Oh my god yeeeeees. I hate it when they do that !!

SO annoying *glares at World War Z*

Conversely, it’s criminal if an adaptation doesn’t have at least one shot that freeze-frame copies the OG book cover. Have to give Twilight credit for getting that one right 😂

So true, but it's all about marketing. I'm sure that it adds sales, so in the end, it makes sense. How many more people bought Pride and Prejudice when we suddenly had Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle on the cover?

Agree

It's like they are vilinazing strong women.

An absolute pet peeve of mine---I love strong female characters. The first one that leaps to mind is Ripley from Alien and Aliens. Ripley was so much stronger and so much more compelling than the schlock we get today.

There are exceptions though. Like, in Lucifer, Maze. She’s rude and inconsiderate but she’s a demon so it makes sense. That’s her nature. She’s still cunning but she’s also demonic and bad. But, spoilers, she grows a soul and then begins to understand feelings and be a good person, while still being badass. Or if a character was evil and is in a redemption arc. They can be badass but still be rude because they’re still coming out of the darkness so it’s an adjustment.

@@andrewlustfield6079 Yes, Ripley is a great character!

@@nicodiangelo6788 I don't know the character you're talking about, but both your examples seem to not only be exceptions, but something different than what I'm talking about all together. =) But, even if it wasn't: Everything good can be written bad, and everything bad can be written good. So, I am sure there are actual exceptions also, I have just not encountered them.

It’s quite frustrating, I must say 😅

It doesn't sound weird to me at all, mainly because of taxes and such. I don't think a publishing company would be willing to sell their books in a country they don't have a sort of business agreement (ie, pay less taxes) with the local laws and goverment. I'm not an expert of course, but I think the reason must be along these lines.

It’s different publishers in different countries, not the authors. America has a lot of audiobooks that I can’t get in Australia as we pretty much get the UK publishers

It is so annoying. Star Ward audio books are very limited outside of the US store, which annoys me to no end,

It’s a copyright issue. Whomever got the audio rights for the UK has either tied up the international rights and is asking a higher price than Audible US is willing to pay or they never bought the international rights at all and a new recording is needed for the US market. This is a consistent issue across all genres and it’s INCREDIBLY frustrating.

Right!

It’s almost like the people in power don’t actually care about you.

Agree, I want more books with gay characters and NOT just more sad stories about unrequired love, being abused for coming out, having your lover die and then being sad and alone...I just want books where the character being gay is incidental, like maybe there's a love interest, maybe not, but just where it's normal.

This has resulted in people ordering me to can medically and culturally accurate recovery porn, and that was before the dark humour and efforts to make these people relatable. It's almost like the people who are tired of ssing these people like damaged goods...hate it more when there's seen as people.

That’s very frustrating-I appreciate you sharing your knowledge on this

And then when someone points out problems with these books, they’re called racist/sexist/misogynist

"As someone who's somewhat involved with the publishing industry, you are 100% correct on _books heavily featuring minority characters getting less editorial and marketing attention._ The majority of them are not considered "headliner" books (i.e., likely bestsellers), which means _they're not deemed good enough_ to spend real money on" And why do think that is? Please be direct.

@@therealcirclea762 ? I am being direct. This is the case because the people in charge of such decisions believe these books won't sell as much as others. Traditional publishing generally invests little in what they think won't make a bestseller. That's it.

@@matthewzakh572 but the publishers are usually far Left and open about it. Do you really think that it's racism?

Absolutely. It comes across like publishing only thinks marginalized groups can exist as representations of specific kinds of trauma.

Agree. Came across some African and Chinese fairy tales while working at a thrift store. They were absolutely gorgeous and fun to read!!

Yeah, because they (like Hollywood) don't really care about these groups of people that they claim to care so much about. Its all about pandering and virtue signaling.

