How does hardback and paperback affect your book or novel?

Answer 1

That depends entirely on your publisher. If yoiu are with a smaller publisher or a POD, odds are your book is going to be trade paperback and nothing else. They don't usually have the funds to put out hardcover books. Most of them have really terrible covers. Small publishers and POD's don't put much effort into artwork. They usually do it themselves on their own Mac's -- and it shows.

If you are with a larger publisher through a literary agent, you are more likely to get a nice run of hardcover books first with a nice dust jacket. The run will be maybe 15,000 books maybe even more depending on how hard your agent promotes you with the publisher.

If the first print run sells, there may be a second hardcover run or more.

If the book is doing well, you can expect a paperback edition 6 months to a year later. If it is tanking in hardcover, that won't happen. It all depends on your sales and how hard your agent is working for you. Pax - C

Answer 2

As a reader - I buy hardbacks of books I want to keep and re-read. The paperbacks I usually read and pass along to friends.

However I have some well loved paperback in my collection I wouldn't part for the world.

The Exorcist
The Catcher in the Rye
Some sci-fi stuff ..

People who love to read look for the story not the binding. :)
So many great books out there that are no longer in hardback - that doens't make them any less great.

Answer 3

Although hardback is the preferred kind of book,paperbacks can generate a lot more sales because of the lower price

Answer 4

I think you mean reading and collecting my books, I prefer hardcover ones which I would like to collect to read for years, for instance, those in the Everyman's Library series, while many paperbacks I also buy, read and collect since they are not costly but, sadly, after some 20-30 years some with mediocre publishing quality would turn yellow and crack from their spines.

Answer 5

Paperbacks make the book look cheap and uninteresting to me, its as if it wasn't good enough to make it into a hard cover. I realize it has no bearing on how good the novel is but it just makes it look bad.

Answer 6

I imagine price is the difference. Isn't that usually the case when you look at both in a bookstore?

Answer 7

Paperbacks are for poor or middle class losers.

Answer 8

hardcover costs more to buy, and most likely to publish.