MARKET OVERVIEW
SPRING PAPERPACK PREVIEW
Looking to the future
As paperbacks and hardbacks go head to head thanks to Picador’s recent decision, Jonathan Ruppin
considers the future of the hardback format
It has been an extraordinary
experience putting together my
first issue of the Paperback Preview
supplement. I’ve had the opportunity
to talk to some of the most creative
and influential people in publishing,
had insights into areas of the
industry which I’d previously known
little about, and developed a taste for
chick lit, about which my feelings are
a little more ambivalent.
There are all sorts of issues I feel
it is worth drawing people’s attention
to, but none of them as fundamental
or as contentious as Picador’s
announcement in November regarding
its paperback publishing. My
thanks go to Picador for its decision
to start publishing most of its fiction
straight into B-format paperback—
and for giving me something to get
my teeth into first time out.
The format debate is something
which I’ve been quite forthright
about in my role as a bookseller, and
since the majority of my experience
comes from the retail side—previously
at Dillons and now at Foyles—
that’s where I’ll begin.
For all the horror stories booksellers
tell about customers who know
nothing about the book they’re after
other than the fact that it’s blue, there
is great satisfaction to be had from
placing in customers’ hands something
that they’re keen to read. So it’s
disappointing for all concerned when
it turns out that the books that have
piqued such interest are in a format
they don’t want and are twice the
price they had wanted to pay.
Customer is king
In preparing this article I had conversations
with people from all areas
of the publishing industry and read
many more opinions in the trade and
national press. I had intended to summarise
my findings and quote some
of those people who spoke on the
record. However, most of you reading
this piece will be aware of the
differing takes and besides, I soon
realised that while I’d accumulated
a lot of thoughts on what bookshops
want, what authors, agents, publishers
and reviewers want, very few
people had addressed what customers
want. And, essentially, most customers
don’t want hardbacks. They
might buy them as gifts—although
“The
hardback is,
supposedly,
a thing of
beauty, an
object to
treasure.
But the
concept of
the book as
an artefact
is outdated.
How can it
not be so
when you
can buy
books for
less than £4
in Asda or
Tesco?”
Jonathan Ruppin
I think that has more to do with not
looking cheap, rather than the fact
that the recipient might specifically
want a hardback—and they might,
occasionally, buy them for themselves.
Although this is only likely
with the authors that they particularly
love, or if it is a book that they
anticipate returning to frequently.
This is, of course, a generalisation,
but conventional defences of the
hardback format don’t stand up to
much scrutiny.
A hard sell
The hardback is, supposedly, a thing
of beauty, an object to treasure. But
the concept of the book as an artefact
is outdated. How can it not be
so when you can buy books for less
than £4 in Asda or Tesco? That’s
the same price as a glossy magazine
and it makes books just as
disposable. And how much value
for money do hardbacks really
give? Not enough given the
recent inflation in prices. The
Reavers by George MacDonald
Fraser (HarperCollins), for
example, is 196 pages long, yet
the r.r.p. is £18.99. John Mortimer’s
The Anti-social Behaviour of
Horace Rumpole (Viking), which
is also 196 pages of 12-point type,
is the same price.
I realise there is a lot of artificial
price inflation to facilitate
the colossal discounts that Amazon,
supermarkets and, increasingly,
the chains feel they must
offer. It’s also true that, across
retail, it’s a useful tool to draw
people’s attention to how much
they’re saving rather than how
much they’re spending. But we
now have a situation where it’s
almost impossible to sell a book
in quantity unless it is seen to
be at a reduced price, and I can’t
see how authors and publishers
benefit from that. It also prices
independent bookshops out of
the market for new titles, the
effects of which I need considerably
more than my allotted
word count to address.
At Foyles, aside from our
main Christmas campaign, we
have what we call the B-ring, which
is a selection of bestsellers from
earlier in the year and a few quirk-
4 The Bookseller Spring Paperback Preview | 4 January 2008 www.thebookseller.com
ier titles other shops would be less
likely to feature. In 2006, I took on
the responsibility of selecting these
titles for the first time. In 2005, the
B-ring had not been a great success
and given the struggle that
Foyles, like everyone
else, had
been hav-
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