Conversely that’s the only way that these stories should get told, you shouldn’t have to write autobiography but you should write what you know, an American or a Briton marginalized or not really has no business writing an Eastern European peasant or a working class Chinese person or someone from a traditional African community unless that’s literally their familial background because they’re not going to get the nuance, there was a famous black American author who wrote a book about slaves in colonial Brazil that was a perfect example of that, great writing awful book. With other marginalized groups, there really needs to be some consultation, a person who isn’t LGBT or a woman shouldn’t make a book where the primary or POV character is a woman or LGBT, these people should feature in books but they should primarily be written by collaborators from that group. I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing something where a black woman is an important character unless I had a co-writer who was a black woman.

Now imagine the personal essays we have to write to get into college.

That’s very interesting! Why are the prices so different between age ranges, though?

@@ebnovels page sizes?

@@some5794 buying paper in bulk?

​@@some5794 Best guess from other industry's. If the machine is working it's making money when it's not, its losing money. For longer books the longer it has to operate to make 10,000 500 page books than 10,000 250 page books. When the books are done you have to stop the machine to reconfigure it to make a different book. That's how it works in some other industry's like cars, not sure that's how it works for book makers. But best educated guess I can give.

​@@some5794 because trimming the edges of say, 500 page book, you're only trimming maybe .5% of the paper used for that book. A 250 page book you'll still be trimming the same space (1/4 in.) but it's now about 2% of the total paper used for that book. Now times it by 10,000 copies of each book and compare the waste to the volume in books and you'll see why. (I'm pretty out of it right now so sorry if this explanation doesn't make sense.)

It's a double edged sword, honestly. Then you get accused of suspicious race-blindness

I write a lot about people who must deal with social sympathy as a protection racket. The one thing marginals and politicians have in common is a strong one indeed.

Ah! A man of Culture! Well cited!

I think there is actually an explanation for this. Someone from Thalia once explained it to me; basically the more copies a book can sell the cheaper it can be priced. Now I'm not 100% sure about this but I imagine YA and fantasy books sell a lot better than literary fiction, so that's why they're overall cheaper. Side note: that's apparently the same reason why textbooks are so damn expensive because they print them in way smaller numbers.

And publishers take a larger percentage of their profits from paperbacks than from hardbacks. Strange.

It’s just capitalism. People desire hardcover more, so it’s charged more 😞

​@@gektoast4968 hardcovers also seem to get damaged less. So again capitalism at play, knowing you'd probably want your book to last awhile they charge more for the version that does so.

The myriads of special editions and collectors' editions are killing me. I think this trend does not inspire people to read more just to collect pretty objects.

@@annai6051 You are right! As a bookseller I actually heard a young customer tell her friend that she bought books because they are pretty, not to read them

And really how “special” are they if they are just going to do another “special” edition. I’ve been a book reader for many years and I have never bought a special edition of anything. I don’t understand… like what a waste of money, just to have an object you look at.

I agree 100%! As an admitted shopaholic this is a strong pull for any marketing campaign. Sometimes I have to shut all my notifications and socials down because of this. They always do the be a subscriber and get 15% off for just a little piece of your soul. 🫣 Sorry, little dramatic there but not too off point.

Yes definitely agree on this! Similar for Turkey, audiobooks are not accessible or enough especially if you want to listen in English

I think there is an attitude with digital media that you're paying extra for the 'convenience' of instant access and/or portability compared to some physical media. mostly see it with video games, usually at launch a digital copy is £10 more than the disc because you can 'pre-download' the game so it's ready to play the moment it officially becomes available. whereas you can't buy the disc until shops open the next day and then you have to wait for it to install onto your console anyway. movies/tv shows/books it's tackling it more from a portability aspect because why break your back carrying DVDs/books everywhere when you can have one device with all of them on it. It's a load of crap, because in the end the production costs should be cheaper for the digital file, you're just paying a premium for a feature (easily portable or immediately accessible) you might not care about.

The fact that some ebooks cost 20$ is insane...

