hardcover vs softcover

[nikolai]

There's something I've noticed recently, mainly wandering thought the fantasy section of bookstores. Sometimes - instead of hardbacks - there are big (large print, large page size) softbacks produced. What's this about?

 

[Tsyr]

There's something I've noticed recently, mainly wandering thought the fantasy section of bookstores. Sometimes - instead of hardbacks - there are big (large print, large page size) softbacks produced. What's this about?

Trade paperbacks.

I don't much like them... all the fragility of softcover, none of the prestiege of a hardcover, and they take up almost the same shelf space, and the cost is still fairly high.

Dunno why they are gaining so much popularity.

 

[JoeBlank]

Trade paperbacks.

I don't much like them... all the fragility of softcover, none of the prestiege of a hardcover, and they take up almost the same shelf space, and the cost is still fairly high.

Dunno why they are gaining so much popularity.

I kinda like trade paperbacks. A nice price point between paperback and hardcover, and they are easier on the eyes than a tiny paperback.

Durability is not usually a problem for me with novels. I just don't have enough time to reread much, plus there is so much out there that I have not read for the first time, so as long as they hold up well for one reading they suit my purpose.

 

[CCamfield]

Trade paperbacks are usually better bound and printed on better paper. Which should mean they last longer. I think of them as midway between paperbacks and hardcovers.

I do have some in my collection... I don't mind them so much. When I first started reading the Malazan series that was the only format they were available in, so I've stuck with that.

But I've got what feels like so many books that, hardcover or softcover, my criterion for buying something is closing on "is this going to be a book I'll treasure all my life, or at least reread several times?"

 

[Sarigar]

Most, but not all trade paperback books(larger softcover titles) are from authors who are still alive or the family still owns the copyrights. They are not as expensive, or profitable, as hardcovers, yet they do bring in a good deal more money for authors and publishers than the mass market paperbacks. Most of the books you find in trade paperback are not available in mass market paperback. Some contemporary authors like to have their books available in all formats. Next time you are in a book store (you know, the place you go to look at books that you want to buy online) look at the classics - Homer, Dumas, Twain - and you'll notice they are mostly in mass market paperbacks. Then look at anything from the last 100 years or so - Hemingway, Faulkner, Martin, Tolkien - and you find either a mix of all three formats, or usually trade paper and hard covers. Oprah's book club from a few years ago pushed the contemporary author's books, and you can bet when they were hot they were only available in trade or hard covers.

 

[Mercule]

I like hardcover, most of the time. They look nicer (I don't like dust jackets, either), hold up better, open without feeling like they are breaking, and generally just feel nicer. Pretty much any book I consider worth recommending to someone else, I get in hardcover (dunno why, but I determined several years ago that was my criterion). I actually go back and replace old softcover books periodically, too.

About the only things I like softbound books for are non-fiction (at least those in which I tend to highlight) or for travelling (especially on a plane).

 

[Kesh]

For print books, I much prefer hardbacks. Even slim books, I prefer to get a hardback version. For books that don't have a hardback available anymore, I try to find library bindings. Which are essentially the paperback version given a hardback binding. Very compact, very durable.

However, of late, I've been converting my library to ebooks. Most classics can be had for free (or about $3, if you want a pre-formatted one for your reader software), and anything that's in paperback costs... about the same as the paperback. New books tend to be outrageously expensive, but I rarely buy new anyway. Plus, I can store at least half-a-dozen ebooks on a PDA that's 1/4 the size of a paperback.

My only problem is finding certain authors. Older Stephen King books aren't in ebook yet. No C. S. Lewis, Alfred Bester, none of Asimov's or Clarke's classics, etc.

 

[Tetsubo]

see, that's waht i thought too! the only hardbacks i own are the ones i got on the cheap at sfbc.com

~NegZ

I'm with NegZ on this one. I've got 18 bookshelves as it is. I need to conserve space. I don't mind if reference books are hardcover. But most others I prefer softcover.

Thankfully my local library has bimonthly sales. I can get hardcovers for 25 cents and softcovers for 20 cents.

 

[thatdarncat]

My only problem is finding certain authors. Older Stephen King books aren't in ebook yet. No C. S. Lewis, Alfred Bester, none of Asimov's or Clarke's classics, etc.

Depends on where you look. There's a thriving community online which OCRs and distributes books for free. I've been downloading books that I own and want to read, but would be inconvenient to take the book with me. I still buy books when I can afford to, but paperbacks seem to keep going up in price, and I long ago stopped buying hardcover. (Not counting books like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which are only available in hardcover, the last hardcover I bought was Crown of Swords - $40 plus tax)

I can remember when I used to take a backpack of books with me on vacation - now I just take my PDA.

 

[Kesho]

I have always wondered why the publishers, for fiction, did not standardize the size of the hardback.

Hardbacks, while more durable, and easier to read, come in a bewildering array of shapes and sizes...

I would rather put hardbacks on my shelves, but I am won over by the uniformity of the mass market paperback. You can make inexpensive shelves from 1x4 lumber, and they pack into boxes so much easier when you have to move. (I know, UK mass market books are just slightly bigger than US, but the range is not nearly as great as in hardback)

I'm sure that when I'm in my dotage, and unable to read the fine, smudgy, print any longer, I will wish that they were all in HC, but for now I'll keep by mass market editions