At current, there will be three titles / series that will be getting special hardback editions, and these are as follows:
Dead Weight by G.P. Robbins (and the entire Magic, Mayhem, and the Law in Precinct #153)
Life-Debt by R.J. Blain (Science fiction, unnamed interconnected series of books.) (The image is from Life-Debt.)
Moon Tamed by Audrey Green (and all subsequent titles by this author.)
Dead Weight, due to length, will likely cost $49.99, and it will be at most major retailers. (Pricing in USD for the US market; pricing elsewhere varies.) It will be available (barring any unforeseen circumstances) in August.
Life-Debt’s price has not been determined yet, but it should also be (barring any unforeseen circumstances) available in August.
I don’t know when Moon Tamed’s hardback will be done. I’m doing the hardback editions as I have time.
In other news, Dead Weight launches tomorrow! Hooray!
You can preorder Dead Weight at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books. Tomorrow, it will be also available at Smashwords.
$50 for Dead Weight? Is that a typo? I’d expect more like $30 or $35.
No, it is not a typo. There is interior art inside, and retailers get a 55% cut on the hardbacks. I can’t even list the book at $30-35 at its current length. (It would cost me money…)
There will be standard paperbacks that are cheaper, but the hardback edition is not cheap. (Nor will I be taking a loss to list the book.)
Also, indie hardbacks are EXPENSIVE. (I’m going through Ingram and not Amazon; Amazon’s hardbacks are notorious for problems, and if I’m investing the money to do a hardback, I’m going to do it right.) They’re expensive to produce (get ready for publication), and the cost per copy is high. Then retailers get 55% cut of the price over the print cost.
At over five hundred pages, the starter cost of the book is pretty high. (The book is long. My average book length is 100,000 words, and this one is 150,000 words.)
I’m not taking losses to produce something fancy. Those who want the fancy headers and dust jacketed hardbacks will have it as an option. The paperbacks are significantly cheaper.
There has been a reason I don’t do hardbacks for the most part, and the expense of production tops the list. And I refuse to take a loss to do them. If I’m going to do a hardback, I’m going to be paid fairly for them.
Looking forward to adding hardbacks to my book hoard!
I used to look for paperbacks and hardbacks, until age caught up with me. Just got another pair of glasses today for driving, Sigh. I have whole bookshelves full of books I have collected since college, that I can’t comfortably read any more. Sometimes it makes me so sad just to look at them. I don’t blame you in the least for pricing the nice hardbacks as you are. Virtual hugs, and hopefully much success with your hardback birthday tomorrow! I’ll still be extremely happy to read it on me e-reader with the font size turned up!
Honestly, nowadays, I only get print books because I want them to be pretty on my shelf. I read the actual book as an e-copy!