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Hardbacks or Paperbacks
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Emma
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Oct 16, 2008 12:35PM
I like both of them, but I like tend to buy paperbacks because of the price. I only buy hardbacks when they're cheap or when it's a book I really cherish and love.
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I like paperbacks especially if I know I'll be carrying my book around different places to read it. I also like the price of the paperbacks.At times I will buy hardcover.
I only buy hardcovers on clearance. I also always carry a few books around with me and when it is a few hardcovers...ouchie. That's the nice thing about college now, 75% of my text books were soft covers. So I didn't break my back...much.
I definitely prefer paperbacks. They are easier to carry and are cheaper. I will only buy a hardcover if it is on sale and most of the time I can't find them at a price I'm willing to pay.
I really don't have a preference between hard or paperback. I'll purchase either and like the price of paperback more. I do have a paperback preference, though. I like the ones that are the size of the hardcover version, rather than the trade size version.
If they are both out, paperbacks. I carry them to and from work, sometimes 2 books at a time, they are lighter. Of course who can wait for a paperback Harry Potter book? Not me. :)
I don't really care either way, but I seem to prefer hardbacks. I bought the HP series in hardback, but that's because it's like a collection. I own a lot of paperbacks, though. I like the bigger paperbacks, like Ikiwiki said -- easier to hold while juggling an infant. :-D
I usually get the paperbacks due to the fact that they are more convenient to carry around w/ me and they are cheaper. If it is a book that just came out that I really want to read I will usually pick it up the first week that it is out. The last few times I did that though, they came out in paperback and I still had not read them...so I guess I should have just waited @ that point.
I like hardbacks better. It is harder for something to be done (such as bent pages and bent covers, to not tear pages out, sturdier spine, etc.). I have always considered paperbacks to be on the flimsy side. Hardbacks are much sturdier. Big paperbacks aren't too bad. Actually,they are basically like hardbacks. I don't mind them.
I like hardbacks or trade paperbacks for the fact that they keep their shape and are harder to destroy in my household. I buy paperbacks if they catch my fancy but those I usually swap out with friends and coworkers.
I have a hardback fetish. And I have a few (although not enough!) nice bookcases and I love to arrange them and see them on the shelves. And I love to meet the authors and get my books signed whenever possible. I enjoy carrying them around with me, and I'm alway nosy to see what someone else is reading if I see someone carrying a book (nosy in a good way!)
Trade Paper Back is a general term that defines books which are hard cover size without the hard cover. They are usually priced midway between the paperback and the hard cover. Most people don't know this, but there is a difference is the quality of the paper used to make regular paperbacks, and that is why they tend to yellow with age. Trade Paper Back books offer a lower price but keep the large print and better paper. I think they will eventually replace most hard cover books. I had to learn all this stuff while self-publishing a book last year.
Thanks for the insight, David!I always thought tradesize was the small version.
Given this new bit of info (well, new to me), I ultimately prefer the Trade Paper Back version of books.
Most publishers use book distributors to get their books out quickly and the distributor only pays the publisher about 30% of the cover price. With a paperback at $10.00, the publisher has $3.00 to pay for printing, shipping and royalties to the author, which averages 10% of wholesale.With a $30.00 hard cover, the publisher has $9.00 to work with. Even though the books cost more to print they still make more money per copy. How well the hard cover sells determines whether or not the book will be printed in paperback.
What I find really sad, is the fact that sometimes when paperbacks don't sell the bookstores are told to just rip off the covers and send them back for a refund. This happens when the shipping cost is more than the printing cost.
I prefer hardcover. I get a lot of books through trade sites and always get hardbacks through them. If I am buying I usually buy through amazon.com and usually there is only a couple dollar difference so it's worth it to me to get the hardcover. The only time I buy soft cover books is when I'm buying though scholastic book clubs.
I prefer paperbacks, they are just easier to deal with. I only buy hardcovers if it's part of a series or I can't wait for it to come out in paperback.
I hate hardcover. Mostly because I hate dustcovers....I take them off and usually throw them away...they are more of a hassel than anything....However, I will not NOT buy a book because it's only available in hardcover. I just prefer paperbacks.
I prefer Hardbacks for books I'm going to keep or get signed.If it's a series I'm reading or a book I am going to pass on, it's paperback.
Like Diane, my love for hardbacks stem from the fact that they line up ever so nicely on the shelf teeheeheeIn my younger days, I prefered paperbacks for their mobility and their price. These days tho, I've developed this thing for good editing, nicer (and spacier) fonts, and the fact that the hardback is alot hardier than the paperback.
Trade paperbacks are the second choice for me - again, fonts, editing and layout are easier on the eyes.
