When Aging Eyes Are Smiling

As the population of North America continues to age, it’s not too surprising that publishers are responding to consumer demands for books that can be read easily without devices of magnification (as in glasses, for instance).

The trend toward larger-print books has been growing quickly over the last few years. As a result, large-print works--once crude and ungainly--are getting their own redesign. Increasingly, they no longer look like Something for Dummies but rather like a book that a reader can carry anywhere with pride.

HarperCollins falls into the vangaurd of this movement with the announcement of its new line, HarperLuxe, which is being called “the new standard in larger print publishing.” Says PRNewswire:

The hallmarks of the new line will feature print at a more readable 14-point-size font, with 20-point leading and wider margins. Published in full-size paperback format, the new books are light to carry and easy to read, magnifying the pleasures of great reading both in form and function.

HarperLuxe will roll off the presses in 2007 with both fiction and non-fiction titles, including recent works by authors such as James Rollins and Michael Crichton.