Why do most novels have blank pages at the back?

14 thoughts on “Why do most novels have blank pages at the back?”

1. zoe says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   well, i just found out in my art class because of a project that we’re doing. this will explain it to you:

   take 3 or four pieces of paper and fold them in half. then put them all inside each other. now look at it. imagine there is writing on all pages except the last two(or whatever)
   they are left over because the story doesn’t cover all pages and because they are folded over, the first pages that have writing on them won’t be covered up the back.

   but the back pages are needed. this is because if you took out the back pages to even it out, the front pages would fall out because they are connected to each other – the folding. get an exercise book and rip out some pages from the back, the front ones will fall out.

   hope i helped (probably not)

2. Ciara P says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   It’s just the way that the book has been bound together. I used to think about that too XD

3. Hailfellowwellmet says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   Your guess is as good as mine. I wonder the same

4. Chocolat says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   I asked this question before. You can find the answer here:

   http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aj11ALkPQ51uvziqfzuiKenty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20090214100421AAa7Ehu

   Hope I helped!

5. ricky85296 says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   The printing press prints the pages 16 at a time, then they are folded, cut and re-folded in the binding process, to cut down the size of the paper to what you will end up reading.

   So depending on how many total pages there are, they will have a few extras.

   Good Luck!

6. sweethart <33 says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   I used to think it was to make the reader think that there’s more to the story… You know, so that he/she doesn’t think, "Oh, It looks like I have about 30 pages left. It looks like it’s going to end like so and so…" And then when you flip to the last page.. you’re like, "What?!"
   I guess it’s because of the fact that I love the unanticipated feeling of suspense and mystery. So I never check the back of the book lol.

   And then I found out that it really helps me to write down the character’s names and take notes next to it. I know, it sounds extremely dorky, but it helps me haha. So instead of carrying around 2 or 3 index cards like I do, people just jot it down in the extra pages. x]] But I would hate to do that to my books, I like to keep them clean as possible.

   But that’s what I think about it. I’ve always wondered too (;

7. glamorous!i says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   notes i guess..lol
   or maybe they just want to waste paper

8. Colton kindred says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   yes most due just to say"the end" in a way and it looks more Professionall

9. Frankie V says:

   April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

   maybe for the writer’s autograph

10. Not Afraid to Try New Things... says:

    April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

    In Older Texts it was a Binding practice that made the book sturdy and last. They have cut back on those and that has made books have shorter lifespans especially if you are tough on them ( I am). My first copy of Watership Down lasted me a good long time, my subsequent copies have not.

    I enjoy blank pages on the back because I make notes about the book there. So thats what I use them for.

    If you liked Prey I suggest the Andromeda Strain and A Case for Need both also by Crichton. Both are AMAZING books that are good for the mind.

11. Adam C says:

    April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

    It’s to do with the way in which books are printed. The extra pages are there to make up the correct number, normally a multiple of sixteen.

    Nowadays, publishers try to avoid adding unnecessary blank pages for environmental reasons.

12. cla ro says:

    April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

    it’s not so common now as it once was, if you look at the way older books are bound you will see that it isn’t individual pages, rather lots of little bundles of larger pages folded in half. often there would be blank pages at teh end which balanced the set of the pages, but which didn’t have content on them.

    in recent years the way books are made is shifting to single page – which is why so many modern paperbacks start to fall apart after two or three readings while the ones you got as a kid are still holding together.

13. JaySea says:

    April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

    I am not relly sure why – but its a waist of paper
    maybe it makes the book look bigger! haha
    most books have one page i guess just to say "the end" but i dont know why…
    sorry, my answer didnt help at all

14. Gallardo Spyder says:

    April 17, 2010 at 10:57 am

    it means its real and not copied/fake

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