Why Hardcover version of a book is launched first ?
Isn't it more economical and more reader-friendly also to have a soft cover version instead of a hardcover version. OR at least to launch them both together. Soft cover books, especially in non-fictions are travel friendly too - they fit in my laptop bag and don't bulk it up. I am really not sure if publishing the hardcover first release still makes any sense. Please do educate me if you know the economics behind it
Good Answers (2)
Daniel J
District Leader at Primerica Financial Services and Owner, David Gordon Productions
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The economics are very simple. Publishers make a LOT more money from the hardcover edition than from the softcover edition. So those people who are most eager to read the book immediately pay a premium. If both versions were available simultaneously, many if not most readers would opt for the cheaper version and the publisher would lose out.
Publishing is not the only business that uses this strategy. Consider the movie business. Films are usually released into a first run theater at premium prices (usually $10-12 in the US), long before they are available on DVD, or cable TV. Although some distributors have experimented with simultaneous DVD release, that's a rarity. The idea is to get people who are most eager to see a film into the theater immediately for the most money, and then make additional revenues from people who are less interested or willing to wait.
M. Anis M
Strategic Change Management/OD at Abacus Consulting
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Moat answers cover the entire range - especially Monica's brief note says it all. I just want add one point:
There are people who wouldn't buy a paper back at all. A matter of habit/prestige/status call what you may. So that market segment has to be tapped early on because they are the "leaders" as well. There is another set of people who would'nt buy even the hardcover if the paperback is launched simultaneously. I think the publishers are well aware of their buyers' behaviour - at least so far.
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M. (Monica) B
Journalist (investigative)/researcher/writer/yoga addict/sports fanatic/deep thinker/firm believer
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It's just another way to make as much money as possible to sell the hardcover version first and then switch to a paperback edition. Especially when it's a book people will buy anyway, for example The Secret, The Da Vinci Code or the Harry Potter series.
a) Money; b) collectors' item (possibly if the book ended up being in high demand)
Strangely, you can get softcovers of books sooner in countries like Singapore, than in North America. If you have friends in that region, you might want to have them mail the paperbacks to you. Chances are if that book becomes a bestseller you will not get the paperback version in North America till maybe 2 to 3 years after the publication of the original hardcover.
Druhin D
at McKesson
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Santosh,
The "IT" population is still not even in double digits at this time around the world. Some of the more advanced nations such as US may have more, but still it is far less.
On top of that if you add further filters such as
1) Number of people who Read such books
2) Number of people who Read such books on their computer
3) Number of such people who are ready to "Pay" for Soft copy..
And so on....
The Result of such a screen will be at any give point in time less than 10% of the "Hardcore" Hard-cover Readers. Hence, it makes more sense "Business wise" to have the Hard-cover prints.
Yes, things are changing drastically in the Internet scene. But again, the pleasure of reading a "Hard copy" is exponentially larger than reading it on your computer.
Hope that gives you at least a starting point to get more detailed economics.
This is mainly a marketing decision even though there are different habits from country to country. If we take England, it is totally a marketing decision. Same thing happens for records. For Limited editions come in, then comes the regular priced market product.
In Turkey, hardcovers come if a book is really successful, so the other way around. In some countries, Hardcover never come at all. This all depends on the reading population of the country and also the buying habits of people (How they value and view the product).
Traditionally, the answer was that paperbacks were viewed in publishing as a cheap byproduct after the "real" book, the hardcover book, was past top popularity. Even as the commercial flow changed so that more money is spent on paperbacks, publishers usually make the hardcover the only available version for a preliminary time.
There are commercial approaches such as Apress and Safari where electronic or eBook versions are made available before ANY other publishing. Also, most of these books are never published in hardcover at all.
Steve N
President at PPR Management Services, LLC
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It's both marketing and economics. In the U.S., it's traditional for the hardcover to be released first. It looks and feels better, it appears more valuable, etc. The economics is simple; the difference between price and cost (i.e. profit) is greater for the hardcover. This is a generalization, of course, depending on the design and layout of the book, number of copies printed, and the price that can be charged based on the content/genre of the book.
