Several weeks ago, news came down that Dorchester was going digital…as in they were going to end the mass market distribution of their books starting September 1st. Well that day has come and gone so … no more new Dorchester mmpb on store shelves period. The plan is this: after their books are released in digital format, six months later you will be able to purchase them POD (Print on Demand) in trade format. This also means, print books you used to be able to buy for around a $6.99 price point, if you want it in print and not digital, you will have to fork out approximately double that and you’ll have to wait an additional half year.
I’m not sure how many of you read authors from Dorchester, but those who do, the horizon looks like a mixed bag of pros and cons. On one hand, Dorchester could have simply folded completely, denying you the works of authors you love altogether. But the flip side of that is to get their books you have to:
1. Be able and willing to read the digital book
2. Wait an additional six months and buy it for almost double what you’d pay for it if it were mmpb. (Two whammies)
I, personally, don’t normally buy trade or hardcover books because of the expense. I buy too many books to be willing to pay premium price for them. Also, with so many wonderful books in mmpb, I don’t have to. But I do have an ereader so digital books are no problem for me.
The question I have today is if the publishing company of some of your favourite authors did what Dorchester did, would you continue–come hell or high water–to buy their books be it digital or trade?
[poll id=”33″]
You don’t have a “sure, I mostly read digital, but I read plenty of MMPB” option! I wouldn’t buy trade if I were used to MMPB, because for most of those authors trade is too expensive for me. However, I’d certainly buy digital in those cases. Dorchester’s decision won’t change what I read by their authors, whether I’ve read those authors before or not. If they look like something I’d enjoy, I’ll just read them in digital.
(Ooops, forgot to add–I’d buy the trades of “keepers” if there were any–the problem with using Dorchester as an example is that they never had hardcovers and I don’t ever keep paperbacks. With another publisher, if they eliminated HCs, I’d certainly buy trade.)
Sometimes it’s not so easy to continue with buying an authors book. I’m a fan of Gemma Halliday’s books but due to my location I have trouble to buy her new book.
I often can’t download ebooks from US sites and even amazon.co.uk isn’t a possibilty because I’m not from the UK but from Germany and they won’t deliver the ebook to my location.
So, yes I would follow an author to digital books but it has to be possible. Looks like I will wait for the print version of Gemma Halliday’s new book.
I can only read ebooks on my computer because I don’t have a special ebook reading device. I probably will not buy one either. I don’t like it when publishers do things like this. It is forcing loyal readers & buyers of their books into a format they don’t want at a price they don’t want to pay or perhaps cannot afford to pay. Presently, I am getting more and more of my books from trade sites and used book stores. If more publishers do what Dorchester is doing, I will rely 100% on trading and buying used books…even for the books of my very favorite authors. Actually, I could quit buying & trading books today and never run out of reading material with the number of books on my TBR shelves just waiting to be read!
I don’t buy e-books, mostly because I have plenty of print books to read and I prefer them. I don’t generally buy trade books, and certainly don’t want to be forced to buy them. So with those options, I probably would skip Dorchester’s books, even though there may be some really great books I’m missing out on. I do use PaperBackSwap.com, so I might be able to acquire them eventually.
Let’s just hope as readers the rest of the publishers don’t do the same thing.
It’s a sad sign of the times but necessary if you want to survive. I have an ebook reader and would happily buy ebook formats from my favourite (and new) authors. However, I might only buy a POD version if I really want a copy for my keeper shelf.
I wonder also what that deal means for the authors in terms of their income.
It seems like we are being forced into formats (digital in particular) whether we want them or not. I don’t have an ereader and one doesn’t appeal to me. I like print books. If the day ever came when they quit making print books of my favorite authors who knows what I’d do. Maybe, like Karen said, I’d just go through my massive TBR pile. It’s big enough and I’d finally get through all the books! I hope the day doesn’t come when they quit making print books. And who knows if I will eventually cave in and get an ereader.
I find digital readers too hard to follow, so I primarily read Mass Market Paperbacks (99% of the time). I really like the Percy Parker series by Leanna Renee Heiber. I think her series is being adapted for a movie – not sure if it’s TV only. It would be a real shame for everyone to miss out on her books because of this.
This is too bad.. I have an ereader, too but prefer print books… however, if it is a favorite must buy author, I will be willing to shell in the extra expense…
I already read about 98% of my fiction books in digital format so the Dorchester move is not a problem for me at all. The only time I’d ever buy a hard copy book – Mass Market, Trade or Hardcover is when the book is DEFINITELY not available in digital format. If there is a choice of digital, I always go that way first.
I can understand their wanting to economize, but they are going to loose sales. I like trade paperbacks, but mass markets are so much more affordable and don’t take up as much room. With no ereader, I will probably have to stop reading authors I otherwise would buy.
OK, I am glad my children are planning on getting me an ereader for Christmas this year. They have been complaining of too many mmpb. Some back editions to authors I read I can only find in digital so it’s not going to be a big issue, currently my digital reading is done on my computer but with technology changing there is more selections for ereaders, now if they would just come out with one for colour it would be splendid as I love the cover art of romance books.
I agree with on not buying any trade or hardcover books because they are expense. Honestly, I’m not going buy anything from this company again because even though people like e-books, there are some(like me) who still want/prefer mmpb over e-books.
I would buy digital, but only favorite authors.
I checked that I would only buy their digital books BUT I would do it only if the price of the digital copy was less than the cost of a mass market paperback.
Also, due to financial difficulties, I have had to cut back on the number of books that I purchase, so even if I only bought digital copies, I would still use the same criteria for buying those as I would the mass markets.
Due to cost, I would not purchase hardbacks or trade — I would wait to see if my library bought them or if they showed up at a used bookstore.
However, I do feel sorry for those people who cannot afford or do not want to use an e-reader — they might be missing out on some great authors and books.
Just to remind people, you don’t need an ereader to read ebooks. That’s just a convenient way of reading them on the move. But a laptop or PC is just as good.
Obviously, since I edit books for a digital market, I have no issues with Dorchester going digital and would continue to but the same authors, only in ebook form.
Frankly, we’re likely to see an awful lot of smaller publishers go digital-only in the next five to ten years, and then the larger ones will follow. It’s not if, it’s definitely when. Sorry! I love and value the book as a physical item as much as anyone in publishing. But you can’t hold back the tide of progress, and when physical books become prized and sold purely as collectibles or luxury items – which they undoubtedly will in the future – mass market titles are unlikely to make that shift, and will only be sold digitally.
I buy favorite authors in any medium I can get ’em in. Will sometimes read authors who I don’t know in digital to get a sense of whether I want to read more of them but read them on my computer (Mac) via e-Diesel or Barnes and Nobel Adobe Readers rather than a dedicated e-reader.