Totally agree. Ebooks should be cheaper. But when it comes to that specific pocket, maybe it was a special price for the moment?

I think this just tells you how little value the actual physicality in the product is. The price really comes from the publishing team and cover design etc. Not from the materials and printing.

First, I'm not saying this to defend the price of e-books. I really have no idea what the actual costs of distribution for books is. I personally fall into the category of "often frustrated with how much this e-book costs". But I do want to point out that digital products are not resource-less or no-cost goods. Data hosting and transfer are both something companies pay for in volume. As well as the cost of development and integration of the infrastructure for receiving and using that data, with the ability to receive the product again in the future, across many different devices/operating systems. Physical books don't tend to have "eternal" costs, besides them physically taking up space at a store.

Too many female characters being like that is due to issues with modern mainstream feminism that has gone in some unhealthy directions in recent years. Being a strong person does not mean you are flawless and emotionless and can go nonstop. Because of the stereotype that women were too emotional to do "important work" in the past, they have tried to push out emotions from the female experience instead of emphasizing that we are not overemotional and that emotions are a part of being human. It is unhealthy for young girls to constantly see women handling an unrealistic number of things on their plate and tell them that if they don't live up to those unrealistic standards then you are inadequate as a woman and are wasting our freedom. It's why you see some women in positions of power telling women under them to suck it up if they have a problem because then you'll seem like a stereotypical weak female. This mindset is not healthy.

Support My Little Pony

I don't understand. I've seen only a few episodes, but I think I know what you're referring to, at least in this one episode a Native girl was murdered. I was half paying attention. Anyway, that's far less than actual history & it still happens now. I understand gratuitous violence & gore, I mean, that's what slasher films are. But real life has plenty of sick people who've done sick things. Granted, something being gratuitous is subjective depending on genre, target age, tone, etc, but taking something to the lowest common denominator does, in my view, injustice to the victims & survivors, invalidating their trauma.

@@natashaestes154 The most agregious example is in Yellowstone 1923, where every episode features multiple scenes of abuse of a girl at a residential school. It's not to say it isn't historically accurate, residential schools were horrific, but it became way too much. Yellowstone 1883 focuses on the Oregon Trail and showed a lot of violence both to and from indigenous folk, but at least there were a couple characters who existed for reasons beyond that... In the original Yellowstone series I don't recall when the scenes happened, but it's mostly when you look at all 3 series together you can see the trend and it just seems like a morbid fascination I'm not sure needs to exist. EDIT because I forgot to address your latter point: I do 100% think sharing stories of trauma is valid and should be explored in media, especially when they're painting an era or subject matter people may not be familiar with, and sometimes entertainment media can serve a dual function of education... The issue is that I think marginalized folks deserve stories that aren't focused on their trauma, and it's very difficult to tell when that focus goes from being informative to gratuitous.

@@lieslherman I grew up on the rez and am indigenous our stories have immense trauma because it's just fact. Both of my grandparents were in residential schools and were taken away from Arizona and sent to some place in Arkansas to "save the man, kill the Indian." We have so many times that we are victimized and traumatized in history, like the trail of tears, the massacre at wounded knee, Bear River massacre, and I can go on and on. We indigenous women didn't have a static of how many of our mothers, sisters, aunts , cousins went missing or were killed for many, many years. Hell, we still don't really know and it's still happening like the Highway of Tears in Canada where indigenous women are still going missing or winding up dead. I get it makes you uncomfortable but it's our story and our history and I appreciate that it's not sugar coated because we still deal with this trauma to this day.

