Hardbounditis

[reanjr]

WotC most definitely has it. White Wolf seems to have caught it as almost all the new World of Darkness books are hardbound even if they're slender enough to be paperback.

What do you think of it? Does it provide a higher-quality product, or is it just an excuse to charge more?

I think full color glossy pages are the scheme to get us to pay more. Hardcover books are much more durable and I will gladly pay the extra 5 USD to get one over paperback. But artwork serves almost no purpose. I understand the need to define a book's theme through visuals, but every page being full color and glossy is not necessary or even that wanted.

I like the balance some OGL companies have struck (examples Nyambe and Midnight) where the first 20 or so pages are full color, high gloss while the rest is black and white.

I've even seen one book (Kingdoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting) that interspersed full color with B&W, though the effect was a bit odd. The borders of the pages were the same, but the color ones looked a bit out of place since there was only one page at a time in color.

So, yeah, I think Hardcover is the way to go except on the thinnest of books (original Psionics Handbook, IMO is right on the verge of going one way or the other)

 

[reanjr]

Do they actually make more profit for hardbacks? I thought the price scaled up the same.

I just like hardbacks, though. They seem more bookish.

To my knowledge, hardcovers are 1-2$ more expensive to produce. Usually when I've seen a book available in both hardcover and softcover, the hardcover runs about 5$ more. Some of this might go to shipping and other charges incurred with distribution, but it seems to me they are a bit more profitable (revenue at least, not margin)

 

[Jdvn1]

Hm, I think when books change hands from, the ending price is about 8x from the production price, 1/8 of that is profit. On a $30 book, they make about $3. With softcover, it's probably more like $2 profit per book.

I don't remember where I got those numbers, though.

 

[Razz0putin]

Man what are you people doing with your books. I always hear someone saying this or that isn't any good (usually the binding) and I just don't have these problems. maybe you guys are just getting to use them a lot more than me. incidentally I didn't vote because I don't really care if its hardback or softback (for the above reason) just so long as it's a good product.

 

[Psion]

Man what are you people doing with your books. I always hear someone saying this or that isn't any good (usually the binding) and I just don't have these problems.

Good bindings won't have a problem, but I've had some books for which opening them is enough to pull the pages away from the spine, and when that happens, picking the book up by the cover is enough to have the middle sag and start ripping the end-pages away from the spine.

 

[jonesy]

I avoid hardbacks whenever I can. It there's a choice, I always pick the softcover version. They take up less space in my bag and my bookshelf, they are easier to read (the only "relaxed" way to read a hardcover is to set it down on a table), and they cost less. Also I take very good care of my books. My OD&D books are still near mint despite having been used more than any of the others.

This is even more true when talking of novels. I hate hardcover novels.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Perception - hardbacks gives it, the books look professional, respectable, they have class and sex appeal, you feel better carring them around, soft cover books take on the role of porn, cheesy.

 

[S'mon]

They certainly look more impressive. Of course there's a residual "A hardback - wow!" feel from the early 1e days when TSR's hardbacks were of awesome "US school textbook" quality, most hardbounds these days fall apart even faster than paperbacks. My copy of Grim Tales arrived already cracked. Haven't seen this much with Necromancer or WoTC hardbacks but I handle them gingerly.

The big problem with hardbacks though is that when I come to sell them secondhand the Royal Mail charges me ca £4.50 for postage! The equivalent softback would be ca 80p or £1. So softbounds are a much better investment if you're likely to resell.

 

[MonsterMash]

For me content is more important than it being hard or softbound.

 

[Umbran]

Of course, content is the first criteria for purchase. But for any book I'm going to use frequently, I prefer a hardcover. Paperback is okay for books I refer to only once in a while.