Expanding Your Audience with Multiple Editions

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By Astra Crompton, FriesenPress

When authors think of publishing a book, they usually think of a physical copy they can hold in their hands — but is that paperback or hardcover? Then again, the size of the eBook reader market is almost as large as the physical book market. And then audiobooks are the fastest growing segment of the book market (more on this below). So, what are you publishing?

Each of these formats represents a different edition of your book. But which formats are the best fit for your book, and why should you always strive to offer more than one edition?

Here we’ll dive into the pros and cons of each format to help you decide which editions will best showcase your book and capture your audience.

What You Need to Know about Book Editions

First, let’s get some terminology out of the way. Each edition you launch — paperback, hardcover, eBook, and audiobook — will need its own International Standard Book Number (ISBN). If you offered a large print format or a special edition with coated paper or foil cover, for example, these would also need their own ISBNs. These ISBNs are how booksellers keep track of which formats are selling best, and how you can keep track of which audience is most responsive to your book.

Second, you don’t need to launch all editions at the same time. Traditional publishers still release hardcovers of anticipated titles first, and the softcovers only months later. Conversely, you may see books releasing limited eBook editions called ARCs (advanced reader copies) to garner reviews before the print books are launched. Audiobooks typically follow these other formats because they require a larger investment of time and cost to produce, and so initial profits can help fund this expansion into new markets. However, this order may not be best for your book. Below we’ll dig deeper into why.

Third, you may have heard the term “edition” refer to multiple releases of the same book in the same format, especially in nonfiction. The “2nd Edition” offers updated statistics and a foreword from a lauded industry specialist, etc. When a book vastly updates its content, or wishes to distance itself from a previous edition to prevent confusion, it will have a new ISBN and will count as a separate version of the book. Maybe the first edition was rife with errors and you don’t want bad reviews to follow you. Maybe the first edition was from ten years ago and you’re courting a whole new audience now. With print-on-demand technology, you may not need to wait until you sell through a large stock of books, instead you may be focused on online optics and metrics. Each new ISBN starts a new listing, and it needs to be demonstrably different from the one(s) that came before it. 

So, let’s have a look at the different formats you can choose from:

Paperback: The Format for the Typical Reader

Despite a lot of doom and gloom about the future of the book industry when eReaders hit the scene, paperbacks are still the perennial favorite. A 2022 study found that 57% of readers preferred reading physical books, and of them, 41% preferred paperback.

 Paperbacks are lighter, more cost-effective, and maximize the physical reading experience without requiring as much of an investment from a new reader. They’re easy to slip into a bag or a pocket to take with you during travel, especially when easy access to charging ports may be in question. They can sport attractive covers and provide an easy glance inside at the writer’s style.

For retailers, they’re also less risky than a hardcover for many of the same reasons: paperbacks are more popular with readers, they take up less shelf (or inventory) space, and are cheaper to ship.

Pros:

  • Cheaper purchase price than hardcovers or audiobooks
  • Easily portable (lighter; sometimes smaller trim size)
  • Less stigma around being “hard” on your books: dog-earring, stains, making notes in the margins
  • Can engage with interactive materials (like exercises or maps) and easily refer back to diagrams
  • Physical experience with the book (touch, smell, weight)

Cons:

  • More expensive than eBooks
  • Take up more space than eBooks or audiobooks
  • Flimsier covers are easier to tear/sunbleach, and don’t protect the interior pages as well from wear and tear
  • Some manufacturers may produce faulty spines, resulting in loose pages or broken spines from readers who are harder on their books
  • Fixed font and typeface size (may be difficult for those with low/no sight or learning disabilities)

Hardcover: The Traditional and Testament Edition

If paperbacks are the choice of casual readers, hardcovers are for dedicated fans. They’re more costly to produce (to ship, to purchase, etc.) but can have beautiful designs and hardier construction. If paired with a dust jacket, they also have more space on the cover for marketing blurbs like testimonials, reviews, or even an extended back cover blurb.

Hardcovers are ideal for readers who re-read their books, whether for reference or pleasure, and they are often the version chosen when gifting a book. While they are heavier and harder to pack into one’s carry-on, they are more durable, and dust jackets can be removed and replaced for those who want to keep their bookshelves looking pristine.

For retailers, as of January 2023, 35% of the book sales were hardcover formats, so even though this is a marginally smaller share than the paperback market, it’s still much higher than the audio and eBook markets combined.

Pros:

  • Better investment for collector’s editions, heirlooms, gifts, or more supportive of favorite authors
  • Beautiful book design
  • Taken more seriously as a “quality book”
  • More durable for re-reads and travel (in bag, reading in the bath, general knocks and scrapes)
  • Can engage with interactive materials (like exercises or maps) and easily refer back to diagrams
  • Physical experience with the book (touch, smell, weight)

 Cons:

  • More expensive than eBooks or paperbacks
  • Take up the most space
  • Heavier than paperback or eReader (may be difficult for younger readers or those with physical disabilities)
  • Fixed font and typeface size (may be difficult for those with low/no sight or learning disabilities)

eBook: A Versatile Format with Added Perks

When it comes to eBooks, they are the “easiest” version to take a chance on. There are no shipping costs to worry about and no cost for manufacturing (paper, binding, etc.). The only price to consider is the “value” of the information on those digital pages. For this reason, eBooks are often the go-to choice for promotions, sales, and giveaways. However, because there’s no limitation in terms of printing queues, material availability, or shelf space, an explosion of (often low-quality) eBooks has flooded the market. In some ways, it can be harder to browse eBooks and be sure of quality. But, at least, there’s low risk if the book isn’t to a reader’s liking: they haven’t had to spend as much as on a print copy, and they don’t have to worry about it taking up space on their shelves.

