While I enjoyed Charles' explanation of the retail economics
of cheaper books, I can't help but wonder if there's a big
hole in the argument that needs filling. Namely, citing
instances where a publisher offered low priced editions that
were sales duds, if the books themselves aren't something I
care to spend my time reading, you could offer them for a
nickel and I wouldn't buy them. It seems to me that if the
majority of major publishers simultaneously dropped their
paperback prices, that that could not but positively affect
sales more than the negligible amounts in Charles' example.
Not that it could ever happen...
Like Patrick says, taking a flyer on a ten dollar paperback
on a new (to me) author is too much. I'm on a personal
crusade to NOT buy any of these inch-taller ten-dollar new
versions of mass market paperbacks. So far I've been able to
convert these would-be purchases to second hand hardcovers
from internet sources. If I'm going to pay ten bucks for a
paperback, I'll pay ten or eleven or twelve for a used
hardcover just so I don't feel that the publishers have got
one over on me with their "specially designed for easier
reading" nonsense.
Aside from content and covers, Hard Case's "traditional" size
and lower retail price are enough for me as a fan boy to
gleefully gobble up everything they publish. Call it
"publisher appreciation." Someone please tell me I'm not
alone in this?
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