As I prepare for a trade paperback of my own to be available (via print-on-demand on Amazon & Createspace), I thought I’d address one of my pet peeves: trade paperbacks. You know which ones those are – the annoyingly large paperbacks that Patricia McKillip seems to favor these days. The ones that don’t fit on your shelf (admittedly, McKillip’s are on the shorter side).
Trade paperbacks have the awkward size and high price of hardbacks and the low durability of paperback. I’ve never understood why they exist. Sure, they’re somewhat cheaper than hardbacks, and sometimes they’re printed on better quality paper than mass market paperbacks. But to my mind, they’re expensive and awkward.
Still, when putting my book together on CreateSpace, 6″x9″ was the smallest size they offered. So, I took it. It’s a shame, especially since my book is short (ca. 70 pages at this size). So, it will be slim and tall and inconvenient. But it will be there.