Are Bookmarks Dead?

John Guillen325 Comments

ImagePhoto Credit: Pixopa

Bookmarks. No, I’m not talking about that little tab at the top of your browser that saves your favorite websites for easy navigation. I’m talking those things that we used to put on the insides of our books to save our page.

I’ve never been a huge fan of bookmarks. But I always liked looking at all the cool designs at my elementary school book fairs. And at Barnes and Noble on that little twisty thing. You could always find one that caught your interest that you just had to buy. Give me a bookmark with Katniss on it! Matter of fact, give me all of the bookmarks with Katniss on them! Or Hermione. But really, I probably wouldn’t even use those. One of my older brothers gave me some really fancy bookmarks for Christmas in 2012? And I never even removed them from the packaging. Don’t worry, he doesn’t read this.

And with the advent of e-readers, bookmarks have become even more obsolete than ever before. Your Kindle or Nook or iPad stop exactly where you stop reading. Or you can just use the page numbers as your reference, but you’re never putting your e-reader away with a bookmark sticking out of the top. I mean, that would look a little funny if you did.

I keep my page by remembering where I leave off. For instance, I read in 50 page increments. I’ll never stop a chapter short of the 45th page of reading, so it’s fairly easy for me to keep my place without using a snazzy little bookmark. And I NEVER dog ear my pages. If you do that then I’m punching you in the face. Right now. That’s just cruel and one of the reasons why I’ve never once lent out one of my books to anyone. If I got it back like that I’d be forcing them to get me a new one.

So tell me, do you still use bookmarks, or do you have another way of keeping your page in the book you’re reading? I’m not asking you e-book freaks.

325 thoughts on “Are Bookmarks Dead?”

  1. I do use book-markers when I’m researching in a “regular” book (as verses an eBook.) That’s about it. I never use regular book-markers though. I use pieces of scrap paper. Funny you should read a post of mine, which led me to read yours, but not before I noticed a pretty little book-marker on my desk a friend gave to me. Friends give these markers to me and I never do use them, but I never have the heart to part with them. They are sentimentally valued. 🙂 They just have their home on my desk so I think of my friends.

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  5. Hi yes I do use Bookmarks, and I often choose one that matches the book. After all the phone might rig or the door bell so popping in a marker is great. In fact many years ago I started to collect them as they were an easy to find ,lightweight and flat souvenir. I have probably got a couple of hundred, have lost count because friends and colleagues give me them now. Of course I have never used them all and have my favourites. The leather ones smell gorgeous and remind me of the places I have been .London, Florence, Shakespeare’s house etc.

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  8. I used to collect book marks when I was a kid and still can’t resist a beautiful one when I see it. And, I too, NEVER fold my pages down. And I don’t have an eReader. So it’s good to know I’m not alone. Thanks for your post!

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  9. Hi John,
    Thank you for liking my post which, interestingly enough, led me to this post about bookmarks. I actually DO use bookmarks, quite often, as I’m still “old school” – prefer my paper books to my e-reader any day!! An interesting story about bookmarks…with the upcoming launch of the next edition of an International Best-Selling book series I’m a contributing author in, I just purchased 500 bookmarks! How funny that I find this post now! Almost wonder if I had seen it a week or so ago if I would have still purchased as many. Anyway, I’m glad in reading through some of the comments that people DO still use bookmarks – even if they sit on the desk for sentimental reasons. I’m feeling better about my decision now. LOL! Thanks!

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    • Ha great timing. Most of the commenters say they use scraps of paper or receipts or any available object as bookmarks. But I know many of them have said they do buy and use them. Are you going to be giving them away?

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      • And what’s funny is that I’ve found myself doing the same thing – using whatever available paper (or scrap thereof) I have lying around too! BUT, my plan with these bookmarks is to give them all away – basically a cheaper “business card” as I have the front with the book series info and the back with my info – just a gentle reminder as to where they received it from and how to contact me if they want. They can always pass it along, throw it away (hope not though 🙂 ) – do whatever they like with it. In today’s day and age of marketing, being “out there” for a published author is critical to getting our messages out and growing – for me as a person, coach, and author as well, so all 500 will eventually find their way into the hands of interested people. Let’s hope anyway right?!

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  11. I love bookmarks and collect them! I use them too, but you’re right, they seem to be a dying thing yet they’re embedded in the world of books, writing and reading so I don’t think they’ll ever go away. But I do think they make treasured items to collect. Those cute dangly ones at B&N are among my favorites; can’t resist buying a new one! d:)

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    • How many do you have in this bookmark collection of yours? I’m trying to determine if you perhaps have a mini obsession. 😂 I will admit that when I do go to B&N (like once every two years) I might glance at the bookmarks by the register. I might. Haha

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  12. This is a great post! Yes, I mostly use whatever I can find, like the receipt from the book where I bought it or a corner of a Kleenex (unused, of course lol) But when someone gives me a bookmark as a gift, I use it. It is special and I appreciate it.

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  13. I collect bookmarks from many of the places I’ve visited, including local bookstores. One of my favorites is from a wonderful old used bookstore in the French Quarter in New Orleans. I have others from Glacier National Park, Arches Monument when it was still a monument, and a beautiful one of old Russian stamps. I use them, too. I do lots of research, so they mark places in many books I am reading at one time.

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  15. I use sticky notes to not only mark where I left off but to mark passages I want to refer to again. Examples of vivid descriptions, exchanges of dialogue…anything that I think I might be able to emulate and/or learn from for my own writing.

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  16. I do use a bookmark now, but when i was younger, I used what ever piece of paper I had laying around.

    Maria

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  17. I love bookmarks and do use them. I don’t have the mental discipline to remember where I stopped reading! I often receive them as gifts from my students (I’m a school librarian) and some of them are quite interesting. My middle school students love making them for our younger students, and the little ones love to receive them.

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  20. I never dog-ear books, or write in them for that matter. I read both digital and print books, and I use physical bookmarks every day. And I just published my book today, and yes, I ordered 250 bookmarks. Every book copy I sell personally will have one inside. Maybe two–and they can give one to a friend.

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  21. I use bookmarks. They’re fine things.

    A few years ago, I worked in a bookstore and writers would sometimes bring in bookmarks. Those things never went anywhere. Weeks would pass and no one seemed to care.

    Same thing goes for conventions. Writers are always passing out bookmarks, but they always end up in the trash.

    That’s why I think people use something to act as a bookmark–maybe even a specially designed bookmark. Despite that, bookmarks just aren’t what they once were.

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  22. I buy only used paperbacks so I just fold the corner of the page. However, for really nice books, I use whatever is handy. That said, I just got a Kindle for Christmas and can’t get rid of the bookmark thingy/icon at the top right of the screen. Very annoying.

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  24. I have several nice, decorative bookmarks, and some of them were gifts. (Yes, some still in packages.) Somehow, I always end up using the receipt, folded in half for a slimmer aesthetic. I am also guilty of using another book as a bookmark, although only for the short-term. NO books are harmed at any time.

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