But many are confident that the sturdy hardback will endure. Some in the industry think that e-books may eventually replace paperbacks. In the past, a successful book might have been expected to sell four times as many copies in paperback as hardback, but some recent releases have sold more copies in hardback than paperback, as paperback readers turn to e-books. 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North', for instance, is out now as an e-book, costing less than ВЈ6 (or $10). Readers who resist the cost of hardbacks by waiting for paperback editions now have an even cheaper, lighter and more environmentally friendly version, which they don't have to wait for. If anything, the main threat from digital books is to paperbacks. Some publishers time their hardback editions to come out just before Christmas, eyeing the gift market, before publishing the paperback edition in time for the summer holidays.ДЇor all the doomsaying about the death of the paper book, it is proving resilient. Printed at a higher volume than the hardback, it usually sells in greater numbers, but at lower margins. Once hardback sales have slowed, a paperback edition is released. And they hold a certain snob value, too: literary editors traditionally donвЂ™t review paperbacks. Hardbacks' durability means they are also popular with libraries. вЂњThe Narrow Road to the Deep NorthвЂќ has bright red endpapers others sport embossed covers or come with bookmarks.

And just as cinephiles like to see films on the big screen, collectors enjoy the hardback's premium quality. Like cinema tickets, hardcover books generate more profit per unit than paperbacks. Known as вЂњwindowingвЂќ, this sales strategy is also used in the film industry, where titles are released in the cinema several months before being sold on DVD. From paperbacks to premium hardcover books, from endsheets to dust jackets and exceptional finishes - our helpful team of print experts are ready to guide. The paperback was the solution.Д«ut titles which are expected to sell well are often still printed first in hardback. During the second world war, interest in reading as a pastime increased just as paper shortages demanded more efficient methods of printing. It took off in Britain and America in the 1930s, when publishers such as Penguin and New American Library began mass-producing cheap but well-designed reproductions of older texts, aimed at a new generation of readers who could not afford hardbacks. The paperback was pioneered in the 19th century and became popular in continental Europe.

Small print runs made them expensive luxuries. The first books were bound with strong, rigid covers. But why do books come out in heavy, expensive hardback format first? A lighter, cheaper paperback edition will be published next year in both countries. Nor is it cheap, at ВЈ16.99 in Britain (or $26.95 in America). At 22cm (9 inches) long, 464 pages deep and weighing in at more than half a kilogram, it isn't a convenient thing to lug around. Like most of the titles nominated for the prize, Mr Flanagan's work is so far available only in hardback format in most markets. THIS year's Man Booker Prize was awarded on October 14th to 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North', Richard Flanagan's harrowing tale of Australian prisoners of war in Burma.

Hardcover vs paperback book