4 ms·
Seriously, it is market segmentation. The hard cover comes out first at a massively inflated price to capture that segment of the market that is willing to pay
by goodcanadian 7y ago
Seriously, it is market segmentation. The hard cover comes out first at a massively inflated price to capture that segment of the market that is willing to pay a premium for "early" access. A while later, the softcover version is released for everyone else. Most people wait and buy the pocket book. The pocket book really is standard in North America as well.
- Iv 7y agoI think it also comes from the Lang law, that prevents competition from different editions of the same book. In France, book are taxed at a much lower sales tax than other items but in exchange, there must be a single price for a given book (usually printed on the cover) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lang_Law So a publisher has to choose the format they are going to sell and the single price for it. It made most publisher favor the most popular soft-cover pocket-book format. Reference books, that need to be more durable, textbooks, photography books, comics, usually prefer hardcovers. (Disclaimer: I have no specific opinion on this law, I think it lowered the price of books in France and reached its goal in making literature more accessible but I have no idea about its detrimental effects on the industry. I have never seen anyone violently oppose it)