Will the Trek books stay in the proper format?

[sttngfan1701d]

Xeris said:
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.

Hold on....how can this even be a valid argument? Something that costs £9.99 for you costs $20 for an American who shops in England using his or her money that they've changed over. But it still costs £9.99 for you, in much the same way something would cost $9.99 here in the US.

Okay, so paperbacks are £6.99 in England but how are you paying more for books than we are? If you're not using American money what's the point of converting the exchange rates to show us the price disparity? Am I missing something here?

 

[Trent Roman]

He means the books are more expensive, even after taking conversion rates into account. For instance, thanks to the chimp's economic mismanagement, the Canadian dollar has achieved parity (and a little bit more) with its American counterpart, currently trading at 1.00CND/1.00412US, so the books should cost the same in either currency. However, they are currently 7.99US/9.99CND (before sales taxes, which is another matter altogether). It's a question of buying power, and he's saying that other countries can buy less for the equivalent monetary value (how this relates to prince increases within one market, though, I'm not clear on).

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[sttngfan1701d]

Not sure I understand completely, but thanks for explaining it.

Yet....the argument is because of the monetary disparity, prices in the UK should be lowered to 3.99 pounds to be equal to a US $7.99 paperback? Um....why?

Football shirts that cost 35.00 pounds in the UK still cost $70 here; they don't adjust the prices. I still don't see the validity of the argument.

 

[Therin of Andor]

sttngfan1701d said:
Okay, so paperbacks are £6.99 in England but how are you paying more for books than we are? Am I missing something here?

Yep. You're forgetting that for ST novels, published in the USA, international readers must pay extra for freight and wait two or three months for the container ships to arrive, or pay even more for air freight via Diamond Distribution and wait an extra week or so for delivery.

 

[JWolf]

I managed to get my hands on one of these new format books. It's taller, thinner, and basically feels unnatural in my hands. It's not a good thing to do. They charge $9.99 list and it's a bad read no matter what you are reading. It feels strange. Not something I'd ever want to get used to.

 

[Therin of Andor]

JWolf said:
Not something I'd ever want to get used to.

Does someone have access to articles about this format change? What about "Locus"? "Writers' Market"? Surely someone has made reports about the market research that inevitably went into this sweeping change, either when proposed or as it has progressed.

Ah, here's one lit blog talking about libraries and big retailers being a major influence on format, not consumers:
Literary Kicks

Also found this historical definition of "trade" paperback that was interesting:

Trade edition: 'An edition of a book, usually the optimal compromise between quality and cost, for distribution through general bookstores; also known as "trade binding" and "commercial edition". A well designed and manufactured softcover book is more durable than a poorly designed and cheaply made hardback book. Since printers were originally prohibited from selling directly to the public, licensed stationers would commission a few books to be bound "for the trade", but kept most works unbound until purchased ... with the binding matching previous purchases for their customer's library...' (A Glossary of Publishing Terms.)

 

[JWolf]

Barnes & Nobel calls this new format Mass Market Paperback. And they are horrid beasties.

 

[Therin of Andor]

^ So what do they call normal mass market paperbacks?

 

[LightningStorm]

Therin of Andor said:
^ So what do they call normal mass market paperbacks?

Assumably the same thing. Much like the different sizes of Trade Paperbacks are all called Trade Paperbacks regardless of the size differences.

 

[cmdr_forst]

Personally, I am not a fan of this premium/trade paperback format. For starters, I have some really short shelves and taller paperbacks simply will not fit while the normal mass market paperbacks fit nicely. Plus, it is nice to look over my collection and see the majority of the books being the same size.

I tried to find some sources within the publishing industry (although I have no idea what those would be) through a few online databases I have access to. When that failed, I turned to Altavista and came up with these:

http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/openbooks/2005-08-14-paperback_x.htm
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/storie...4941&EDATE=
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/03/14/publishers_aim_for_the_next_big_thing/
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/books/...nyt&emc=rss

Oddly, all are from 2005, so this format change is not something that just appeared overnight. Several of the articles mention Pocket Books or Simon & Schuster, for what that is worth. The main selling point (pun intended) for the format seems to be larger text size for older folks.

