The audience is essential. But it takes a skilled and talented graphic artist to capture the gist of the book with beauty. Nowadays many if most books don't go the graphic designer route as everyone can play with the typefaces and colors and add photos. When I spot a book like this (this doesn't apply to numismatic books, I realize they have very small press runs and that they are done out of love for the hobby) I examine the contents and discover it's well, not first rate.
Real publishing has almost disappeared. If you pull out some volumes in any bookstore you'll see the lack of appear on so many covers., will instantly notice the thick cheap paper, the large font and the whitespace between the lines, the lack of reviews from reputable media printed on the cover, and overall light weight of the book.
There are book collectors and I dare say it's an extremely challenging hobby or avocation. In our hobby we have the Numismatic Bibliomania Society. Who knows, perhaps in the future groups like this will be like the monasteries of the Middle Ages--saving knowledge until the world regains appreciation for this knowledge.
I suspect that years from now, books written before this time will have an extra air of authenticity--they can't have been changed by the computer. We all desire authentic coins. The day will come when we will treasure authentic information. Chat GPT 4 and other intelligence programs are not just tools but game-changers.
All these Red Books--they are what they are and so are printed coin catalogs. Maybe those who change books via the computer, especially e-books mand the like, are similar to the coin doctors?