As for the reading experience, there are a lot of pros. eBooks take up virtually no space, so a voracious reader can easily plough through a whole series on a single device. Readers who have difficulties when reading, such as dyslexia or low visibility, can adjust their screen and text settings to their preferences to make it easier for them to access books they might otherwise struggle to finish. It’s also possible to include live elements like hotlinks, cross-references, or even links to music to sync with the reading experience.

For others, eBooks are hard to focus on. The lack of tangible interaction with the book can dampen the experience. Then there’s the reliance on the device’s battery life, file-type compatibility, and the cost of the eReader in the first place that can limit accessibility. There are some types of books that just aren’t ideal for a small, digital screen. Fixed format content like textbooks, cookbooks, or poetry may not be easy to read on small devices requiring the reader to zoom in and out as they navigate the pages. As for sharing your books with friends for discussion — that becomes a lot harder to do when it’s all digital.

For retailers, there’s zero risk for listing an eBook, so in many ways it can be easiest to sell this edition. However, there’s still administrative work for them to create a listing for their website, so you’ll often still need to pitch your book if you want them to add it to their catalog.

Pros:

  • Cheapest format (after the investment for the device)
  • Easily portable (hundreds of books can be stored on a single eReader or even on a smartphone)
  • Flowable format allows users to adjust font and typeface size and other settings (making it easier for the reader to improve a comfortable reading experience)
  • Flowable content fits to any device (though a different format of the eBook file may be required)
  • Can provide full colour interior at no extra production cost
  • Can include hyperlinks to external resources and internal footnotes
  • Digital format changes the physical experience; users can zoom in on visuals, digital bookmarks can’t fall out, light-weight and compact

Cons:

  • Requires electricity (has a limited battery life/requires charging)
  • Navigation of the interface may be challenging for some users (especially for navigating the digital library, flipping back to refer to resources, or cross-referencing)
  • Limitations around making notes in the margins
  • Flowable text adjustments are only possible when the eBook has been designed properly
  • Some eReaders are B&W only (others can process colour), which may affect the user’s experience
  • Digital format changes the physical experience; “turning pages” simulation insufficient, backlit or “paper” finish screens can be difficult on some eyes, no “new book smell”

Audiobook: The Full Narrative Experience

Audiobooks used to be limited to blockbusters and niche markets, often limited to what could fit on a set of cassettes or CDs. With the advent of digital streaming services and the improvement of recording software and hardware, audiobooks are far more accessible than ever before. It’s no wonder then that audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment of the book market. The number of audiobooks produced annually has increased from 3,073 in 2007 to 74,000 titles in 2021.

Part of what has helped audiobooks reach a wider audience is the new streaming format. From the earliest days of humanity, storytelling has been an oral tradition. Bringing books back to an auditory format has attracted people who process information better by sound as well as busy folk who can only “find time” for reading by multitasking; this opened up a market who may not have picked up your book otherwise. The added benefit of getting voice talent to read your book can improve the experience for the audience as well: bringing characters to life, enlivening otherwise staid facts, or making your words resonate with a captivating voice. Perhaps because of these benefits, fiction readers are the most likely to engage in audiobooks, with 65% of fiction readers reading in this format.

For retailers, like eBooks, there’s little space needed to offer an audiobook but a much larger margin. Despite audiobooks making up the smallest portion of the book market, it made almost $100 million in the European, UK, Nordic, and US markets, as of 2020. 

Pros:

  • Most immersive format, especially with a talented narrator
  • Makes reading accessible on the go (such as through a smartphone, smarthome device, tablet, or computer)
  • Provides a hands-free format, enabling reading during driving, chores, exercise, or other historically non-reading activities
  • User can adjust speed of the reading for their preference and thereby adjust time-investment in the book
  • Audiobook tools allow the user to backtrack or jump ahead by 15-second intervals as needed, as well as to jump between easily marked chapters
  • Audio format is more accessible for readers who cannot read print books
  • Pronunciation of names/terms is provided to the reader organically
  • Takes up no physical space

 Cons:

  • Requires electricity and possibly an internet connection (if an audiobook isn’t pre-loaded onto the device)
  • Poor reading/sound quality can negatively impact perception of the book’s substance/quality
  • Higher cost than paperback, eBook, and some hardcover formats
  • Potentially higher time investment (on average 8 to 25 hours, depending on the genre)
  • Visual features, like maps, diagrams, photos, graphs, etc., likely cannot be read aloud; (they may be included in a separate downloadable PDF file)
  • Can’t make notes in the margins, harder to cross-reference, no physical interaction
  • Some readers may struggle to absorb or process audio format, especially if they are hearing impaired or have certain learning disabilities

You can see there are plenty of pros for all available formats. It’s up to you to determine where you want to start focusing your energy. Begin by researching reader preferences for your genre based on your intended readership (gender, age, demographics). What edition are they most likely to buy and read? You can always expand into other market spaces from there — and with multiple editions available, you’ll be sure to reach readers you hadn’t reached before.

Astra Crompton is a writer and illustrator with twenty years’ experience in self-publishing. Astra’s short stories have been published in magazines, fundraising anthologies, and used in school curriculums. She has taught courses and written articles on creative writing for over five years.

As Editing & Illustrations Coordinator, Astra also manages, coordinates, and vets FriesenPress’s industry-leading editing and illustrations teams.