[Killer Chicken]

Grr... I'm very irritated at the moment. I have a very small book budget. I can only buy three books a month and they all have to be under ten dollars. I can't afford anymore. So Martin's Storm of Swords had to be put off until it came out in paperback. So I waited a year and a half for the good ol' affordable mass market paperback. And what do you know, they came out with a paperback alright, but it is a $14 dollar paperback. It will be who knows how long until the $8 one comes out. I'm very irritated. Is it just me, or do publishers put out the first few books of the series in paperback out right away. Then once a series becomes popular they stick in the stupid two year wait, with hardcovers. I'm very irritated, which I've said. I have been awaiting this novel for a long time and I still can't buy it. Grr... I have decided that I'm going to protest this and not buy any of the rest of the series until the ENTIRE thing is out in mass market paperback. I don't care if I have to wait ten years! I will wait! Because a point is a point, and I have to stand to it!

[Miriamele]

At least you don't live in Canada, where trade paperbacks are 21 dollars and hardcovers are 45...of course our wages are a tiny bit more here, but that's it, a tiny bit.

I have the same problem as you, books are just too expensive. I used to work at a bookstore, so I could get a discount, but I don't work there anymore so now I have to pay full price. But I do, because I feel a great need to own my books, rather than go to the library. I like seeing my full shelves. There isn't a library close to me anyway.

Maybe you should try second-hand bookstores, which sometimes sell only paperbacks, or just go to a library. It would save a lot of money.

I understand perfectly what you're saying though, which is that publishers do everything in their power to squeeze every last penny out of a book that they can. They'll keep it in hardcover for 2 years if it's still selling (case in point: the 4th Harry Potter book). It's really discouraging when you don't have enough money to buy the hardcover (and how many of us do?).

B@st@rds.

[jfclark]

Publishers will continue to use the system they do so long as there is consumer demand for it. Obviously, there is significant demand for expensive hardcover editions of many fantasy books, particularly by heavyweight "franchise" authors. If readers abandoned the hardcover format, publishers would be forced to follow suit, or at least advance the publication of paperback versions.

Readers have also shown in the last 20 years that they LOVE long fantasy/sci-fi series. This has encouraged authors to spin out enormously long tales that take many years to complete. Because his series becomes so long, the author has to have the first volumes published before he has completed the series--hence the two-year (or longer) cycle for new volumes.

Publishers are always trying to find ways to create or sustain consumer demand, of course. But in short, readers create these dilemmas themselves. If readers changed their tastes or buying habits, publishers would have no choice but to respond.

Oh--and as for the latest Martin book, I think it was released in trade paperback ($14) because it was simply too long to be released in one mass-market ($8) paperback.

[ezchaos]

Because of high book prices, I try to find stuff to read at the library and used book stores instead. Sometimes, I do have to break down and buy a book new, just because there's nothing else available.

Maybe it's because I'm cheap, but I really hate paying $8 or more for a book that you may not even like.

[Keyoke]

As to the Martin's TPB.. I think it's just a money grab really. Yes, it is a huge book, but, so was To Green Angel Tower, and they released it as to Mass Paperbacks.. THough, as to paperbacks, you'd only save a couple of bucks..

As to the delay's.. Well, some of it is probably the publisher..but, in Martin's case, I think he's just a slow writer.. And, we have to be patient. I'd rather wait 2 years for amazing books than a year for a half ass book.

Keyoke

[Nimea]

Storm of Swords was released in the UK as two paperbacks because of its length. So, I think I would prefer to pay $14 for one volume.

I think jfclark is mostly right.

Now, in Germany like in the USA the publishing houses have some very serious problems: other companies, that buy them and think they understand the book market. Well, they don't.
And then we have literary agencies - don't misunderstand me, I am not against them - but they have forced up the payments. And the 'new' publishers accepted them and nowadays there is no other way to accept the prices if you want a beststelling author.
*sigh* There are even more problems but I don't want to rumble about them now.

Btw, in Germany a fantasy novel hardly gets published in hardcover! This genre is not so well accepted here. But maybe that is not to bad, we already have to wait quite a while for the translations. Waiting for paperback, too would be killing.
And some more trivia: The nine volumes of The Wheel of Time are split up in 26 novels! Each for about $7 (approximately). There is a good reason to start learning English!

[jfclark]

Originally posted by Keyoke
As to the Martin's TPB.. I think it's just a money grab really. Yes, it is a huge book, but, so was To Green Angel Tower, and they released it as to Mass Paperbacks.. THough, as to paperbacks, you'd only save a couple of bucks..

Keyoke

How is this a money-grab? If it were released as 2 massmarket paperbacks, it would be even more expensive ($16) than one trade paperback!

[Rob B]

The money-grab that I see BantamSpectra doing is trying to cash in on aSoIF.

Initially published in hardcover with a some-what cheesy silver foil cover, A Game of Thrones was then published with different (and nicer, btw) cover by Stephen Youll in mass market paperback, I think Bantam saw a huge possiblity.

Recently, BantamSpectra re-released A Game of Thrones in hardcover to more match the two later books with the Youll artwork incorporated. That in itself isn't too too bad for folks who want to keep series books consistent. However, they then decided to publish all three volumes as the larger trade-paperback, when both A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings had already been released in mass-market paperback--this to cash in on the folks who collect either everything with the author or series name on it.

I've mentioned before in an older thread how DAW books, when publishing Tad Williams' To Green Angel Tower as mm paperback decided to publish it as 2 books so the paper they used would not be as thin and the text would be more readable. I personally don't think the situation with Tad Williams is as much of a money-grab as BantamSpectra is doing with all the different versions of Martin's books.

[jfclark]

Ok, in the bigger context it does appear to be a money-grab. But who cares, really? The vast majority of fans are going to make rational decisions about which versions to purchase, based on their individual tastes. Why complain about publishers acting like real businesses?

[Rob B]

Originally posted by jfclark
Why complain about publishers acting like real businesses?
Of course, there is that.