> I think I bought a total of maybe four new hardcover novels, as an undergraduate, so I still think of the hardcover as a sort of word-of-mouth trailer for the mass market paperback.
At the most basic level, though, it's temporal price discrimination. Those who want to read the book right away will buy the expensive hardcover edition as soon as it's released, while others will wait for the cheaper paperback version. The free word-of-mouth advertising by those diehard fans is just an additional benefit.
Perhaps something similar will be seen with the Kindle store, in that prices for books will gradually drop, in order to net the highest profit from the hardcore fans, but still draw in casual readers with lower prices at a later date.
I'm sometimes a semi-intense reader of SF, but I always buy paperback simply because the hardcover form factor is completely and utterly impractical.
For years, my main reading environment was on the subway, commuting to college and (later) work. A paperback is trivial to stuff into a bag, while many of the hardcover editions that come out first look as if they're supposed to be in the Grand Temple of Reading, preferably on a dedicated 100% smooth marble table or something.
I don't know how many times I've been to my preferred SF bookshop, spotted instance n of book series m finally on the shelves, hefted it, and though "nope, this is unusable, I'll wait". Then, six months later the paperback is out, and gets bought.
I think (I don't know since I've never tried it) I would be ready to pay more for a paperback at the date the hardcover is out. Maybe not hardcover price, but perhaps 50-80% more than what the paperback will cost, once out.
I kinda missed the part where he talked about his latest novel… Zero History was originally published about a year ago (September of 2010) and it is now in mass market paperback. But, when you say "latest" novel it sort of means you're talking about the new novel that hasn't been released yet. Not the old novel that is being released again.
Although, now it appears the title has been altered?
RSS says "William Gibson talks to BoingBoing about his latest novel"
Meanwhile, HN has "William Gibson talks briefly to BoingBoing about his novel, design & the web"
Some interesting Gibson perspectives, but his closing comment is the best:
Sometimes I remember that I evidently assumed that Ronald Reagan was probably about as weird as it was going to get; that that all seemed a bit over the top, a grave if semi-comic but blessedly temporary anomaly. That's scary.
At the most basic level, though, it's temporal price discrimination. Those who want to read the book right away will buy the expensive hardcover edition as soon as it's released, while others will wait for the cheaper paperback version. The free word-of-mouth advertising by those diehard fans is just an additional benefit.
Perhaps something similar will be seen with the Kindle store, in that prices for books will gradually drop, in order to net the highest profit from the hardcore fans, but still draw in casual readers with lower prices at a later date.