Getting old, getting old...!
I much prefer hardbacks, especially for non-fiction. I am a messy reading and by the time I finish with a paperback (unless its a fast read) it isn't in good condition. However, I don't buy much fiction as hardback. Hardback books, especially fiction, are easy to get at highly discounted prices online.
I usually buy the trade paperbacks. At the library, though, I only browse the hardbacks. I only venture into the paperback section if a specific book I'm looking for is only available in paperback. The thing I hate about the small paperbacks is that you have to actively work to keep them open. I like to read while I'm eating alone and I can't do that with paperbacks. You need two hands! Especially if they're big, fat paperbacks.
I tend to prefer paper backs myself, I think they're much easier to carry around. Also, they're so much cheaper than hardbacks! I'll buy a hardback if it's a book where I don't want to wait for the paperback version--like Harry Potter. But those trade sized paper backs are great, they're what I usually carry.
For me, it depends on the author. For example, I love James Patterson, so those I buy in hardback. Most of the Chick Lit books I own are paperback. Basically, the books I know I'm not going to trade with a friend or donate to the library are hardback. If there is a chance I'm not keeping it, it's paperback. But I do tend to prefer paperback b/c they are easier to haul around. Although it sometimes really bothers me when the spine gets messed up or the cover gets bent. lol..yeah I can be anal that way sometimes. :)
I like both. Before I buy a book or series, if I really think I will them and want to collect them, I will get the hardcover. But, if I have started a series in softcover, then I have to buy the softcover from then on, even if I really like it. I can't mix and match. Finally, unless I plan on keeping the book ahead of time, I prefer the softcover. That way I can jam them in my pocket, make them portable, etc.
I like hardbacks for reading in bed with a book light. Paperbacks are too flimsy to hold the light and bend or split too easily. For the most part, however, it's not the cover, it's what's inside that counts.
It depends on the book. I prefer hardback for non-fiction and paperback for fiction but when I really want a book I buy the hardback if paperback isn't available. Lucky me that most fiction I read these days is published as paperback only.
I don't mind either but I prefer paperbacks because they have this genuine book feel to them. I also like bending them around when I read sometimes.
I like them both but prefer seeing them in hardcover on my bookshelfs, even if that is gettign less now. Just like Eric I don't like mixing when it's a serie. I got the first Jean M. Auel in hardcover but the second one I got in a soft cover and ...welll my boyfriend already knows how my sentence finishes everytime I start about that book I have in hardcover but ..... yesyes I know the second one you got in soft cover and you want to have it too in hard cover and so on .... it really keeps nagging at my mind and it's already for some years. Maybe one day I will buy the whole serie in once in hardcover...but what do i do with the two I have then????
JG, a spanish girl at University once told me that it's not good to eat and read together because you will eat the words.I of course never cared about it because I love to do both together! besides when i am eating pasta with tomato sauce....
I love hardbacks for the same reason others have stated, last longer and look good on book shelf.I also loathe mixing a series. If I have paperbacks then the whole series is paperback and the same for the hardbacks. My nature just can't handle the mix which is funny because my son's Harry Potter series he has in the living has all paperback except for one that he got as a gift and it of course is hardback. I just turn the other way but it's hard not to want to remove the book.
But I also agree with having a paperback if you are carrying them with you to read.
Working in the library there are definitely a plus to the hardbacks as they don't get shoved behind other books, pages don't come out, they are easier to display, and stay upright much easier but they do have a definite drawback. THe drawback is the spines split in two but even that has an upside, the pages don't come out even then.
Paperbacks get all bended and out of shape, pages come out, don't stay upright, don't fit on shelves well, and well I won't keep going as it can get long.
"The thing I hate about the small paperbacks is that you have to actively work to keep them open. I like to read while I'm eating alone and I can't do that with paperbacks. You need two hands! Especially if they're big, fat paperbacks."Well said, JG. I'm with you 100% on this one. My hands get sore when I use the small paperbacks and I feel bad because I ALWAYS break/bend the spine. It's the only way I can keep the darned things open.
I like hardback books ,but I have read some paperbacks. It takes too long for the paperback to come out. On the other hand , paperbacks are more portable. I will buy my favs authors hardback.
anita :O)
I prefer hardcovers. They look nicer in my bookcase! I do take off the sleeves when I read though, so I don't ruin them. I carry a book around with me everywhere, so the softcovers tend to get semi-bent up also. I will only buy hardcovers when they are on sale though, since I rarely want to pay the hardcover price no matter how much I prefer them.
