I hate them. I think they look stupid. I'm never going to buy a book that looks like that...end of story.
I find the TPBs awkward enough. I'd prefer not to have to deal with MMPBs trending in that direction as well.
I apologize to authors whose books are (or will be) published in the larger format. I will never buy books at that size. Already, I leave some books on the shelves because their print size is uncomfortably large. If publishers chase the aging demographic, they'll lose a still fairly young reader.
It's not just that they're taller and more expensive. The size/shape seems disproportionate -- they are too tall for that particular width, and they just look silly, and feel awkward when you're holding them. I will be avoiding them as much as possible.
I finally saw one when I picked up Q&A and I've gotta agree with you guys. They just look really weired.
This discussion is not about trade paperbacks, it's about a new format introduced in the last two years. And I doubt they have tiny print because one of the reasons they exist is supposed to be improved readability. Google Penguin Premium format for more information.
Larger margins, more line space, more pages, more money and they go for $9.99. It's just rediculous to be sure. I'm not paying for a list price $9.99 paperback. Now, that said, the important bit... the ebooks... are they going up in price if we get any Trek books in this ridiculous format?
Over the last decade, books have gone from $5.99 to $7.99; so in another decade or so, your "traditional" mass-market books might well end up retailing at $9.99... Probably. The electronic versions of novels have consistently gone up in price as the print versions have. I think that it would be safe to expect the higher-priced-ebooks-for-higher-priced-print-books to continue. I'd expect to also see some sort of increase in the SCE prices (which are already up to $5 list each, though I don't believe their increases have corresponded to those of the print versions).
But, we don't pay $5 list at all. The current CoE ebook (Remembrance of Things Past Book One is $3.24 if you don't mind it in Adobe PDF (horrid ebook format), MS Reader, or eReader direct from Simonsays.com.
And you can purchase the print books discounted too, if you're lucky enough to find them at Wal-Mart or Meijer, or use the weekly coupons that Borders offers via e-mail. If you're going to use list price for one set, you should be using it when discussing the price of the other set too.
I pay 10-30% off the list price of my Start Trek dead tree editions based on the various discount coupons I get in my email.
Listen up you lot from way across the pond. In the UK, PBs cost £6.99, that's approximately $13.50! HBs cost £18.99 at full price, which is approximately $37.50! Those tall icky ones cost us £9.99, which is almost $20. We pay a lot more for books than you do, and the Canadians are ripped off too. So PLEASE stop griping. If you don't like the format, don't buy them. But don't moan about how much they cost.
You UKers get Doctor Who *way* earlier than we do, and the Sarah Jane Adventures. I think that's a stalemate, mate.
I see this kind of argument from outside the US countries often, and each time this has no bearing on the issue at hand. Yes, you pay more than we do and that sucks a lot, for you. But the griping isn't so much the exact price but the price INCREASE. Because regardless of what you pay for something be it $7.99 or $13.50 the very simple fact of the matter is that an increase is something to bitch about. Because $9.99 is more than $7.99 and $20 is more than $13.50. If I lived in the UK and was used to paying $13.50 books, I'd still bitch about the increase to $20. And to preempt some other typical arguments, yes, prices go up all the time for everything, due to inflation and endless other reasons. And still none of that suddenly abolishes ones ability or right to complain about it. My specific stance on such things is that price increases may be inevitable, but those increases should be for a fairly good reason (which is of course subjective). IMO changing the format of MMPBs was not done for a good reason so the increased price for the increased size is also not a good reason and thus gives me the right to bitch about it.
But they are minor increases, usually to do with inflation, or fuel costs for transport, or increased warehouse fees. So unless you personally don't get any increases in your weekly pay, minor price jumps for popular entertainment isn't totally unexpected, and should be something you allow for in your weekly budget. As I said earlier, how do MMPB Star Trek book price jumps compare with the cost of a movie ticket? At least you get to keep the book after you read it - and you can reread it, give it to a friend or sell it to a second hand store - or at a profit on eBay if it becomes a rarity or highly collectible. After seeing the (similarly priced) movie at the cinema all you have are a ticket stub and some memories. Have we even established the reason? I still can't see that the many publishers of the USA would plot together to make books a little bit bigger just so they can charge more money per unit. There must have been some call from the buying public for a "new format". So-called "prestige" MMPBs - which seemingly have wider margins, whiter, cleaner, thicker paper that won't yellow as easily, bigger type, larger cover art, or whatever - are being issued to give the customers a better reading experience. If customers don't like these improved MMPBs, and fail to support them, they'll die out. Certainly in the 80s "prestige" comic books - with whiter, thicker paper - quickly doomed the acid-filled newsprint versions to start to vanish. Most customers were happy to pay a little extra to get something that improved the look of the art and wouldn't turn brittle after only a few months.
A 33% increase over the last decade is not minor. Especially since the US minimum wage didn't go up a single penny during that period (its first increase since 1996 was in late May 2007). Based on what I remember--which, given the length of time, could well be wrong, since I don't have evidence unlike for the book prices--they went up at about the same rate. Which is why I don't pay to go see them in theaters anymore.
The price of movie tickets are outrageous too. And when they go up I gripe about that too (again if it's for a reason I consider to be a not-good one). But we're talking about books not movies and comparing the price of a book to a movie means nothing when what I'm talking about is the fact that the book price went up. Unless somehow someone's saying the price of books is directly dependent on or related to the price of movie tickets. As for the inflation thing... I'm not sure what you're getting at with that. I consider inflation a good reason for a price increase in items. Now let's not mistake what I'm saying here, I don't think inflation is a good thing, but when it happens that is an event I consider to be a reasonable explanation for the increase in prices of everything. Partly because as you said I do get salary increases for inflation too. As for the specific reason for the increased size of a MMPBs. Given what we currently know about them the reason is very hard-pressed to be a good one. Because this new size adds no value or advantages over the traditional MMPB. Had they increased the size to fit more words and make books bigger (but not ala TPB) that'd be fine. But this isn't the case especially since some publishers (all?) print MMPB size books in TPBs with huge print. And yes, those too are a problem. Ultimately the problem I have with the new size is that its price doesn't give you enough added value to warrant the higher price. HC's warrant it because they last longer and are nicer. MMPBs warrant their higher than e-book price because they are tangible items and more went into them. Some TPBs warrant theirs because they are usually longer and have a bit higher quality paper. These new ones are simply a format change for the exact same thing we've been getting but now priced higher and even went so far as to add an inconvenience of being difficult to hold and read comfortably.
Don't tell us to not complain about the cost of books and then continue to bitch about the cost of books in the UK or elsewhere. Fact is, the cost will go up in your country and you'll still be bitching about being ripped off. Salary increases have not matched the actual cost of living increases that have occurred over the last decade. A cost of living increase is what, 3-4%? That's nothing when you consider that the price of so many things has gone up by much more than 3-4% per year.
I was saying that I reckon the cost of all popular traditional entertainments (such as MMPB fiction and cinema entry tickets) have probably risen at about the same pace as the salaries of the majority of book buyers and cinema goers. That if you went back to compare the 1979 figures for entry to ST:TMP, the cost of its novelization and average salaries of ST fans, and then compared them to movies and books today, there wouldn't be that much of a difference. In fact, ST fans who were only university students in 1979 are probably in higher wage brackets today. In any case, it's usually only people with plenty of disposable income who become avid collectors. The poorer fans have always relied on public libraries, friends, gift vouchers, clubs, etc to get their ST fixes.