For what it is worth, my understanding of the various paperback formats break down like this:

-Mass Market Paperback: The traditional format we all know and love, fit inside "wire racks" found in various outlets. $7.99 USD.

-Premium Paperback: The new format, taller with larger text and such. $9.99 USD.

-Trade Paperback: Described in one of the articles as "digest sized," these are pretty large and are preferred for "literary novels" and nonfiction. Between $12 and $16.

 

[JD]

Alot of short story anthologies also seem to use the Trade format.

 

[Trent Roman]

cmdr_forst said:
The main selling point (pun intended) for the format seems to be larger text size for older folks.

*shakes fist* Damn you, older folks! First disco, now this? You just wait until we're in charge of your pension plans, then we will see who will be in a position to annoy whom. Meheheheheh...

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman

 

[Deano2099]

sttngfan1701d said:
Not sure I understand completely, but thanks for explaining it.

Yet....the argument is because of the monetary disparity, prices in the UK should be lowered to 3.99 pounds to be equal to a US $7.99 paperback? Um....why?

Football shirts that cost 35.00 pounds in the UK still cost $70 here; they don't adjust the prices. I still don't see the validity of the argument.

£35 to $70 is inline with the exchange rate. Whereas the $8 paperback should cost us £4, it actually costs £6. That's a 50% mark up. It'd be like if you had to pay $105 for that £35 t-shirt.

You're correct that this isn't a fair comparison though. The average weekly wage in the US (2002 is all I could find) is $707. The UK is £447 (2006, so this isn't entirely accurate). So a Trek book is 1.13% of a American's weekly wage, and 1.34% of a UK resident's. So we're paying around 20% more in real terms for our books. Probably a tad more assuming US wages went up between '02 and '06.

Maths eh?

Hello.

(edit- though as I write Q & A is £2.82 pre-order on Amazon UK, a tad under $6, which is just weird)

 

[JWolf]

Faced with declining sales, two of the biggest publishers of mass-market titles, the Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, have begun issuing new paperbacks by some of their most popular authors in a bigger size that allows larger type and more space between lines.

"We've been losing the foundation of our customer base because their eyesight is getting worse, and the books are getting harder and harder to read," said Jack Romanos, the chief executive of Simon & Schuster, whose Pocket Books division introduced the mass-market paperback format in the United States in 1939.

This does not bode well for the future of printed trek.

 

[OmahaStar]

JWolf said:

Faced with declining sales, two of the biggest publishers of mass-market titles, the Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, have begun issuing new paperbacks by some of their most popular authors in a bigger size that allows larger type and more space between lines.

This does not bode well for the future of printed trek.

Because logically, the way to increase sales with "declining sales" is to raise the price. Yes, raising the price another 25% is always the way to get people to buy more product.

Fucking idiots.

 

[JWolf]

OmahaStar said:

JWolf said:

Faced with declining sales, two of the biggest publishers of mass-market titles, the Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster, have begun issuing new paperbacks by some of their most popular authors in a bigger size that allows larger type and more space between lines.

This does not bode well for the future of printed trek.

Because logically, the way to increase sales with "declining sales" is to raise the price. Yes, raising the price another 25% is always the way to get people to buy more product.

Fucking idiots.

I should have added the next paragraph... My fault..

"We've been losing the foundation of our customer base because their eyesight is getting worse, and the books are getting harder and harder to read," said Jack Romanos, the chief executive of Simon & Schuster, whose Pocket Books division introduced the mass-market paperback format in the United States in 1939.

They think sales are declining because of poor eyesight. Now that I feel is total BS.

 

[JD]

I'm sorry but I really think the loss of readership has more to do with the rise in TV, movies, and video games.

 

[JWolf]

JD said:
I'm sorry but I really think the loss of readership has more to do with the rise in TV, movies, and video games.

Well that and the fact that a lot of adults are more busy these days then before. You work all day, come home, have dinner, play with the kids, sit down, turn on the TV, read the newspaper, get online check your forums, email, etc., spend some time with the wife, and then go to bed. Doesn't leave much time for reading.

But to your list, add in the internet as a time consumer.