I posted this response:
In this discussion, folks have focused on THE BIG BOOK. That is, a tome that is the size of a small brick, that a reader would have to wade through just to see if he likes it. Personally, I have not even started Jordan's Wheel of Time series for the mere fact that I'd be reading nothing else for months on end. And the more I look at bookstore shelves of SF/F, the more I see huge books.
So here's my question: what ever happened to the smaller book? The 200pp-300pp book? Is it the market that has driven smaller books away, what with $8.99+ cover prices for a paperback and north of $27.00 for a hardback?
Over in the mystery field, there's a line of books under the Hard Case Crime imprint. Those guys want to bring back old-school pulp fiction, complete with new cover art in the old style. All the books are $6.99. Almost all of them are 200-230pp long. All can be consumed quickly and carried around in my back pocket. And, for me, reading an old, formerly out-of-print book by an author like Lawrence Block or Ed McBain caused me to seek out other books by these authors.
Is there a SF/F version of this out there? I'd like to think so. And I'd like to write for and read books from an imprint like that.
Any Ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment