A Question for Big Publishers - Why Do We Have to Wait for Paperbacks? - by Ali Bacon

Big books from monthly book-clubs (growing dusty!) 

In my childhood everything- even Mallory Towers! -  was in hardback, and in my early married life I indulged in a book club (remember them?) which delivered a chunky novel once a month.
          I think I can pin down my change of heart over hardbacks  to when I asked my young teenage daughter for a copy of the newly published Donna Tart (The Little Friend) for Christmas, on the basis it wouldn’t be too big a drain on her pocket money. Being out of the book-buying habit at the time, I'd missed that it was only out in hardback and was filled with guilt as I unwrapped the unwieldy and expensive brute.

          From then on, I have never chosen to buy fiction in hardback. (Non-fiction, poetry and illustrated books are a different matter). A novel in my mind is either e-book or tree-book, and a tree-book is a paperback. A hardback takes up too much room, is awkward to hold and always costs more. If I desire a brand new book, I try the library or wait for the paperback. I may even read the e-book and buy the paperback afterwards. The only exception to this rule, is when a friend is launching a book from one of the big commercial publishers. I want to own a (signed) copy and I want to support my friend and fellow-writer. There is no alternative except to buy the hardback. My question to these publishers is, WHY ON EARTH NOT?

Interrogating Google here and here doesn’t really help me understand this publishing model, and the answers that come back look distinctly out of date.

          1) Hardbacks make more money per copy. Publishers want to sell as many hardbacks as possible before going to paperback. This is compared to films being available only in cinema before going to TV/DVD.

          BUT it’s admitted that sales of hardbacks can be ridiculously low. Why delay approaching the mass-market? And sorry, I don’t really get the comparison with films where big screen/small screen are utterly different experiences.

          2) Libraries want hardbacks.
          Looking along most library shelves, I say 'not any more'. They buy paperbacks and additional dust jackets if necessary, presumably still at lower cost than a hardback.  

Local library - not many hardbacks now

          3) Publishing in hardback is a sign of confidence in the author. Reviewers of literary fiction therefore only accept hardbacks.

          Well hang on. I have looked at a number of smaller publishers like Saraband, Salt and Sandstone Press, all of which have featured in literary prize lists recently, and unless I’m mistaken they usually issue straight to paperback. If there are any reviewers out there who refuse to look at something from a literary publisher because of the cut of its cloth,  I think we should send them back to the century from whence they came.

          But maybe I'm the one who's out of step. To check I'm not the whingeing minority I conducted an ad hoc survey by asking my Facebook 'friends' two questions. 

          a) If money were not an object, would you buy the hardback of a novel or the paperback?
          b) If your favourite author has a new book coming out, would you buy the hardback or wait for the paperback?

          46 people had responded at the last count, not always in detail to each question, but in a way that makes it easy to give a working analysis.

         14 people expressed a degree of love for the hardback, whether or not they could always afford one.

          31 stated a preference for paperbacks. Of these quite a few did say they would splash out on a hardback but only for the sake of getting a new book more quickly.  I tried to leave e-books out of the equation but one respondent said they read everything on Kindle.

By the way the respondents were a mixture of real life- friends and online writing/reading contacts - a reasonably diverse bunch. 

           NOT JUST ME THEN!

          Yes, there are lovers of hardbacks, but why should the rest of us have to wait? Here are a couple of suggestions as to how publishers with the wherewithal might keep both camps happy. 

          1) Issue hardback and paperback simultaneously. I imagine this might be an option restricted to proven best-sellers with a dedicated fan base. Hardback could then have ‘special edition’ status. 

          2) Make the first paperback print run special in some way and/or do not offer discounts during a ‘hot-off-the press’ period. Keen readers will pay a higher price to get it quickly (well I would).  This would preserve the higher mark-up rate and discounting could be offered down the line.

At Corvus, psych thriller
goes straight to paperback

          I’m not sure how many publishers still favour the ‘old’ model  across the board. I notice Atlantic issue hardbacks in the Corvus imprint but not others and there is generally some differentiation between 'commercial' and 'literary' fiction. But I know at least two of the big six are still using the hardback-first model and I still don’t understand why. 

WHAT DO THE AUTHORS THINK?

Maybe the people I should have asked are the authors who have won these deals. The big publishers still issue advances on sales. Is the author, cash in hand, happy to wait a year for mass-market penetration? 
          Do they like the opportunity for a second paperback launch? 
          How does it feel to be categorised as 'commercial' and sell paperbacks to  your readers from the off, or win the 'literary' accolade and have only a hardback to offer? 
I'l be happy to stand corrected on the feeling that this model is elitist and outdated. 

Of course I can see I might be asking this question in the wrong place. Here at Authors Electric we are mostly one-man bands doing our own thing and as far as I know don’t issue non-illustrated fiction in hardback.  But we are market driven as much as anyone else. Check out the books on our author pages. If you fancy a paperback you won't have to wait!

Paperback, obvs!

Ali Bacon lives in South Gloucestershire and writes contemporary and historical fiction. Her coming of age novel A Kettle of Fish was published in 2012 and she has recently had stories shortlisted for the Exeter Writers Prize and The Magic Oxygen Prize. Last year appeared at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and in a one woman show in Scotland. She is currently working on a collection of linked short stories inspired by early photographs. 

http://alibacon.com