How about exclusive short stories in mass market paperbacks?

[doesitmatter?]

I've noticed that authors hardly ever seem to include added, original material in the paperback editions of their books. I know that plenty of authors hate to write (or can't write) short stories, but Steve can probably knock one out in a day if he really wanted to. If I love an author I'll buy their hardcover books the day it comes out, and there is no reason for me to buy the paperback version that gets released 6-9 months later. Most people here have already bought Under the Dome and thus will not be buying it when it's out in paperback because we have no reason to. But add an unpublished short story and make it exclusive to the Under the Dome paperback, and I would buy it. And I bet a lot of people who already bought it in hardcover will also be happy to buy it in paperback for a new short story. Thoughts?

[Moderator]

Sometimes they'll include a chapter from a new book but I'll check with Pocket Books to see if they'll be doing anything extra for UTD. I think it's coming out in June but need to verify that as there were a couple of dates being discussed and I don't know for sure if that's the one they decided on.

[tuttle300]

Not to step on Ms Mod's toes but if I may add my two cents....
I look forward to paperback versions of his hardcovers for the same reason but many times the publisher will have an excerpt FROM an upcoming project. They rarely throw one of his unpublished shorts in the back of a paperback like that. Most of his shorts can be found in magazines throughout any one year before they are seen again in a collection.

Since there are many thousands of people out there who decided NOT to buy the Under the Dome hardcover and are waiting FOR this upcoming paperback version.... there should be many sales of this paperback, which makes it a perfect tool for the publisher to announce the NEXT hardcover, which should be" Full Dark, No Stars" which is due in November and will have four new novellas.
(Ms Mod- I got this info off Liljas Library. Since you havent yet posted it I'm thinking maybe he jumped the gunon you again (unless you've just been busy)

[Moderator]

Actually, I have posted it in the News section well before when Lilja did.

[kingricefan]

There are quite a few people out there who can't afford to buy books in hardback. I know, I used to be one of them and would eagerly await the paperback versions of SK's books. Plus, the paperbacks usually have totally different covers than the hardback versions and are snatched up by the collectors (myself included) just for this reason. Sometimes, like in the case of the original Firestarter paperback, there is an exclusive afterword included.

[Tayyab Saeed]

I'll like it if they included some previously unpublished or uncollected story or some excerpt from an upcoming novel like they did with "Cell" (excerpt from "Lisey's Story) and "Blaze" ("Memory").

[Wayne C. Rogers]

You know, having SK and his publisher put a new short story in the back of his newest mass market paperback is a great idea. I think most of the readers who originally purchased the hardcover would also buy the paperback, too, if it had a new short story in it. I would! I bet that would increase the sales of the paperback by at least a half million. Ms. Mod, please let SK know about this idea. It's actually a very good marketing tool and SK would certainly get his money's worth out of the short story.

[doesitmatter?]

The problem with excerpts from upcoming novels is that the excerpt is only exclusive for a handful of months, and that excerpt from a forthcoming novel then becomes meaningless when that said novel is published. An exclusive short story would be very different however, as people would start to learn that there was a compelling reason for them to buy the paperback version, even if you'd already bought the hardcover. I was thinking abit more about it though, and I guess that could harm hardcover sales, as some people might say "the hell with the hardcover. I'll just wait for the paperback with the bonus short story". So how about this? How about Steve writes two new short stories for each book? He makes one short story exclusive to the hardcover version, and one short story exclusive to the paperback version. That way, hardcore fans (and the more casual fans) get more value and are thus more likely to buy both versions, and this tactic wouldn't harm the sales of either the hardcover or the paperback version. It should increase the sales of both versions.

[JohnDalglish]

How about Steve writes two new short stories for each book? He makes one short story exclusive to the hardcover version, and one short story exclusive to the paperback version. That way, hardcore fans (and the more casual fans) get more value and are thus more likely to buy both versions, and this tactic wouldn't harm the sales of either the hardcover or the paperback version. It should increase the sales of both versions.

Hi,

Aye, nice idea, but where will Sai King squeeze in the time in his already extremely prolific schedule?

Long days and pleasant nights

[Wayne C. Rogers]

John,
When Steve has an idea for a short story and then sits down to write it, he probably finishes it within a day or two, depending on its length. A new short story in the paperback version of his most recent hardcover wouldn't be a problem for SK. We're only talking about one story here.

Also, the hardcover doesn't really need a short story in it to sell. Fans are going to buy the hardcover regardless. The idea here is to get the buyers of the hardcover to also buy the paperback version in order to increase the sales of the paperback when it comes out. I usually buy my SK novels in hardcover for long-term keeping. If the paperback version had a new short story included in it, I would definitely buy it, too. It's certainly something for SK and his publisher to think about. They could always do a test run with Under the Dome to see if there's a really large increase in the paperback sales when it comes out. If there is, this could become a standard procedure. SK probably already has a new short story in his computer with no one in particular to send it to just yet. Just think about it for a moment. SK does several short stories every year, so including one of them in the paperback wouldn't deprive a magazines or small, independent presses of his stories. If the inclusion of the short story inside the paperback increased the sales by a hundred thousand copies, that would be an extra $100,000.00 to him for simply writing a short story. No author writing today makes that kind of money on a short story, but SK could. He could also work the rights of the story so that it could later appear in a magazine or another anthology of his stories at a future date. I call this double-dipping. There's all kinds of ways to work this. The real question is whether or not a new short story inclusion would increase the sales of a new SK paperback being published, and there's only one real way to find out..