Anchor Books announced today they'd print up some 5 million paperback copies of Dan Brown's runaway bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" for its March 28 release. The movie version -- starring Tom Hanks -- comes out May 19. Frankly, if the movie wasn't coming out, they might never have released a paperback. The publishing industry is in a slump (though still a $20 billion business) and they wouldn't agree with me, but one big reason is paperbacks.
DVD sales exploded because they offered better quality at a lower price than VHS. But in the book world, they delay a paperback's release again and again and charge more and more for them. Instead of designing attractive "mass market" paperbacks at inexpensive prices, publishers push "trade paperbacks" that cost some $14-$16. Mass market editions (often about $6 or $7) come out years after a hardcover's release, if at all.
Publishers do everything they can to make those editions seem junky and unappealing, only suitable for airplane reads. It's even more frustrating for evergreen titles -- how frustrating is it to look up a 20 year old novel and find out it's only in trade and costs $17 dollars?
And they wonder why people aren't snapping up books. So are any of you latecomers going to (finally) read "Da Vinci" when it comes out in paperback?
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