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kinzelSo, you hard-core hardback book readers ...
Can you tell me if *all* Baen hardcovers are the same width and height? If so is this a size you see in hardbacks from Tor or Daw or .... anyone else?
Odd question, you say? Well, gee, but see, the newest thing we, as authors, have been accused of is of being responsible for the fact that Duainfey ... and I assume Longeye as well, will not fit in a custom bookcase designed to house Lee & Miller books from Meisha Merlin.
And you know, just as we can't order a publisher to publish a book only in trade paper (of a certain size), or only in mass market, or first in hardback and then in three ring binders; we don't control the form factor of the style of book a publisher goes for.
Right -- see Duainfey is (according to Amazon, who/which may know) 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches ... while a sample from the Meisha Merlin years, say Balance of Trade, they tell us is 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches. No, wait, the advertent reader may want to get a ruler out -- because my copy of Duainfey seems to measure 9.5 X 6.5 X ... hey wait, that's a full inch taller! Not only that, but Stars, the anthology, runs larger than Meisha Merlin books but not as tall as Duainfey ... and Amazon's ruler-crew says it is ...9.2 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches ....
And you know what? It is NOT OUR FAULT (as authors )that book sizes are not standard. But really, how many hardcover sizes are there on your shelves, anyway? Are all Baen books the same size? Does Baen use this form factor to make their books stand tall?
Can you tell me if *all* Baen hardcovers are the same width and height? If so is this a size you see in hardbacks from Tor or Daw or .... anyone else?
Odd question, you say? Well, gee, but see, the newest thing we, as authors, have been accused of is of being responsible for the fact that Duainfey ... and I assume Longeye as well, will not fit in a custom bookcase designed to house Lee & Miller books from Meisha Merlin.
And you know, just as we can't order a publisher to publish a book only in trade paper (of a certain size), or only in mass market, or first in hardback and then in three ring binders; we don't control the form factor of the style of book a publisher goes for.
Right -- see Duainfey is (according to Amazon, who/which may know) 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches ... while a sample from the Meisha Merlin years, say Balance of Trade, they tell us is 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches. No, wait, the advertent reader may want to get a ruler out -- because my copy of Duainfey seems to measure 9.5 X 6.5 X ... hey wait, that's a full inch taller! Not only that, but Stars, the anthology, runs larger than Meisha Merlin books but not as tall as Duainfey ... and Amazon's ruler-crew says it is ...9.2 x 6.4 x 1.6 inches ....
And you know what? It is NOT OUR FAULT (as authors )that book sizes are not standard. But really, how many hardcover sizes are there on your shelves, anyway? Are all Baen books the same size? Does Baen use this form factor to make their books stand tall?
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no subject
2009-03-02 21:23 (UTC)Lack of standardisation, certainly. Within publisher and printing era (i.e. until they change printers) there is usually some consistency, but not even always then. There are at least four different sizes of US hardbacks on my shelves[1], at least that many of trade paperbacks, and I can see at least five different paperback "mass market" sizes. That's not counting the UK publishers, who probably have that many again.
The wonderful thing about standards is...
... that there are so many to choose from...
[1] I don't have a big sample of any one hardback publisher, except my Tolkien set from Allen and Unwin (all printed around the same time and with a consistent cover style, so they don't count), but it seems to me from my much larger paperback collection that large publishers do tend to stick with the same printer for long periods and so the books within that time are fairly consistent. And some evidently use the same printers as other publishers. But "small presses" can vary a lot, and seem more likely to switch printers.