Saturday, May 9, 2009

Loving trade paperbacks

When the last novel of the Twilight series hit bookstores, I was surprised to note that it came out in both hardback and trade paperback formats. I always thought that paperbacks -- both the trade and the mass market editions -- come out months after the hardback's publication. Nowadays, though, there has been an increasing trend in releasing the hardback and the trade paperback editions of a book at the same time.

I guess this makes perfect sense, especially during these financially difficult times. Hardbacks are very expensive, and trade paperbacks only cost about half. I've always loved trade paperback editions with their large typeface and their semi-permanent ink. When I read mass market editions, my hands get smudged from all the ink. They get deformed and fox easily too.

Old, crusty, and smelly

4 comments:

LoF said...

I read in the PhilStar this morning that they have begun to impose a duty on foreign published books and that the customs assessor doesn't think novels and "reading books" fall into the realm "educational, scientific or cultural materials." Twilight was the first book subject to the tax. This is as disturbing as the MTRCB v. UP case on independent cinema.

sumthinblue said...

Hahaha, I am obsessed with upgrading all my paperbacks into hardcovers, but trade paperbacks are the next best thing... I hate how mass market paperbacks crease easily, the bindings give way, and the pages yellow and crumble over time.

Interesting though, in an FFP lecture about book production (last February), we learned that hardcovers only cost slightly more to produce than the trade paperbacks, and they just jack up the selling price.

wanderingcommuter said...

hhhmmmm... i love the smell of this kinds of books... eventhough i already finished reading it i just love how the scent of it brings back memories!

gentle said...

yes, i must agree with wandering commuter with what he said with the scents. there is a particular scent to old trade paperbacks... addicting; like rugby to a rugby boy wandering at philcoa's dark corners by nightfall. :)