It’s it just me or does it appear that more and more books are being published as trade size paperbacks?

I had a particular book in mind last night when I went to B&N – Greywalker by Kat Richardson. This is her debut book to a paranormal series and it sounds really good. In fact, I was hoping I had found my LKH Anita Blake replacement. When I saw it on Amazon, I didn’t pay any attention to the price. Boy was I surprised when I got to the store to fine it was trade size and $14. I picked it up and glanced through it and it appears the publisher had enlarged the print and spacing I guess to justify this larger size and price. Anyway, I put it back on the shelf because, even with a gc, I’m not willing to go that much for a new, unknown author. But as I looked around so more, I started noticing more and more trade size pbs. So is this the new trend? A way to get more money for books as though $7 - 8 wasn’t enough? And I know those of you in Canada and overseas are forced to pay even more than for a regular pb.

I noticed that too. I almost never buy a new trade book, because even at wal-mart they are like 10 bucks or more (usually more), where I'm used to paying about 5 bucks for a regual paperback. Even when I go to the pricer store in town Hastings the paperbacks are about 7 bucks, but the trade ones are like 14 bucks. I honestly couldn't tell you when I last bought a trade size for that reason.. oh wait.. yeah I can.. Hastings ran a sale on them buy two get one free, and I got three, but that was like last year sometime.

I thought that they came out in hardback, then trade size, then paperback, but that was just my thinking.. I usually don't know about a new book unless its from a series I'm reading, so I tend to just skip over the pricer trade size and go for the cheaper regual size pbs or better yet... trade for 'em. :whistle:

The one thing that does get me all mad is that at wal-mart all the "newish good ones" like chick lit or what have you are all the trade size. I was really surprized that the first time I saw "Everyone Worth Knowing" in wal-mart that it was regualar pb size not trade.

I noticed that, too. And I hate those new enlongated size paperbacks. Ruins the whole look of a bookshelf.

BTW, I just finished Greywalker and it is excellent. I have it on my wishlist for a permanent copy.

I personally prefer the trade papebacks. :lol:

Of course, I don't buy many new books if I'm not sure it's something I'm going to like, but I love the way the actual trade paperbacks look (the elongated mass markets are a different story), and I find them easier to read. They're bigger, which I like, but lighter than hardcovers, and I think they're a great combination of the best features of hardcovers (larger size, prettier covers) and mass market paperbacks (lighter weight, lower price).

But that's just me. And if it's a completley new author I'm not certian I'm going to like, I usually get it via here or BC or the UBS... or at the very least a new mass market paperback.

I do still have more mass market than trade paperbacks but I would love to have all my PC books be eitehr hardcover or trade paperback.

Pepper - I like being able to put my bookcover on my books as I read them to keep them neat and clean. I like being able to toss it in my purse so I always have it with me. That's another reason I don't like the trades and hardback. Plus they take up more space of which I'm limited like most people. :(

I actually found Kat Richardson's web site and wrote to ask her if Greywalker would be released as a regular size pb and she replied saying yes it would sometime in October when the second book comes out.

*shudders* I can't stand book covers. Or couch covers or cell phone covers or steering wheel covers or... :lol: About the only place I approve of covers is beds.

And unlike a lot of people here, I don't have thousands of books. I think I have fewer than 600 in my possession, and the only ones I want in hardcover or trade paperback are my PC. Of course, about 2/3 of the ones I own are PC but still...I'd say less than a quarter of those are actually hardcover or trade paperback.

Space isn't an issue because my PC books don't have to compete with my BC books for shelf space. The BC books don't get any. They're in boxes and crates. When I want a book for my PC, though, I'm collecting it as much as anything else, and I want it to look pretty. All the covers in a series have to match. I have bought new copies because covers are too bent up. And trade paperbacks are definitely shinier than mass markets.

I guess another reason trade paperbacks don't usually bother me is because I don't generally read genres where books are released first in mass market size. Usually if I want a book by a favorite author when it's first released I have to buy HARDCOVER and wait almost a year for mass market paperback... and since trade paperback is $10 cheaper than hardcover and comes out about 6 or 8 months sooner than mass market, I'm all about the trade paperbacks coming out first from that perspective. Although, I guess if I were used to books just coming out in mass market size from their original release date, that would be frustrating.