@@TOchick I 100% agree that those stories need shared, and I am sorry if the way I expressed my concerns did not make that explicit. While obviously it's something I've never experienced personally, the city I live in (Thunder Bay, Canada) still to this day deals with the repercussions of the horrific treatment of indigenous peoples. Our area is steeped in a history of pain, and I don't think anyone should shy away from learning of it. It is SO important. However, the point I'm trying to make is that some of the media I have consumed lately has taken that history and in a way, tried to make entertainment of it... and THAT is what makes me uncomfortable. My feeling is that the Yellowstone shows shine when they depict both the trauma that was endured as well as the complexity and depth to indigenous lives and culture, but the most recent series they have produced featured many scenes of abuse with almost no context or suggestion to purpose to the plot. They simply flipped between scenes of a girl being beaten at a school, to scenes to a ranch nearby with a connection not made known for many episodes. It goes on for a duration I don't believe was necessary. If you have seen this show and disagree, I respectfully concede that my opinion is less important, but as of now I decline to continue watching that series because I believe they could handled it with MUCH more respect.

I'm trying to get either hardbacks or trade paperbacks of these same exact two series and am running into all of the same problems. I probably will opt for eBooks for Malazan as the trade paperbacks are so expensive (and not available for all books), and for the Sun Eater series I will end up with a couple trade paperbacks, one mass market paperback, and starting with book 4 hardbacks. I fully admit I'm a little anal about my books, which means I like to have all books in the series in the same format :)

Our local library has a continuous sale room where they decomission books and also sell donated books. They charge a flat $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardbacks. I find a lot of out of print copies that way. You might check your local library to see if they do something similar.

Yes!! I have been trying to get a hardback copy of Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett and it's impossible unless you want to spend 100+ on a used edition!

Thank you for the info!

@@joyahawkrose3984 You're welcome. :3

It’s actually a Tor issue. They publish like 90% of the fantasy sci-fi novellas and charge an ugly amount of money for them in physical form.

Also every new edition means a price increase

This is funny to me because I sometimes prefer duologies to trilogies. But I haven't read any duologies that feel like they should have been only one book. Mostly I've read a lot of trilogies that would have been excellent as duologies and ended up feeling spread thin as trilogies because the author needed to invent something interesting for the middle and more or less failed. I find its so rare to find standalones in YA though, I understand it would be frustrating to read something in two books that should have been one.

@@Yohannai Actually I agree with this. I typically prefer duologies to trilogies because trilogies often fall into "middle book" syndrome. This is where the middle book is just a placeholder book and nothing significant happens in the plot. It solely exists to make the series a trilogy.

It’s a very large amount of money for such a small amount of pages 😅

I buy ebooks more lately which helps when the physical is expensive.

@@mischarowe I get most of my books secondhand and I buy all my ebooks on sale so I do save a lot of money that way 😊

I try to wait until I have store credit 😅

Where do you live in Europe ? I have no problem getting them in France. Have you tried online website like bookdepository that ships internationally for free?

@@ellyra412 I live in Italy! And I do have access to Amazon but to give you an idea, I was looking for a Rilke book and I found a used, old, ugly paperback edition that was over 100 euro. Or Asimov's foundation (used!) for 70 euro??? And the prices get more insane the older the book, especially with fantasy. I don't understand why. I just checked book depository and I have access to it! So thank you so much for mentioning it ☺️

I believe that is because you are looking at old editions of those books that are no longer published, since you can't find them anywhere else, sellers rise their prices. It is the same in every country. If you go for newer editions of these classics you will probably find much more affordable prices.

I haven’t read any light novels yet, so I’ve not encountered this issue, but that’s very frustrating!

as someone who enjoys lightnovels aswell i can feel that pain in the wallet. paying >12€ for

Authors paid to have an audiobook done. Costs about $5000 to $7000.

😬 Yikes. I want to read that one, but…no.

That’s quite a bit!

You guys must be really poor. You should find a free hobbie like watching the stars or sleeping the entire day. Or maybe tiktok. A lot of authors can barely survive by writing books alone, then on top of that they need to listen to people complaining about their book prices. I'd increase the price of my books even more.

Those look like the Stormlight Archive Dust Jackets from The Kraken Book Co.

The other comment is correct!

Both of you are awesome, thank you.