Comments on: Mass Market Paperbacks & Self-Publishing http://waltshiel.com/2009/04/27/mass-market-paperbacks-self-publishing/ Walt Shiel commentary on writing, books, and publishing Sat, 11 Feb 2012 19:10:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Growth of Publishing BPO | Outsource Portfolio http://waltshiel.com/2009/04/27/mass-market-paperbacks-self-publishing/#comment-716 Mon, 18 May 2009 23:07:36 +0000 http://waltshiel.com/?p=522#comment-716 [...] by BookSurge.com, another print-on-demand service acquired by Amazon.com. Optimists go so far as to suggest that mass market paperbacks will die out and over time be completely replaced by the self publishing [...]

]]> By: L. Diane Wolfe http://waltshiel.com/2009/04/27/mass-market-paperbacks-self-publishing/#comment-700 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:32:33 +0000 http://waltshiel.com/?p=522#comment-700 Knew there was a reason I liked the trade paperback size! I’m sure author royalties on mass market are tiny as well.

L. Diane Wolfe
http://www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.spunkonastick.net
http://www.thecircleoffriends.net

]]> By: Lynda Lehmann http://waltshiel.com/2009/04/27/mass-market-paperbacks-self-publishing/#comment-684 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:33:52 +0000 http://waltshiel.com/?p=522#comment-684 Interesting to find your site. I’ve done a lot of writing and may revisit it when I tire of doing art. Which may or may not happen in my lifetime….

]]> By: Inanna Arthen http://waltshiel.com/2009/04/27/mass-market-paperbacks-self-publishing/#comment-683 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:32:55 +0000 http://waltshiel.com/?p=522#comment-683 I’ve run an large Amazon Associates bookstore since the late 90s, and there’s been a striking change in publishing patterns during that time. When I started the store, new titles came out in a very consistent and predictable way. First the hardcover was released; then, about a year later, a trade paperback edition; and after another year, the mass-market paperback. With smaller presses and new authors, the trade paperback stage was skipped, but the hardcover-paperback a year apart was so consistent, I watched for it.
About five years ago, this changed dramatically. Books were issued in mass-market first, then hardcover; books were never issued in hardcover at all, but trade paperback first; titles originally printed only as mass market paperbacks were re-issued as hardcover editions; there was no rhyme or reason to it. Publishers, large and small, seemed to be printing any titles they thought would sell, in any format they hoped would sell.
As a small publisher, my business model includes setting up and releasing titles in multiple formats simultaneously–hardcover, trade paperback and multiple e-book editions–with audiobook versions in production. I’ve found that all editions find a market for different reasons and it makes no sense to stagger them in the “traditional” way.
But I wouldn’t try to publish mass-market editions. Some pros in the industry predict that the mass-market paperback will die out and be replaced by cheap e-books.

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