Jumping into the fray

[zanzjan]

...on the whole buying hardcover versus paperback discussion that's taking place around writerland. anghara has an excellent summary -here-.

My own contribution to this discussion is going to be limited to my perspective as a reader, on account of not actually having any books of my own in print. (When I do, of course, I hope you'll all buy a hardcover if you can afford it. More than that, though, I hope you *read* my book and like it and buy future books by me and recommend them to your friends so that I can keep writing them.)

Here's the gist of my own book-buying habits:
1) I prefer hardcovers to paperbacks.
2) I like to support writers (and artists) when I can.
3) However, I can't afford to buy a lot of hardcovers (at least, not at full price).
4) Also, hardcovers take up more shelf space than paperbacks. When you have something like 4,000+ books, this becomes a consideration.
5) It annoys the crap out of me to have a series where some books are in one format and some in another.

So:
A) I buy hardcovers when I can, of books that I know I'm going to read many times, unless I already own the previous books in the series in paperback. ...Unless I love the series enough that I plan on taking the time & effort (and possibly significant expense) to track down hardcovers to replace my paperbacks of previous volumes.
B) If it's a book by a new author that I don't know much about, or if it's a book in a series that I think may be about to jump the shark, I buy paperbacks.
C) If it's a book I'm vaguely embarrassed about buying/reading (paranormal romance, ahem), I get it in paperback.
D) I tend to only buy used hardcovers or paperbacks when filling in gaps in my collection.
E) I sometimes buy discounted (remaindered, I suppose) hardcovers when it's an author I'm unsure of but have high hopes for, or big anthologies that are just too far out of my price range otherwise.
F) If I go to a book signing I take a hardcover with me or buy one there.
G) If I like the book, I recommend it to other people.

Comments

[jenwrites.livejournal.com]

I'm very much a paperback girl. Since I tend to carry books around with me, I like them to be small and light. I do own hardbacks, but they're either gifts, or remainders, or books I didn't want to wait 6-12 months to buy.

[pnh.livejournal.com]

I think people should obtain books in whatever manner is convenient to their budget and needs. Hardcover, softcover, used, public libraries -- it's all part of the book economy. I think guilt-tripping people for preferring paperbacks, or for buying and selling used books, is deranged.

[zanzjan.livejournal.com]

Yep, absolutely. One wonders how close to the edge of viability (or ego-crash) an author one has to be to get really worked up about what format people are buying your books in -- hell, I'd just be happy that I'm being bought and read at all.

I'd suspect, if I checked, that the ratio of paperbacks to trades to hardcovers I bought last year is somewhere along the lines of 4:2:1, but I don't have that figure handy. If I have any regret for any of the purchases, it's because of what lay between the covers, not how big said covers were...

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

Because I read fiction (mostly) while on the subway and hardcovers are heavy and don't fit in my bag, I prefer pbs for fiction. I prefer trade pbs to hardcovers for non-fic these days because of the expense. I buy a lot of books. I belong to the Quality Paperback Book Club (and have for over 25 years). I figure if I didn't buy cheaper copies, I would be buying fewer books, so while I'm not supporting the writers as much as if I'd buy hardcovers, I am supporting more authors.