What do you look for in a good deck companion book?

I wondered about the cost, but hadn't thought about the aspect of catching on things. As a consumer though, it really does make it easier when you can lay the book out and not have to hold it open.....especially if you're trying to lay cards out, write in a journal, etc. I knew there had to be reasons since there really aren't any out there.

I love a book to be light enough to carry around with me along with the deck! I'm not overkeen on books like the ones in the Llewellyn kits that weigh twice as much as the deck and then some more. I find the books that are printed on softer and lighter paper seem to last longer (and get read more).

Someone mentioned not liking repetition. There's boring, meaningless repetition that should be edited out, but then there is a certain amount of repetition in card interpretations that needs to be there. For instance, I'm sure if I asked you to list the major "change" cards in the Major Arcana you could come up with at least four. I think it's valuable to identify them all as "change" cards, but then to indicate something that differentiates and individualizes each kind of change.

When we compare and contrast cards we look for these kinds of similarities and differences. It's good when a book acknowledges these. For instance, I like it when a deck creator/author gives a certain kind of "fourness" to all the Fours, whether you call it stability or consolidation or whatever.

faunabay said:

I wondered about the cost, but hadn't thought about the aspect of catching on things. As a consumer though, it really does make it easier when you can lay the book out and not have to hold it open.....especially if you're trying to lay cards out, write in a journal, etc. I knew there had to be reasons since there really aren't any out there.

Click to expand...

I believe that copy shops will cut the binding off a book and make it spiral bound. No idea what the cost would be, but it is an option.

In THAT case (as I like the idea too) I now look for a very wide margin at the binding side

Thanks everyone for your valuable insights!

I don't know how much control Iwill have in the actual binding of the pages...but I am looking into a few different vanity online publishers who do small editions (or pay as you go editions).
I do have two books from these different publishers, and both are paperbacks that I do like.

Keep your ideas coming!
If this info is helpful to me...I am sure it will also be helpful to anyone else who is thinking about writing a Tarot companion book.

Other

I'm not sure what it would take to free a person from re-inventing the wheel when it comes to the book that accompanies a deck, but whatever it is, that's what I'd love to see. However, I'll admit almost any solution along those lines makes things difficult for newbies.

I've often wondered: could a bibliography or something like that could be supplied instead of a thumbnail tarot history or the usual LWB descriptions? Maybe mention a few free websites? A key-word list in an appendix?

What I'd want to see is information specific to the deck, information supplied by the artist (or the author and the artist if that's the way the deck came about). I'd like to know something about the deck's theme, why the artist chose to express the theme in the way that s/he did, what mood s/he was aiming for and how she produced it, that sort of thing. Something about the deck's symbolism is important if the general tarot enthusiast is unlikely to be familiar with it. Or if the theme involves any kind of odd symbology. (For example, most people know the usual Halloween symbols, but if you've come up with some unique ones . . . .)

Whether or not I'd want a card-by-card description would depend upon how far the deck moves away from one or more of the standard models. In any case, I'd like the descriptions to apply to your Four of Wands, not to just any Four of Wands.

I voted "none of the above", because I usually HATE companion books. Especially when you have no choice but to pay extra for a set as the deck's not available alone. I try to solve the problem by not buying it at all.

Unless the deck is a significant departure from the Rider-Waite symbolism that you can pick up on any website or generic Tarot book. For example, the Minchiate companion book was very good, as was the Alchemical. And exception to the rule: I love the Tarot of Prague companion book. But personally I'm not interested in spreads or the same history and interpretations that can be found everywhere.

Just my two cents

I think symbolism is the most important aspect of a tarot deck, and since different people associate different symbols with different things I think it's important that the artist educates the reader on why particular symbols were chosen to appear on certain cards.