Publishers are increasingly ditching nonfiction paperback books, much to the chagrin of authors.
For years, the standard model of book sales has been for publishers to open with a more expensive hardcover, followed by a wave of cheaper paperbacks months later. However, the growing popularity of e-books and audiobooks, a near monopoly by a few book publishers, and changing reader habits have led to a drastic change in this model over the past six years, with paperbacks becoming more and more rare, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Data from Bowker Books in Print showed a collapse of new adult nonfiction paperback titles by 42% from 2019 to 2024, to just under 40,000. New adult nonfiction hardcover titles fell by 9% over the same period.
“When I began in the business you could expect retailers to look at hardcover sales and order twice that in paperback,” Gail Ross, a literary agent at William Morris Endeavor, told the outlet. “Now it’s just the opposite—half as much, at best.”
Different parties in the book writing and publishing industry point the finger at one another. Publishers and retailers say they have no choice but to adapt to commercial realities, while agents and authors argue retailers aren’t giving them a chance.
“If retailers aren’t ordering the books at a high-enough volume to ensure some financial return, publishers won’t bother printing the paperbacks,” Dan Conaway, a senior literary agent with Writers House, told the outlet.
Publishers, authors, agents, and retailers all make more money on hardcovers, but the focus on hardcovers comes at a cost for authors. The later release of paperbacks allowed authors to experience a second wind of sales, an opportunity of which most nonfiction authors are now deprived. Customers curious about the title but who opt out over an unwillingness to pay more for hardcovers result in lower sales.
“It’s profoundly demoralizing that a book that might have taken four years to write and was published with such promise is done after five months,” Conaway said.
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Publishers are banking less on nonfiction titles due to a growing preference for fictional romance and fantasies.
“Of course one wants one’s books to go into paperback,” author Ian Buruma reportedly said. “Publishers make their decisions based on commercial realities, and there’s very little I can do about it.”
