At Slate Katie Arnold-Ratliff wonders: 'Have reports of the paperback's death been greatly exaggerated ?' in Soft Target.
As a die-hard fan of the (mass-market and smaller sized) paperback format (though loather of the trade and plus-sized incarnations) I wish everything were published in this handy format and worry terribly about its demise, so I like to hear this kind of stuff.
Especially interesting: the suggestion:
I realize this probably dates me as an old fogey; so be it; I just hope paperbacks hang on for the few more decades of (reading-)life (I hope) I've got left.
As a die-hard fan of the (mass-market and smaller sized) paperback format (though loather of the trade and plus-sized incarnations) I wish everything were published in this handy format and worry terribly about its demise, so I like to hear this kind of stuff.
Especially interesting: the suggestion:
Gerry Donaghy, book buyer at the largest indie bookseller in the U.S., Powell's in Portland, Ore., says that the major publishers have a compelling reason to perpetuate a paperbacks-are-dying narrative, for one simple reason: because paperbacks are the most common books to be bought secondhand. "Publishers have a vested interest in keeping the e-book dominant -- it allows them to control the ecosystem, because there are no used e-book sales," Donaghy says.On the other hand, I worry about Richard Nash's horrific vision:
The purpose of print books will evolve, too, Nash believes. They will become art objects imbued with nostalgia, akin to vinyl records and Polaroid cameras. As e-books increasingly become our main means of digesting literature, print books of every binding will stop being mass-produced and start becoming more "bespoke," Nash says. But he hastens to add that it's at least another decade before that happens. "Physical books have a tremendous hold on our imaginations. The changes will be quite slow and incremental."Yes, yes, I can (if pressed ...) appreciate the book-as-art-object -- but as far as reading goes (and, honestly, that's all I like to do with my books) I will choose the paperback format over all others in almost all cases -- to sell me on an e-book it has to be so obviously superior to whatever paperback I can get my hands on at the moment that ... well, it rarely happens.
I realize this probably dates me as an old fogey; so be it; I just hope paperbacks hang on for the few more decades of (reading-)life (I hope) I've got left.