Hardcover to paperback?

[Hari Seldon]

How long does it usually take for a hardcover to be released in paperback form?

[Switchback]

too long...

[Connavar]

I think my bookshop guy said its about 6 months.

[Riselka]

My experience is that, if they release a trade paperback before the mass market, it can be a few months to a year after the hardback is published until the trade paper comes out. And if they do put out a trade paperback, it's often a year or so until the mass market comes out after the TP.

If they skip the TP, and go straight to the mass market copy, it's traditionally a year or more, and usually it's held back until right before the author's next book comes out in hardback.

So, in effect, it tends to be a bit of a crap shoot.

I've been waiting for so long for the second book in Jules Watson's series to come out in mass market form that I've begun to come to the conclusion it isn't ever coming out in mass market form.

[Connavar]

I dont even bother to wait for mass paperbacks for new books. I cant wait almost a year for my favorit series or books by authors that i really enjoy.

Sure its more than double the price than a mass paperback but some books are worth it.

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't know how they do it elsewhere, but in the US most of the time trade paperback is an alternative to hardcover -- either it comes out as one or the other but not both. Very, very rarely there is a hard cover and then a trade paperback, for books that are so popular they think it's worth while to sell them in all three formats.

Most of the time the gap between hardcover/trade paper and mass market is roughly a year, although there are always exceptions, and with series books I think it partly depends on how soon the next new book is coming out.

[Hari Seldon]

Well that's a bit disheartening. I prefer paperback because I get most of my reading done in the subway getting to and from work. It's easier carring a paperback, as well as holding one on a crowded train. Bottom line is I don't think I could wait that long for a few of the books I have in mind. It's worth the slight burdon.

Thanks for the info everyone.

[manephelien]

Or you could buy a reader and e-books. While I prefer paperbacks myself for portability and ease of reading in bed and in the bath, e-books do have a place if you commute a lot.

My commute is only 10 minutes, usually not worth taking a book to work...

[bookfan]

I think it really depends. Say what you wil about Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, but it was a huge seller in hardcover. The paperback and mass market editions came out 3 years later. If people were still buying the more expensive hardcovers, the publisher could make more money and in so doing, delayed the release of the less expensive paperbacks/mass market editions.

[kaneda]

Originally Posted by Hari Seldon

Well that's a bit disheartening. I prefer paperback because I get most of my reading done in the subway getting to and from work. It's easier carring a paperback, as well as holding one on a crowded train. Bottom line is I don't think I could wait that long for a few of the books I have in mind. It's worth the slight burdon.

Thanks for the info everyone.

I'm the same. I don't buy hardbacks for the same reason. Plus, I point blank refuse to buy a book for £14. I'm actully finding that it's now taking longer for books to be released on paperback. it used to be 6 months, but it now seems to be taking 8months - year before the book is released on paperback.

[Werthead]

It's usually a year. Sometimes it's six months - I note that Gollancz were getting Scott Lynch out in mmpb six months after hardcover - but it depends on the market and the author. In the USA very successful authors - most notably GRRM - sometimes have to wait 18 months between hardcover and mmpb.

What is interesting is that sometimes authors who go straight to mmpb end up selling tons of copies. Karen Miller recently benefitted from this, outselling Scott Lynch by a considerable margin when Orbit published her books straight to mmpb without any hardcover or tradeback editions.