I ordered a book and when it arrived, I was immediately dismayed at how there was nothing "inside" the cutout.  DH heard my noises and came over to say "Oh, looks like they ripped out that inside glossy page."  Whether or not the portrait was cut out or the page, I am not happy. 

Furthermore, there is a rip at the top of the book in the corner that exceeds 1 inch.  [You'll have to excuse the blurry.  Closeups are not my thing...]

I don't mean to be nitpicky, but....  The center portrait missing really bothers me, and I don't know for sure if there was a glossy secondary cover inside or not without going to B&N - which is unlikely considering how sick I've been.

Is that Wicked? If it is it did come with a glossy second page. I would consider it RWAP for the binding alone. I understand there will be wear on a used book, but that goes beyond what the club allows IMO

I am not sure if having a missing step-back cover constitutes an RWAP, since it technically does have a cover on it.   The ripped page would make it an RWAP, so you might want to go with that, and add that you were also disappointed that the step-back cover was missing. 

Yeah, it's Wicked.  :D  I was trying to hide it.  I'd checked the musical recording out from the library, and the story intrigued me, so I ordered it and put some of Maguire's other books on my WL.

The problem I have with a missing step-back cover (so that's what it's called..) is that without it, you now have a gaping hole 3.5" across in the middle of the cover, with nothing protecting the pages beneath.

And there's artwork I am missing (since I doubt the portrait was all that was there)

I think maybe the question for TPTB is if a step-back cover constitutes a cover.  The publisher obviously intended for the cover to be in two pieces, so I would think if one of the two pieces is missing, then the cover is missing.

-RD

The publisher obviously intended for the cover to be in two pieces, so I would think if one of the two pieces is missing, then the cover is missing.

Yeah, I agree. I'd RWAP for both the cover and the tear.

The cover is meant to protect the book. If there's a giant hole in the middle of the cover, and the intended artwork is missing, then the cover is no longer a cover. Since it's not covering anything. And the pages are exposed. With the hole and all.

I just made myself dizzy.

ETA: If I remember correctly, didn't the original trade-size PB of Wicked have glossy artwork throughout the book? If so, are those missing also?

I'd say a whole page of the cover missing exeeds the tear and missing portion alotment, you got less than half of the cover on that book. The sender may not have realized the book is supposed to have a 2 page cover so be nice, but I would definitely RWAP for the cover damage being in excess of the allowed limits. 

Interesting situation, curious what TPTB would say. 

IMO that's missing more than 1" square of the cover.

The step back is the second page of the cover.   Usually, the step back will be the same length and width of the book, but the first page of the cover is a tad narrower .  Many historical romances use the two-page covers.   And if the step back is missing, then the book is unpostable. 

I received about 5  books in a deal and they had the step backs cut out, something I didn't know about when I made the deal.  Seems the sender had removed them to make a collage.  These books are unpostable because, essentially, one page of the two-page cover is missing.

While the torn page makes it unpostable, I'd also be interested in how TPTB would treat the missing inside cover page. The rules state the front and back cover must be intact but non-text pages can be missing. Personally, I'd lean towards it being part of the cover but honestly if I picked up a used book that didn't have a cut out on the outside cover, I'm not sure I would notice if it was missing.

I'm curious too, what TPTB thinks about missing step-back covers.  I'll be firing off an email.

There are no glossy illustrations throughout the book I received.  I cannot tell if they were cut or just not included.

Michelle, please post their response to you here when you get it; I think it would benefit us all to know their thoughts on the matter.

PBS responds thusly: 

The step-back is part of the cover, and it is required for the book to be postable.

Thanks for posting the response Michelle.  It's always good information to know in case it happens to someone else someday. 

Thanks for posting the reply Michelle    Inquiring minds wanted to know.

I have to say that once I received a romance novel where the top cover had been glued to the second cover. I assumed to hide the bodice ripper part of the cover. I didn't think anything of it and posted the book when I finished it. Then someone asked for the book and when I went to mail it, after accepting it, I realized that I probably shouldn't have posted. I pm'd the requestor and they said send it, they didn't mind either. So I sent it. But after it was in the mail, I realized that was just wrong. Just continuing someone else's mistake didn't make it ok, so I refunded the credit. It gives me a chuckle to think of someone hiding the bodice ripper cover but I'm glad I didn't charge someone a credit for it.

susan/vt

The cover is meant to protect the book. If there's a giant hole in the middle of the cover, and the intended artwork is missing, then the cover is no longer a cover. Since it's not covering anything. And the pages are exposed. With the hole and all.

LOL, thanks Lisa for the giggle.  :) 

Thanks for the follow-up Michelle. Not only did I learn what that type of cover is called (step-back) in this post, but now I know how TPTB view the issue.

Learn something new each day.

-RD