin, M.D., and Brian E. Lacy, M.D., and next spring ushers in Living Longer Depression Free: A Family Guide to Recognizing, Treating and Preventing Depression in Later Life by Mark D. Miller, M.D., and Charles F. Reynolds III, M.D. "Literary studies and science don't lend themselves as well to large print," says Callaway. "Plus, when you have books on specific conditions like heartburn or Alzheimer's or diabetes, you can sell not only to libraries and store accounts, but also to organizations involved in that particular condition."

Marian Haugh, who owns The Large Print Book Shop in Denver, says, "The hardest thing to sell in large print is literary fiction. For us, mysteries are the biggest sellers. We carry more of those than anything else. There was a story in The Wall Street Journal about how middle-aged readers turn more to mysteries, and it really does seem that many older readers want escapist fiction. Romance novels are also popular." In business for seven years, Haugh's store has increased its stock by perhaps 25% over the last couple of years and now carries some 2,500 titles. "We can offer more because the mainstream publishers seem to bring out more books in large print," she says. "More people are asking for them, and a larger variety of titles are being published. I do think people would like more classic literature and science. Large-print computer books are also what people ask for." Haugh reports that she sells more books through mail order than in the store itself. "A lot of our readers don't drive," she explains. "Most people who come in are shopping for someone else, but there's no doubt about future growth. It's true that some readers still resist large-print books, but there will be less resistance as people age."

Offering readers access by mail has led to the success of Doubleday Large Print book club, which has been up and running since 1985. "We offer a variety of books to serve readers with all kinds of different interests," says editor Jennifer Hufford. "Books that do well for us are bestsellers and celebrity biographies, all types of fiction: romances, mysteries, spy thrillers, historical fiction. Nonfiction and self-help are not large. What has sold well this fall is Answered Prayers by Danielle Steel. She's hands-down the club favorite. Mary Higgins Clark is second." The club offers between nine and 13 new books on each of its 17 cycles throughout the year, along with plenty of backlist. Whatever the club is doing, it's working: membership has doubled in the last two to three years. "We believe our members are primarily older, but we do have a full range of age in our buyers," says Hufford.

Get 'em When They're Young

Of course, if you can snag readers at an early age, future resistance won't be a problem, and that is just what Mitchell-Lane of Bear, Del., has been doing since 1997. Aiming its series of Real Life Readers at the library and school markets, it now has 83 32-page titles in print. "Most are biographies of contemporary individuals," says president Barbara Mitchell. "This year we're publishing 16 on people like Condoleezza Rice, Tony Blair and Alicia Keyes. What's really popular is the book on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen." The $15.95 books published in library binding are intended to attract readers in grades 4-8 (ages 9-14). "We do get a lot of special orders," says Mitchell, "and frantic calls from parents willing to pay extra for shipping. The books are heavily illustrated and have 3,500 words." Next spring the company introduces a new series for the middle grades, Blue Banner Biographies, which will have full-color inside and out and sell for $16.95. Mitchell-Lane, she explains, is a short-run publisher that sets initial printings at 1,000 copies. One of its runaway bestsellers is Sammy Sosa, which has sold in the 5,000-copy range.

Perseus Publishing issued its first large-print title two years ago, a bestselling backlist title, Living Well: Taking Care of Yourself in the Middle and Later Years by James F. Fries, M.D., and that remains its only entry, although the book's appearance has evolved. "This is loosely part of a series by various doctors," says senior editor Marnie Cochran. "We sell the majority to special sales customers, and we ask if they want us to create a custom cover for them. We kept hearing from customers that putting 'Large Print Edition' on the cover was redundant and not necessarily a selling feature. They wanted to save their own customers from embarrassment — if there was any embarrassment involved. So we took that copy off the cover, and now Living Well is available only in the large-print edition." Cochran asserts that Perseus continues looking for additional books to release in large print, but none has presented itself. She is, however, keeping an eye on Robert's Rules of Order, of which Perseus has the official guide. "I think it's fair to say," she muses, "that parliamentarians in general are of an age that might want a large-print edition."

Clearly a tremendous readership for these titles is yet to be fully tapped. The 2000 U.S. census listed 119,386,252 Americans age 40 and older. That's a mighty audience that has only glimpsed the big opportunities for easy reading pleasure awaiting them in large-print books.