Friday, August 06, 2010
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Dorchester Drops Mass Market Publishing for E-Book/POD Model: "Mass market romance publisher Dorchester Publishing has dropped its traditional print publishing business in favor of an e-book/print-on-demand model effective with its September titles that are “shipping” now. President John Prebich said after retail sales fell by 25% in 2009, the company knew that 2010 “would be a defining year,” but rather than show improvement, “sales have been worse.” While returns are down, the company has had a difficult time getting its titles into stores as shelf space for mass market has been reduced, Prebich explained."
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18 comments:
I've read this same statement several times this morning and was wondering if anyone knows whether it applies just to the romance line, which I don't care about, or to all their paperback lines such as horror and westerns, which I do care about.
Not to mention Hard Case Crime. I haven't seen a clarification. Maybe I should check the Dorchester website.
I just traded an email with an editor there and it seems that the decision applies to all mass-market lines.
-Matt
The Hard Case Crime imprint is published by them. Does that affect their publications?
Here is what the Wall Street Journal says about Hard Case Crime:
Hard Case Crime, an imprint owned by closely held Winterfall LLC, said it may seek to move its mystery books from Dorchester to another publishing house.
"It's been a good run, but if they aren't publishing mass market paperbacks, we'll have to decide what to do. I'm a believer in the mass format, but I do understand the reality of the marketplace," said Charles Ardai, who owns Hard Case Crime.
This does affect all of Dorchester's lines; fortunately, I own Hard Case Crime and can take it elsewhere. It does mean that there will be a delay in the publication of the next two titles (currently planned for this October and next March), but they will come out, and not as ebooks, as book books. Not that I'm against ebooks -- I'm no luddite. But Hard Case Crime is not an ebook line. The whole point of Hard Case Crime, in some sense, is that it's not an ebook line.
In any event: It will take a bit of time for the smoke to clear, but when it does I will let everyone know when and where they can expect to see our new titles.
Thanks, Charles. As you know, Hard Case has a lot of fans among the readers of this blog.
This shrinks Western fiction radically. Berkley remains the powerhouse. Forge publishes Wheeler and Estleman. (Not sure about Blevins.) Pinnacle publishes the late Johnstone. Five Star library line mixes reprints with an occasional new title. There are occasional one-shots still feeling out the market.
And Pinnacle, like what little might be left still offered under the Zebra imprint, is a division of Dorchester. Sp. those Johnstones go all virtual or POD or OP or, like Ardai's lines, to another publisher, too.
Todd, sorry, Pinnacle is not a division of Dorchester. It's an imprint of Kensington Books, along with Zebra and other lines.
Dorchester also publishes romance novels. Here's a link to a story about one author whose book was scheduled for publication by Dorchester. (From the Smart Bitches website--don't be offended--that's the name of the blog.)
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/dorchester-does-digital-authors-do-what/
Not sure that link copied correctly. Here's another try:
http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/dorchester-does-digital-authors-do-what/
Oh, I give up!
Thanks, Deb. Just copy and paste the link in a browser and it will work. It's got some good info.
That sucks, especially about Hard Case Crime. I am a Luddite when it comes to books, Charles; it sounds like the proverbial thin end of the wedge to me.
Here's Deb's link.
Jeff
A quote off of Twitter: "Funny How A Publisher All But Going Out of Business Isn't Headline-Worthy, but Going All Digital Sounds Exciting"
I’m both excited and frightened by the changes. I'm not sure how things would work with the upcoming changes but let hope for the best..:)
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