Except for classics I guess.
i definitely prefer hardback. not only do they look nicer on the shelf, but they are so much more durable. i will buy a trade paperback, since they are somewhat similar to a hardback. but i will not buy a smaller paperback. will not. they just seem so inconvenient, and are not very pretty on the shelf. unless i am really skeptical i will enjoy a book, i will buy it in paperback. or i will just try to get it at the library first.i also hate mixing a series, or even if i have multiple single books by the same author. but, i like to have them all in hardback. i bought the first twilight in paperback, because i was skeptical i wouldn't like it. i loved it, so i bought the rest in hardback, and had to go get twilight in hardback to match. although hardbacks are more expensive, if you are a member at some bookstores, you do get a discount on purchases, which helps.
i also have a slight obsession with bookplates, and think that they look much better and are easier to put into hardback books.
As long as it is a good book, I do not care. But I do like oversize paperbacks.
I usually end up giving paperbacks away to charity sales, but I don't part with my hardbacks unless I really hated the book. It is actually cheaper to buy fiction as hardback than paperback if you wait till the paperback has come out and look carefully online.
liz- a bookplate is something that you put in the front cover of a book that identifies that it is yours.a lot of them have some sort of picture and say 'ex libris' or 'from the library of' or whathaveyou and then you write your name on the blank.
i've really gotten into collecting them and matching them to my books.
I'm just grateful that I'm no longer limited to only hardback, which I was for several months after my stroke.I like hard and paper, whichever is cheaper - and sometimes the hardback is, indeed, cheaper on Amazon's "new and used." I'm not picky!
In order to read new non-fiction, particularly timely works, hardcover is the only option. Also for books that you know or expect to be special, hardcover seems the way to go. Ditto for signed books. Toting large hardcovers can be a chore, though, so paperbacks can spare a little room and some pain and strain. On the other hand paperbacks are often printed in smaller type, which can be a burden. Publishers are hard-pressed, I expect, so the quality of paper is on the decline. On a recent trip, I had a stop planned in Forks, so bought Twilight. It was practically falling apart when I bought it, new, in trade paper. I agree with Lilly that the cheapo mass market product is undesireable.
I think my family would dub as the craziest person in the universe if I get bookplates, but usually when I go home the only rooms in the house containing no books of mine are the kitchen, the living room and the bathrooms.
I find hardcover books heavy and somewhat hard to handle. MUCH prefer a well-made paperback. Except for classics -- those should ALWAYS be hardcover. Just because.
I usually prefer paperbacks, for the portability factor. Hardcovers don't fit in the purse, ect, and I feel naked/anxious if I don't have a book on me, even if I'm going somewhere that I know will lack reading time. However, any book that I plan on reading multiple times that has more than 500 or so pages I will buy in hardcover because when mass markets get that thick they fall apart and I have to buy them again, and again, defeating the purpose of the cost-effectiveness of paperbacks. I'm confused by the falling apart thing as I own other paperback that I've read 5 or more times without any creases in the spine.
Iki/JG, I feel your pain. When I work out I put a book on the shelf to read and it keeps closing on me. ARGHHHHHHHHH! I find myself bending the book back to get it flat and hoping the pages won't loosen from the spine. 50/50 for my success.
I collect old books so they have to be in hardback. My favorite poet must be in hardback. Favorite books mint condition hard back, no one allowed to touch but me. Just for reading and I know my kids will read it too, paperback.
I've got to agree with (G)Emma on this one. I like both, but I usually buy paperbacks because they are cheaper and more portable. If the book only comes in hardback or it's on sale, I'll buy it without a second thought. It takes way too long for a book to come out in paperback. :) One thing that I don't like is to mix a series up, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out and buy a hardback if I already have the paperback at home, or wait to buy the paperback if it's a book that I really want to read. I have the first two Harry Potter books in paperback, but the rest is hardcover.
When I buy paperback I highly prefer trade paperback, and only buy the mass edition paperback if that's the only option.
I only buy Hardbacks when I simply just can't wait for the book to go on paperback and I think it is easier to read when you are on the train juggling a coffee and a purse but I do prefer Paperbacks mostly because of the cost but mainly because I can fit 2-3 in my bag.But doesn't hardbacks look better on a shelf??
Doesn't bother me as long as all my books in a series match.I used to only like paperbacks as a child, but couldn't tell you why.
Ashley, yes! The series matching is VERY important!
I personally prefer mass market paperbacks for size and price. Since I pass on almost all books after I have read them to make space for new ones, I have no reason for hardback or collectible books. Trade Paperbacks are a compromise on price but not much better on portability or stacking space in the home. Yet I understand they are bigger moneymakers for publishers and authors so I see why they have their place. But most of the time I will wait for the paperback. OR I will go to the library and read it.
