Should I publish a hardcover book? Like many authors, you may have the same question, wondering if you should publish a hardcover book.

Or a hardback if you’re familiar with the publishing term.

It makes sense why you think you should do the same – many authors do it, especially the traditionally published ones.

Since they’re doing it, you should have your books in hardback as well, right?

In my case, I was already dead set on wanting to publish the hardback edition of my Trigger Locked series during my plan to release the new edition of the books.

Heck, I even made it one of the goals that I want to make happen this year.

But my reason for wanting to publish the hardback edition of my books has nothing much to do with what everybody else is doing.

Rather, it has more to do with KDP Print now allowing you to publish your book in hardback.

That was it.

Funnily enough, I caught myself asking the rationality of my decision to publish the hardback edition as I was about to do just that.

And after a bit of pondering here and there, I decided not to do it anymore.

Why the sudden change of heart?

I’ll be honest here – for the longest time, I never paid much attention to publishing books in hardback.

It was only when KDP Print announced that you could also publish books in hardback that made me consider it.

Now that we can publish a hardback through KDP Print, I figure I should have the books available in hardback as well.

Apart from the usual ebook and paperback fanfare, now I have a hardback edition as another format that I can offer to my readers.

This is where the math meets reality.

Sure, KDP Print makes it easy for us to publish our books in hardback.

But in reality, not many would want to buy books in hardback.

The only people who buy books in hardback are libraries and your super fans.

Other than those people, the rest seem content with getting the paperback if reading books in print is their preferred choice.

When you realize that only a specific type of people will go all the way to purchase your hardback, then it makes less sense to release your books in hardback.

And let’s not forget the time and money it takes to format and design the book cover for the hardback edition, plus buying the author’s copy.

While it won’t blow your budget if you only buy one author’s copy, it can be a stretch when you have to buy three authors’ copies of three different books in a series, like in my case.

And don’t get me started on the shipping cost to get these books shipped to me when you have to order three of them.

Should I publish a hardcover book then?

Now, some of you may come to the same conclusion after listening to my reasoning.

But does it mean hardbacks are only exclusive for authors with a massive fanbase and traditionally published?

The good news is it’s certainly not.

If you write nonfiction or publish cookbooks, photobooks, artbooks, coffee table books, and children’s books, then you should publish them in hardback.

Why is that?

In the case of cookbooks, photobooks, artbooks, and coffee table books, people expect these books to be in hardback.

They last long and always look good on a display.

As for children’s books, they’re durable and can last long too if you take good care of them.

And why you should have your nonfiction books in hardback, you ask?

The reason is that hardback books are perfect as a gift.

Of course, people will still give books as a gift even if they’re in paperback.

But if you want to make the gift special, then hardbacks are the way to go.

Is there no room for hardback fiction?

If you’re referring to the mass hardback, the answer is no.

However, if you’re referring to the special edition that comes with a dust jacket, glossy color pages, and a physical box set, then the answer is yes.

If you’re thinking about releasing a hardback for fiction, this is the best way to go about it.

It makes the book even more special, too, especially when readers can obtain it through the Kickstarter campaign or its limited print run.

Will I consider publishing my books in the future?

Never say never, that’s what I always say.

Just because I choose not to publish my books in hardback now, it doesn’t mean that I won’t in the future.

Believe it or not, my plan to publish books in hardback is still not dead in the water.

It’s just that it will be so much different from what I initially envisioned.

For one, nonfiction will be the only one that will get the mass hardback release.

As for fiction, I’ll go for the special edition hardback strategy, where you can get the book from my online store.

It won’t be available anywhere else.

Whether I will ever have the books come in a physical box set is something that I’m not sure of, since this special edition stuff is doable thanks to BookVault.

But like I said before, never say never.

When you get to see the books in hardback?

Sad to say, this is the hardest part – I don’t know when.

The only thing I can say for now is that the plan for the hardback version of my book is in the book, no pun intended.

Even that also doesn’t have a definitive timeline since I have yet to finish writing the first draft, let alone being in the publishing stage.

So yes, sorry folks, I actually leave you hanging in the air.

All I can say for now is you’ll hear about it again by next year at the earliest.

As always, you can rest assured you’ll be the first to know about it and if I ever going to scrap the plan again.

Believe me, I’m not a fan of the scrap-plans-altogether-and-back-to-the-drawing-board approach.

But it’s hard to do when the world we live in changes at a spur moment.

And that can affect everything, from something far more complex to something as simple as ‘Should I publish a book in hardcover?’ kind of decision.