2009 Fall Book Preview With Covers

[AN_D_K]

The problem with the larger TPB is that no one seems to care about how bad it looks on my shelf with all the books in a row.

By the way, I'm not a fan of a lot of the covers of the books recently. They just seem like uninspired pictures of people standing around badly photoshopped onto a bland background. The only covers I've liked for the past couple of years have been the Titan ones, but the new one just looks silly..

 

[Allyn Gibson]

The thing about TPBs is that bookstores prefer them to mass markets because of the higher price point. It's what they're stocking now. Mass markets are being crowded out on the shelves.

I've been expecting Pocket to transition Star Trek fiction to the trade format for about five years now. The novel anthologies like Mirror Universe and Myriad Universes dipped the toe in the water. Now New Frontier and Enterprise are in trade. I've wondered if Refugees, Alan Dean Foster's new book, might be in trade as well.

If bookstores respond positively to trade format Star Trek fiction, and if audiences support it by buying it, it's not inconceivable that we could see the mass market format phased out in the next few years.

 

[captcalhoun]

i hate trades. they take up more room in my bag, they're harder to read sitting on the bus and lying in bed and they cost more. i only buy SCE, anthologies and 3-in-1 trades.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

i hate trades. they take up more room in my bag, they're harder to read sitting on the bus and lying in bed and they cost more. i only buy SCE, anthologies and 3-in-1 trades.

Isn't that all of them save "Treason"?

 

[Trent Roman]

i hate trades. they take up more room in my bag, they're harder to read sitting on the bus and lying in bed and they cost more. i only buy SCE, anthologies and 3-in-1 trades.

I echo this sentiment. When trades have more content to offset the higher price, I've been willing to buy them despite their being unwieldy, but I won't buy a trade that's really just a MMPB with larger pages and swathes of white space.

EDIT:

Isn't that all of them save "Treason"?

That seems to be the case for Trek (so far), but looking around the bookstore you can find a lot more of these faux-TPBs, or MMPBs that they screw with the page height in order to be able to sell it for more. Too mercenary for me.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Marie1]

they're harder to read ...lying in bed

Argh!! I know!!
I think so far I only have SCE in Trade. 3+ in one os probably a good rule...

 

[8of5]

I find it most irksome that trades have snuck in and replaced hardcovers over the last few years. I've always preferred hardcovers, if the book is available in hardcover I get it as hard cover. And I really hate trades, I can forgive the larger scale of hardcovers because they're nice to hold, but trades are so darned floppy and unmanageable, bleh!

 

[Trent Roman]

They need to make trade paperback viagra.

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Ktrek]

I find it most irksome that trades have snuck in and replaced hardcovers over the last few years. I've always preferred hardcovers, if the book is available in hardcover I get it as hard cover. And I really hate trades, I can forgive the larger scale of hardcovers because they're nice to hold, but trades are so darned floppy and unmanageable, bleh!

I think I agree most with this view. I prefer the hardcovers and I think it's a shame the Pocket has dropped the hardcover format and moved to Trades. I don't mind paying more to have a hardcover copy as long as the quality of the story is worth putting into hardcover. It used to be that when a book was released in hardcover the story was a little better quality but now I doubt that would be true as many of my very favorite books have come out in mass market only.

Kevin

 

[William Leisner]

The thing about TPBs is that bookstores prefer them to mass markets because of the higher price point. It's what they're stocking now. Mass markets are being crowded out on the shelves.

I've been expecting Pocket to transition Star Trek fiction to the trade format for about five years now. The novel anthologies like Mirror Universe and Myriad Universes dipped the toe in the water. Now New Frontier and Enterprise are in trade. I've wondered if Refugees, Alan Dean Foster's new book, might be in trade as well.

If bookstores respond positively to trade format Star Trek fiction, and if audiences support it by buying it, it's not inconceivable that we could see the mass market format phased out in the next few years.

I don't see it happening. Mass market is still far and away more popular than trade or hardcover, despite what the book retailers like. A book at $6-8 is an impulse buy; at $16, it's an investment, and one most people who only want something to occupy themselves on the train or at the beach aren't going to find worthwhile.

