I Just Learned Why Hardbacks Always Come Out Before Paperback Books, And It Makes Sense

Whether it’s a buzzy new cookbook or the next Sally Rooney novel, I’ll admit my FOMO sometimes gets the best of me when it comes to buying books. 

That means that I often pre-order them as soon as I can or buy them the second they hit the shelves. 

But if you’re in the same boat, you might have noticed that pricier hardbacks always seem to be released before ― often long before ― their cheaper, paperback alternatives. 

Why is that, especially considering making a hardback cover looks like it’d be more costly and time-consuming?

Hardback covers are pricier to make ― but they pay off

Speaking to Mental Floss, Dinah Dunn, a partner at book packager Indelible Editions, said that hardcover copies often pay for themselves. 

“While a hardcover book is more expensive to print than a paperback, the publisher does traditionally make more money on that edition, allowing them to earn back the author’s advance and the costs they incurred for printing, shipping, marketing, and distribution,” she explained. 

That’s especially useful at the start of a book’s shelf life when publishers are working out whether new publications proved a good bet. 

As my clamour to buy cookbooks from my favourite bakers proves, Dunn says fans of an author don’t mind paying a bit more to show how much they care about the new work. 

They’re even bigger and easier for bookstores to display than more flexible paperbacks, meaning they may make sales-boosting placements more likely.

Anything else?

Answering a question about the topic of hardbacks in The Guardian, Phillip Jones (the editor of The Bookseller) says it’s a question of prestige too. 

“The hardback is a mark of quality and a demonstration of intent on behalf of the publisher: it shows booksellers and reviewers that this is a book worth paying attention to,” he says. 

Jones adds that some literary critics won’t even review titles that aren’t published on hardback in their first edition. 

Hardbacks only accounted for 20% of the overall book market at the time of Jones’ Guardian entry.