The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

Philip Jones is the managing editor of theBookseller.com. He will blog with links and comment about the book business.

Format fallout

08.11.07

The news of Picador's decision to serve time on the literary hardback almost slipped out unnoticed this week, with blog chatter on the subject strangely muted, and even Picador's recently-launched blog radio-silent on the matter.

But don't let this relative quiet fool you: the move is already causing a quiet literary storm behind the scenes. As this week's Leader column in The Bookseller states, "Picador's bold step could be the start of the most radical change in the way books are published since the advent of 'vertical' publishing."

That literary hardbacks are in trouble has been an open secret for some time, but the lurid news stories contrasting the success of Katie Price's Crystal with this year's shortlisted Booker titles were an embarrassment for those in the industry who still cling on to lofty ideals of serious writing.

Picador publisher Andrew Kidd has clearly had enough, believing that the writing is being hampered by a 'moribund' format. His strongly worded missive made things clear: "When are we going to accept that we live in an A and B (now mostly B) format country; that only a tiny handful of authors command enough reader loyalty to achieve viable hardback sales; that by concentrating promotional energy on a moribund format we are doing no favours to the format people actually want to buy?"

Kidd added that that the move would allow Picador to produce better-quality hardbacks (in smaller quantities). But as Waterstones.com's handy stock indicator demonstrates even superior quality hardbacks such as those published by The Everyman Library are unlikely to be well supported by booksellers.  As one publishing c.e.o. confided to us, hardback literary débuts are frequently subbed into retailers at volumes under 200 copies.

Waterstone's says that it will be watching the move closely--as will other retailers--but with supermarkets et al pushing book prices ever downwards, it can only be a matter of time before hardbacks disappear entirely off the shelves. Why stock a £12.99 copy of On Chesil Beach when a £6.99 (before discounting) version is already being touted by the local supermarket? Why stock hefty hardbacks when slimmer paperbacks allow a greater range to be displayed? Perhaps more importantly, why stock both?

That's not to say that there aren't some big issues to work out. Publishing first in hardback provides two bites of the bookselling cherry, and it remains the format of preference for some authors. But in offering format-choice, Picador has stripped the literary hardback of its only valid selling point: exclusivity. It is hard to see how it will survive that.

In an odd way, could it be that those of us awaiting the publishing world's format-changing iPod moment may just have witnessed it?

Comments on this article