What will be really interesting to see is how David Mack's The Sorrows of Empire: Bigger, Longer and Uncut mm will sell compared to the Glass Empires trade. (Not that any of us other than Dave and his agent will ever see those numbers, but...)

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I have to be honest...with where I am right now financially, I would rather have the cheaper, more accessible book. If I like it THAT much, I'll eventually get a backup copy if I find one lightly-used at a used book store. But to spend on a hardback--that's offputting to me, to say the least. ESPECIALLY when I then have to wait a YEAR to read that story because of the paperback delay.

 

[JD]

I have mixed feelings on this topic. Overall I prefer MMPBs, because they are cheaper, lighter, and smaller. But when it comes to bigger books, I'm torn, I like the fact that are Trades are cheaper, and lighter, but at the same time I find the look of hardbacks alot more impressive. Also thanks to Trek and Star Wars, I've come to associate HBs with bigger, important event stories.

 

[Reanok]

I like the Startrek massmarket paperbacks to read. And I also like the larger print in the Trade Startrek paperbacks. I like them better than the cramed smaller print in the mm paperbacks now days.I look forward to getting the Enterprise The Romulan War in a few months.I sometimes like to get hardback books but the prices have really gotten expensive.

 

[Section 31]

In my younger days, I was very much a MMPB-only reader, unless it was a technical manual or reference book. Now that I'm an adult and make decent money, though, I enjoy the feel of a different format. It's nice to read a trade pb or a hardcover novel, and if you're willing to wait a while, you can usually find them at a discount rate a year or more after their release.

 

[shanejayell]

What will be really interesting to see is how David Mack's The Sorrows of Empire: Bigger, Longer and Uncut mm will sell compared to the Glass Empires trade. (Not that any of us other than Dave and his agent will ever see those numbers, but...)

I SO hope it's called that on the cover.

"Oh my god, you killed Vulcan! You bastards!"

 

[Csalem]

If they go to an all trade format, then surely they will have to change the company name from 'Pocket Books'...

 

[Therin of Andor]

But to spend on a hardback--that's offputting to me, to say the least. ESPECIALLY when I then have to wait a YEAR to read that story because of the paperback delay.

It's funny. I can so readily recall, when "Spock's World" was announced: it sounded like it was a once-only hardcover event; a "coming of age" for Star Trek tie-ins in novel form - and no one ever dreamed that it would even be offered in MMPB a year later. It caused great excitement in ST fandom. And to look at it (and "The Lost Years") on my shelf and note that the title "Star Trek" doesn't even appear on its spine! Amazing.

 

[Man of Steel]

i hate trades. they take up more room in my bag, they're harder to read sitting on the bus and lying in bed and they cost more. i only buy SCE, anthologies and 3-in-1 trades.

I agree with this. I prefer the MM's to trades for several reasons.

1) Easier to put in pocket
2) Takes up less space in your luggage and/or carry on
3) About 10 bucks cheaper (and with the economy the way it is, saving is everything)

4) Bulky
5)To much room on shelves and looks out of place with past books in series that are MM.

6) Takes longer to read (maybe)
7) Thicker


I'm sure this more but for now, I'll leave it at this.

I wonder if it's to late to switch The Romulan War to a MM.

 

[Steve Roby]

It's funny. I can so readily recall, when "Spock's World" was announced: it sounded like it was a once-only hardcover event; a "coming of age" for Star Trek tie-ins in novel form - and no one ever dreamed that it would even be offered in MMPB a year later.

Pretty much any novel that sells well in hardcover will come out in paperback eventually, and it usually takes a year or so. I don't remember thinking in 1988 that Spock's World would be any different.

 

[Man of Steel]

It's funny. I can so readily recall, when "Spock's World" was announced: it sounded like it was a once-only hardcover event; a "coming of age" for Star Trek tie-ins in novel form - and no one ever dreamed that it would even be offered in MMPB a year later.

Pretty much any novel that sells well in hardcover will come out in paperback eventually, and it usually takes a year or so. I don't remember thinking in 1988 that Spock's World would be any different.

I never really understood why it's a year before it's out in softcover. But here's something interesting: With jewish books, when they are released, both the hardcover and softcover are released simultaneously and thus giving buys the options on the spot. If only everyone else followed this tactic.