Unfortunately, the time has come to get the ball rolling on a decision I’ve put off for too long. I have decided to permanently remove the mass-market paperback edition of The Aos Si’s Gift from distribution.

The purpose of the mass-market paperback is to provide a full-length book for a significantly lower price than hardcovers or trade paperbacks. Unfortunately, given the cost of printing and distribution, that is no longer practicable. I can remember a time when a mass-market paperback could be purchased for $9.99 or less. Typically, these books would cost about half of what a trade paperback book would cost (about $19.99 for a few, primarily history, that populate my shelves). The price stamped on a used copy of Michael Shaara’s Killer Angels–which I hope to be posting a review for soon–was about $5.99, in the mid-1990s. (Though the novel was originally published in 1974, this particular edition was released not long after the release of the 1993 film Gettysburg.) Most of my own fiction collection has always been the mass-market format, so I have always had a fondness for these books, not to mention I could afford more of them.

When I released the mass-market paperback of The Aos Si’s Gift early last year, I had hoped to be able to carry on having a smaller (almost pocket-sized) book that I could sell for significantly cheaper. In practice, however, I could only price these books for $19.99 when I first made them available–this left me with less than $0.50/copy after a retailer took their cut. This left the mass-market format priced at only $5.00 less than the trade paperback format. It’s rubbed me the wrong way for a long time. Earlier this year, printing prices increased. This forced me to increase the price of the mass-market paperback to $21.99. While this price increase would, in theory, put me in a position to weather at least one or two future price increases, it also completely negated the purpose of a mass-market paperback. $5.00 had already been only a marginal price difference, as far as I was concerned. A difference of only $3.00 is something I think is just insulting to readers, especially when the eBook is priced at only $7.99. Even if I could self-distribute solely through this website, the best I could do on pricing would be in the ballpark of about $12.99. However, I unfortunately lack the space to retain inventory or the means to run e-commerce at the moment. As it stands, no matter how I work the math, I simply cannot provide a mass-market paperback for a significantly lower price than a trade paperback.

Consequently, I am removing the mass-market paperback edition of The Aos Si’s Gift from distribution. At this time, it appears that this decision will be permanent. If printing costs come down significantly–or my ability to maintain inventory and run e-commerce through this site changes–then I might be able to reverse this decision. As it stands, however, that would require that printing costs come down by roughly 50%. Given the headwinds in the market, I do not see this happening anytime soon.

On a lighter note, I’m working on the third draft of The Aos Si’s Gift, and a short epilogue for The Pale Man. The latter is about done, I just need to sit down, finish the last bits, and edit it. The former is, of course, a little bit of an undertaking. I am finding myself rewriting large chunks of the second draft almost from scratch, and this also includes going completely back to the drawing board on a battle pattern–which in turn is requiring some rethinking of logistics and operational-level tactics. (I, perhaps, don’t need to do all of that, but it’s the little details that matter in my head to for everything to come together.)

In other news, I’ve recently had a phone screening for a dream-job type of opportunity. So, if you’re reading this, I ask that you include me in your prayers.

Either way, it’s well past time to turn in. Good luck, goodnight, and God bless you.