Undrave
Legend
They seem to have good enough printing press to mass produce wanted posters. and adds for the High Sun Game. I’d assume that hand scripted documents have additional properties related to magic that still make them desirable. Like, you can’t make a secret document decryption proof without writing it by hand, and you can’t just PRINT a spell book because the act of writing it by hand is part of the ritual of storing the magic?I guess one thing to keep in mind is Faerun is stuck in a medieval type period. It simply can't progress technologically in certain areas (because certain elements work differently and/or the gods simply don't allow it). They've had the same tech level for hundreds if not thousands of years. So, while electric lights aren't invented, glass windows for common use probably is.
Weirdly enough you would think an old school printing press could be invented but scribes still exist and books are still considered rare.
But its just a game....
Maybe the lack of commercial books is due to the lack of paper? Yo can make a lot of posters with the same amount of parchment as a single book, for exemple.
Maybe in another region of the Realms they have a cheap source of papyrus paper and there’s a thriving scene of trashy pulp leaflets! Including a whole series titled ‘The Erotic Adventures of Xenk Yendar’ which are completely fictitious but sell like hot cakes.