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E-books vs. paperbacks vs. hardbacks: Is this guy a snob toward softcovers, even though he reads E?
April 16, 2008 | 8:23 am
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By David Rothman
“In the age of the iPhone it is the paperback, not the hardback, that seems most under threat. Between my passion for” books from PS Publishing “and my lovely iPhone, I have barely touched a paperback in months. The part of me that loves books—that wants to own them, or lend them to friends, or give them as gifts—is far more satisfied by a quality hardback than a cheap paperback.” – Don’t abandon hardbacks, by Damien G. Walter, in the Guardian.
The TeleRead take: Is there such a thing as a “hardback visage”? Walter, now working on a novel under a grant from Arts Council England, has it. Is his grim black-and-white photograph part of a rehearsal for a hardback dust jacket? That aside, I’d agree with him and Ficbot that different media would be appropriate for different circumstances. What a pleasing cover from PS for a reissue of Random Walk, a reissue of a Lawrence Block mystery! Click on the image for a more detailed view.
Where I might disagree with Walter: How keepable a p-book is shouldn’t just depend on “hard” or “soft.” What about the quality of the writing, the cover, typography and the rest?
I myself will never be a snob about paperbacks vs. hardbacks. Exactly how has Walter been able to “barely touch a paperback in months”—just because he hasn’t found anything worth reading in them, or because he’s immediately rushed out to buy hardback editions? Damn silly, if you ask me. On the positive, it’s great to see him open to E.
And meanwhile Walter’s gung-ho observations on the iPhone—something that should send Mike Cane into fits of ecstasy: “While the media have been squabbling over the ifs, buts and maybes of Amazon’s Kindle, Apple have been smuggling the perfect e-reader into millions of pockets around the world. The iPhone currently requires some minor tinkering to reach its full e-reader potential, but that will change in June when Apple opens the device to third-party applications. With its excellent screen and robust battery life, the iPhone has everything any e-reader needs, making it the final link in the chain to make ebooks both easy and desirable for a mass readership.
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I, too, think it is the paperback that has the most to lose from the e-book. Now that I have a Sony Reader, I only buy/read two types of books: hardcover and e-book. I buy the hardcover version of books that I want to keep in my library or give as gifts; I consider e-books to be disposable, like paperbacks. When I was buying paperbacks, after I read them i donated them to the local library (I was always very careful with them so that 95% of the time after I read a paperback it still looked brand new — no broken spine, ripped pages, etc.) Unfortunately, it is more difficult to do that with e-books.
Exactly how has Walter been able to “barely touch a paperback in months”—just because he hasn’t found anything worth reading in them, or because he’s immediately rushed out to buy hardback editions?
None of the above. I’ve been reading fewer paperbacks because I’ve been reading more e-books, in turn because the iPhone IS a great e-reader. If people are going to start reading e-books, they are going to stop reading something else. there is only so much time in the world. PBacks seem like the loser to me.
Thanks for linking. Nice blob, I’ll RSS.
Damien & Richard…
D: That’s a great answer from an E perspective, even if I respectfully disagree with you about soft covers. Actually, more than a few say e-books will be the new paperbacks. Thanks for adding us to your RSS list, and if you want, I can even arrange for you to appear in the main part of the TeleBlog when the spirit moves you. E-mail me at drNOSPAMteleread.com if you’re interested. For now, the very best of luck with your novel!
R: Excellent point about library donations. That is one negative of E as it now exists. I still want to do that long piece on new biz models for libraries; maybe there can be other ways of donating. On another topic, yes, it’s interesting that Damien has company in his heartfelt rejection of paperbacks. I encourage other TeleBlog community members to speak up, however they feel.
Thanks,
David
Actually, I consider not being able to donate eBooks to the library as an advantage. Buy eBooks cheap and donate the money you save to the library. It’ll be worth more to them than the quarter or so they charge for used paperbacks. And it’ll give them the money they need to actually buy books–giving authors (and publishers) a bit of much needed income.
Rob Preece
Publisher, http://www.BooksForABuck.com
By the way, David, I credit your mention of A Really Bad Hair Day for bumping it from 12th place to 10th place in the Fantasy Best-Seller’s list. Thanks again.
Best-seller’s list at Fictionwise, I meant to say.
I completely detest and avoid as much as possible mmpb because the print is small, many times it tends to be done close to the spine so you have to stretch the book…
HC’s are nice but sometimes clunky, though durable true. In many ways my favorite format is the oft-criticized tpb, since it’s big enough but lighter and less clunkier than the hc. Sure, it’s less durable, but that’s a matter of taking care of your books
So for me e-books are less than replacing a particular print format, but about value and convenience.
mSo price and availability are very important factors, and while charging close to frontlist prices for new e-books makes some sense, once the print book price drops either by release in another format or by large amounts hitting Amazon used books, it also makes sense lowering the e-book price to keep about 20% under the lowest print (including shipping) alternative.
If a book is 4$ used on Amazon (1c + 3.99 sh), I would not pay more than 5$ for an e-book version if I really want the book now, or more than 2.50$ if I can wait a week.