Paperback book vs hardcover
I’m lobbying for a holistic approach to the question-rather than simply examining individual facets. If we are going to revolutionize the industry and move more to this format (which I’m certainly not opposed to), then let’s re-examine all the facets of it-including the marketing/pr, the print runs, the royalty structures, and gasp, even maybe the advances paid for works that will be pubbed in original trade pb. Now I think publishing is evolving because so much good new literary stuff is coming out in original trade pb and succeeding but yet, there are still these hesitations (as the failures loom greatly)-and for good reason. Forgo the higher price point and the stronger royalty percentages to satisfy reader desires (and if you do the math, authors earn less money with trade pb until the tipping point), or go for the hardcover, get more support and have a higher chance of earning out that advance (or the greater risk of failure if it doesn’t work). Do you go for hardcover with all the “prestige,” the marketing/pr backing and the reviews (but the higher price point-which lots of readers perceive as too high) or do you go for the trade pb? Right now there are still vestiges of reluctance to fully support an original trade pb in this realm. The trick is deciding about a debut in the literary realm. Lots of terrific women’s fiction and commercial mainstream projects are published as original trade pbs and work great. Trade paperback is the same size as a hardcover (for the most part) but simply has a soft cover rather than the hard (and a lower price point). An author can start in mass market and move “up” to trade or hardcover.įor those of you who are confused, mass market is the pocket size publication of a work. In fact, in these genres, it’s often a reverse process. Why? Because there are many genres where original trade or even mass market publication for a debut is widely acceptable and the issues of support really aren’t in question.įor example, publishing romance, thriller, and debuts in SF&F often happen in the mass market version without too many blinks of an eye. What’s playing on the iPod right now? ALL I WANT by Toad The Wet Sprocketīasically the conversation about whether to publish a debut in original trade pb versus hardcover relates to literary fiction or commercial literary fiction. I don’t think it’s actually possible to get ahead so a perpetual state of being behind is pretty much normal. Right now I’m just reading as I’m still a bit behind on client material and requested manuscripts.
That way, the world of physical books isn't under threat of becoming extinct due to ebooks. If ebooks become the more affordable option, people will ditch the physical book in favor of saving some money, leaving paperbacks in the dust.īy keeping the price of ebooks high, publishers keep paperbacks as a valid option for readers.
With the popularity of ebooks, the focus moved away from bookstores and towards online stores.Īs such, big publishers aren't fond of making their ebooks cheaper than paperbacks.
Pricing Keeps Paperback Books From Becoming RedundantĪ lot of big publishers have ties within the paperback world-it's how they became prominent in the first place. As such, they ask for a higher price to cover the fact that re-buying isn't as prevalent as with physical books. Ebooks, however, tend to be a single purchase. As such, people do sometimes re-buy physical books from the same store due to their copy becoming damaged, lost, lent out, or sold second-hand.