Despite this digital age, and I fear even sharing this sentiment, paperbacks remain my favorite book format. Unfortunately, within the last few months I have noticed that the cost of each and every paperback (no matter how small) has increased in price by $2. Every paperback is now $7.99 where they used to be $5.99. Also I have noticed Trade Paperbacks (those larger size-paperbacks) have increased too—those that used to cost $12 to $14 now cost $15. Yikes!
And what about those “Classics”? Well, I recently went on a quest for The Sun Also Rises (paperback) and was extremely disappointed. There were no (none, nada, zip) paperbacks which would have listed at $7.99—oh no, all that existed were trade paperbacks for $15. Oh my!
I haven’t been able to determine why paperbacks have increased; there are no search results in Google (well, no relevant results). In my opinion, now is not the time to increase paperback prices. I have less and less money to spend on books right now. My family income has decreased and we make less than we did three years ago—this equates to less disposable income which in turn means less money to buy books.
And while I know there has been an increase in e-readership, I would want to see the reasoning behind the price increase and correlation. How many readers would have purchased paperbacks but now purchase e-books? And, have those said readers given up paper books in their entirety? Conversely, isn’t it cheaper to stock, publish, and deliver e-books?
Dear Publisher?/Bookstore?/Economy?/E-Readers? Whoever you are… I am left disappointed and with less disposable cash to spend on my beloved paperbacks.
