(no subject)

[nolly]

Dear Publishers:

What's with this hardcover debut for new authors trend? Hardcover pricing is a lot to risk on an unknown quantity. More than once, the pre-release publicity for a new author's first book has intrigued me, but when I find that the book is a hardcover, I pass. If you're lucky, by the time the softcover comes out, I remember and I'm still inteerested, but you've lost a year or so of potential buzz generation by then.

Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Blake Charlton's _Spellwright_, came out this week. Paolo Bacigalupi's _The Wind-Up Girl_. (He had previously published some short stories, I think, but it was his first novel.) Ken Scholes, _Lamentation_. (Again, some published short fiction, enough for a small-press collection, but first novel.) Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin, _The Unincorporated Man_. Kristin Cashore, _Graceling_. Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, _Beautiful Creatures_. Cindy Pon, _Silver Phoenix_. I'm sure there have been many more that didn't catch my interest enough for me to remember they were HC firsts.

[jwoliver.livejournal.com]

A lot of the books you mentioned are YA, and a lot of YA is released in hardcover. Also YA hardcovers usually have a lower price point than adult.

As for the adult titles you list, Scholes won the Writer's of the Future Gold award, and I imagine that went a long way toward the publisher deciding to have him a 5 book deal from the get go and a lot of push. Bacigalupi's book was Nightshade's big push for the year, so I can see the reason to put it out in hardcover. The only one I questioned was Unincorporated Man. It was a risk. On the other hand, it probably get a bit of a push as well from the company's marketing department.

I believe that you are seeing more hardcovers. Part of it is to get these new releases up onto the tables with the other new releases and draw people back into the sections to check out the other titles. There's a stigma to walking back into a genre section, and if you can lure them with a bit of bait, then cool. Yeah, it sounds devious, but the publishers and all are running a business and trying to make a couple of bucks to rub together.

[nolly.livejournal.com]

A lot of the books you mentioned are YA

Well, 3 out of 7, and that was just a quick top-of-my-head list based on who I've read, seen at signings, or otherwise seen a lot of publicity for. The first 4 are adult market.

[jwoliver.livejournal.com]

Just a subjective definition of "a lot." I get your point though.

Another reason to put books out in hardcover is the various bookstores' bestseller lists. The hardcover list tends to to be the creme de la creme that gets preferential placing in store as well as media coverage. If you can break the top 10, it becomes a lot easier to sell an author. Of course, this is not likely happen to a first time authors, but you have to start somewhere.