The Bookseller.com

11th October 2008

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Trade fears for 'sidelined' hardback

08.11.07

Picador's decision to serve time on the literary hardback has met with a cool response from the book industry. From spring 2008, "the majority" of Picador's new titles will be released as limited edition, high-end hardbacks and mass market B-format paperbacks. Only 1,000 copies of each title will be printed in hardback.

The move aims to tackle falling sales for hardback literary novels--which often sub fewer than 200 copies into retailers nationwide--by co-ordinating press coverage for new launches with the paperback editions that drive the majority of sales. "We're trying to face the depression in the market head on," said Picador publisher Andrew Kidd.

But retailers warned that the hardback editions would be sidelined altogether, and that Picador was in effect returning to being a paperback publisher as it was before "vertical" publishing.

"It's an interesting experiment and we, with others, will be watching it closely," said Toby Bourne at Waterstone's.

Agent Clare Alexander warned that Picador's strategy would "disadvantage" the imprint in rights auctions. "If Picador is in straight competition with another publisher which has confidence in hardbacks, then the author is going to choose to have a hardback." Authors value the prestige and the higher royalty rate linked to hardback publication, as well as the double opportunity to be stocked by retailers, she said.

But literary editors welcomed the strategy, saying it would give them more opportunity to review new fiction that is immediately accessible to buy. "If you know you could get it, you might just go get it," said Erica Wagner at the Times. Jane Mays at the Daily Mail added: "In our sort of format it gives us much more opportunity to review a book."

"We want to help well-reviewed authors get straight to their readers," added Kidd. "People who love books as objects are always going to buy them, and will be prepared to spend money doing so. But we are no longer trying to entice people who don't really want to buy the hardback to do so." He added that the new system would allow Picador to upgrade the quality of its hardback editions.

Blogs: Format fallout

Macmillan Picador Andrew Kidd