I finally made a USA Today list

Okay now that I have your attention, I didn’t make “THE” USA Today bestseller list but I am like the growing trend of first time authors who have their first book in a trade paperback, according to the newspaper. The article, Trade Paperbacks thrive in tough times by Carol Memmott (follow the link: http://www.usatoday.com/life /books/news/2009-04-20-trade-paperbacks_N.htm) follows one author’s first book. It is from last April but has resulted on some interesting discussion recently on the Murder Must Advertise loop.

Much of the discussion is about what consists of a trade paperback. They are in fact larger than a paperback which I think of as pocket book or could be slid into a back pocket for whenever you had a few minutes. The first in the Mitch Malone Mystery series measures about six by nine inches. A mass market paperback is roughly four by seven inches.

The item that caught my attention was a discussion on whether hard cover books area a dying breed? In big publishing houses, the hard cover edition comes out first and then is followed by a paperback version for the mass market a period of time later. In these tough economic times, the hard cover market has been hit particularly hard because they are the priciest editions costing well over $20. Add to that the increasing number of sales for electronic versions with Kindle, the Sony Reader and the soon to be introduced Apple version. Will the hard cover book melt away like the typewriter?

I wish I had a crystal ball for that one but at this point there are still too many readers who like to hold a book and not a reader. It gives you something to think about. What is your preferred method to get your reading material and do you think the hard cover book is dead? Weigh in.