I think we have to assume that market forces are keeping the price point of MMPBs at $7.99. If the publisher thought they could charge more without hurting sales, they'd raise the price.
The cost of paperbacks
- Thread starter Mr. Domino
- Start date
No, the drive to trade paperbacks predates digital by several years, and it was driven by bookstores, not publishers. Bookstores like trades because trades have a higher price point which makes their sales metrics (such as average cost per transaction and sales per hour) better. Bookstores wanted publishers to focus more on trades and less on mass-market.
That said, publishers, it turns out, like trade paperbacks, too; the higher price point also means higher profit margins, and books don't have to sell as much in trade to be as profitable as a mass-market. Also, trades are returnable to the publisher (and thus sellable into the remainder networks), while mass-markets are strippable (and thus not returnable), which means that even if the trade doesn't sell the publisher can still make some money on it.
I think that Pocket's next step would be to transition to the trade format, actually. They would lose sales because of the higher price point, yet retain profitability.
That would have made sense, but Pocket's already transitioned some of their other tie-in lines to $8.99. It looks like they don't want to go trade just yet.
If they did, I'd hope that they increased the word count, too. Having the list price double without increasing the content similarly feels like they're taking advantage of consumers.
The ST hardcover line transitioned to trade instead.
Well, of course, we know that Pocket's been steadily increasing ST novel word count over the decades. Under Marco's editorship, he found ways to double - and sometimes triple - the previously-accepted average word count with minimal/no rises to price.
^That trend is reversing in recent years. My past couple of novel contracts have been for books in the 70-80K range.
Reader feedback has probably indicated that lower price is more important to them than higher word count. As my "to read" pile keeps getting ridiculously tall, I have to agree.
I find that even on a typical 60 min. train ride into the city centre these days, instead of reading a MMPB the whole relaxing journey, I now tend to fiddle around with my iPhone (mainly Facebook) for at least the beginning of the trip. My recreational reading time is quickly being absorbed by other pursuits - and reading a book can also lull me off to sleep versus the interactivity of replying to others' FB posts. Sigh.
If you were to buy fewer, longer books instead of more, short books, your "to read" pile could stay the same size but would cost you less overall, even if each individual volume cost more.
I'm a Star Trek collector/completist. I buy them all, as they are produced. I just wish I could get everything read in a timely manner.
And cost, for ST items, at least, is generally not something that concerns me. If I decide I want it, I buy it. (Shorter books might help me read each book faster. Might. But not that it helps that much.)
^^ That's much the same boat I'm in. I'd prefer everything didn't switch to trade, less because of the price increase (not saying it wouldn't sting, but I'll suck it up and deal with it, because its Trek), but more because of space issues, as trades are bigger.
I think that the word-count of a book should be about how many words and author feels they need to tell their story. I don't mind big books, but to cram them with small font sucks. I wish they would keep the books at $7.99 and then when a big one comes along keep the font the same size, but ask $8.99 for it to cover the added cost. I'd pay an extra dollar not to have to read tiny font.
I like to buy everything that is published, but I am lucky to live close to the U.S. border. I often buy in bulk when the wife and I cross the line (Borders closed in Watertown, N.Y., so now we have to travel farther to Syracuse to get to a bookstore). We have recently gotten a U.S. post office box, so we'll be using Amazon.com as well. With the dollar virtually at par, it is certainly worth the savings. I always understood the price difference between Canada and the U.S. when there was a 30% difference in the dollar - but now, I have no idea why the price difference remains.
Customs fees and/or GST, I suspect. (GST is included in the purchase price, correct?)
I don't know about customs fees, but GST, no, that is above and beyond what the cover price is.
Ah, my mistake. I thought it acted like VAT, not like sales tax in the US.
GST - officially known as "Goods and Services Tax" - unofficially known as either "Government-Sanctioned Theft" or "Goats and Swine Tax" should NEVER have included books. Bad enough that the reason for the discrepancy in pricing dates back to the difference between the currencies, but was kept going due to the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the US. If these issues got fixed as they should have a generation ago, we'd have fairer book prices in Canada. As it is, I use every discount I can get. And I STILL do the bulk of my book buying either second-hand or via Amazon, eBay, or other online sites.
Sorry to the professional Star Trek authors here, but I just can't afford to buy your stuff new anymore.
eBooks!
Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
If you want to know what true small-print run hard-copy prices look like, go look at small/indie press companies (NOT vanity or subsidy publishers).I have two friends who have been published by a small indie publisher and one's book came out at $16.95 for the slightly oversize paperback version, and the other's is $24.95, though it is substantially thicker.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Demons-Ap...22037/ref=tmm_pap_title_0/184-0270950-7666312 (parenthetical note, an excellent book if you like urban fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Ragnarok-Risi...id=1342157008&sr=1-2&keywords=ragnarok+rising
http://www.amazon.com/The-Demons-Ap...22037/ref=tmm_pap_title_0/184-0270950-7666312 (parenthetical note, an excellent book if you like urban fantasy)
http://www.amazon.com/Ragnarok-Risi...id=1342157008&sr=1-2&keywords=ragnarok+rising
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Ian Keldon
Fleet Captain
The real losers in hardcopy are those of us with less than perfect vision. The new fonts are not only small, but they are "light" (thin lined, I suspect to save on ink), and very hard to read.
