Quote:
Originally Posted by BuddyBoy
Actually Gudy, MMPBs do cannibalize hardcover sales, which is why they aren't usually released at the same time as the hardcover.
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I know people of all three classes. As for myself, I NEVER buy hardcover, unless it's on remainder. I don't give a damn what the format of the media is, I just want the words. And I'm perfectly willing to wait a year or two to read anything. Heck, I'm a pretty big Harry Potter fan, and I didn't get around to reading book 7 for 6 months, even though we had TWO copies in the house.
If there's nothing but hardcover available, I won't buy it at all. These days, if there's not an eBook copy available, I won't buy it at all, because I have PLENTY of books already on my reader that I need to get to. If you want to sell me a book, it's going to HAVE to be an ebook.
I also know people who are fans of the media; they insist on buying first-edition hardcover copies of all their favorite authors books. They will do so even if there's a paperback right next to it for 1/4 the price. They're on the other side of the equation.
Then I suppose are the majority of people who, as you describe, are just looking for the book ASAP and will buy whatever version is available. In some ways, selling them hardcover is kind of a rip-off. I think of a hardcover as being a more permanent copy; it's what you buy if you want to keep and re-read the book many times. Publishers are just using it as an excuse to get another 10 bucks from impatient people. They could just as well make a paperback copy and put a special gold seal inside and say they're charging $10 for that.
Really you're just asking the people not willing to wait for the paperback to defray all the editing and publishing costs, and paperback sales are just gravy. Few of the people who buy the hardcover actually care that it's a hardcover. Or at least, that's what it seems like to me.