Publishing Today: Flipbacks, The Future of Publishing?

Today see’s the launch and publication of Hodder’s new “revolutionary” books design. In actually fact it’s nothing new, but revolutionary? More than likely!

Hodder’s BIG Idea

For a very long time books have been available in two main formats, paperback and hardback. More recently eBooks, kindle, audio books and a plethora of multimedia formats have been created but none have yet to supplant the original. This new design is far closer to the paperback we all know and love but supposedly allows us to read in a more fluent way!

This new ‘Flipback’ design flips to the classic book 90® so that it opens more like a landscape flip chart or sketch book. This allows for much more text on each double page and apparently creates a “much improved reading experience” despite being the size of a cassette tape! (For those who can’t remember or never used cassette tapes, that’s rather small!)

“If you've ever whined about how the Kindle, compact though it may be, doesn't have the look or feel of a nice printed novel – put this in your pipe and read it: the newly invented "flipback" book. Released in Britain this summer, it is being touted as the, er, new Kindle: the tome that's smaller and lighter than an e-reader, but made out of pages, not bytes.
 It is all the rage in Holland, where it was introduced in 2009, and has since sold 1m copies. A version has just been launched in Spain, France is next, and the flipback reaches UK shores in June, when Hodder & Stoughton will treat us to a selection of 12 books. They cost £9.99, and will include David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas and Stephen King's Misery.” The Guardian

So, great titles, tiny format, portable, affordable, what’s the downside? Well, there is one, paper. The paper these books are printed on is like the super thin paper you see in bibles! While this isn’t a massive problem, it might become irksome in damp or highly windy conditions. That said, Amazon consider it a serious threat to the kindle dominance of the portability market for several reasons:

1)      A book doesn’t need charging or Internet connection.

2)      Combines the feeling of having a real book with the portability of an e-reader/kindle device.

3)      Very affordable compared to the average price of £120 for an e-reader/kindle device!

The above considered, I don’t think the flipback will replace the kindle or the standard formats, but certainly has a place in the market. Commuters will love this light weight, small surface area format as will libraries and holiday makers wanting to cut down their bag weights.

The initial release is quite small, 12 books in total.
These are listed and available for sale on the A Great Read Website.
ORDER NOW FOR 30% OFF THE RRP!



The following Flipback books are now available at A Great Read.co.uk Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Shades of Grey

Adventure of English

One Day

Misery

Piece of My Heart

My Sister's Keeper

The Other Hand

Liar's Poker

General Title Review: Theodore Boone, The Abduction by John Grisham



John Grisham
Best Selling Author



John Grisham has for years now been considered by most the undisputed king of the legal thriller and rightly so, with 23 bestselling novels, one work of non-fiction and work translated in to 39 languages! So when Hodder & Stoughton recently published his latest Theodore Boone novel, “The Abduction”, we thought we had better give it a look.

“Theodore Boone is back in a new adventure, and the stakes are higher than ever. When his best friend, April, disappears from her bedroom in the middle of the night, no one, not even Theo Boone – who knows April better than anyone – has answers. As fear ripples through his small hometown and the police hit dead ends, it’s up to Theo to use his legal knowledge and investigative skills to chase down the truth and save April.”



John Grisham's
"The Abduction"



A nice blurb with an obviously gripping plot hook, it is immediately obvious that Grisham has hit upon another winner, in the words of the New York Times, “Not since Nancy Drew has a nosy, crime-obsessed kid been so hard to resist.”

His First Theodore Boone book hit the shelves last year and was snapped up within weeks, massive stock problems followed due to the unbelievable demand for this supposed teenager’s book. Much like hits such as Harry Potter and The Amber Spy Glass, Theodore Boone quickly became popular with a much wider range of readers that was originally intended, Grisham had done it again!

Now Theo returns in an exciting new novel following on from the first. Judging by the response of the usually harsh critics of the scholastic press,” Gripping…I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. I think everyone with be enthralled by Theodore Boone.” The abduction is sure to be another massive hit with readers.

It should be noted that the novel is aimed at younger readers and so takes a slightly less dark route through the mist and fog of the mystery genre but to be honest, the book is so well written and the story so gripping, you don’t even notice the lack of adult realism.

Praise for THEODORE BOONE:

'Not since Nancy Drew has a nosy, crime-obsessed kid been so hard to resist.' (The New York Times )

'Gripping... I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. I think everyone will be enthralled by Theodore Boone.' (Scholastic News )

'There's a new kid on the young fiction block, and this one really does have serious powers: Theodore Boone, half-boy, half-lawyer... fans will be pleased to know there will be more of Theo's adventures to come.' (Sunday Express )

'If you aspire to turn your children into lawyers who will keep you in your old age, John Grisham's Theodore Boone, his first novel for young people, might be for you'.

(Sunday Times )

'Contemporary lit for young readers has its icons: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Artemis Fowl. Make way for the new kid on the block.' (USA Today )

Praise for John Grisham:
'Nobody does legal fiction better' (Daily Express )

'a master of his craft' (Guardian )

Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, he was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi, law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby--writing his first novel… Read John Grisham’s Bio.

So, The Abduction by John Grisham is set to top the charts any time with people all over the world snapping up copies. The book has such massively universal appeal, suitable from anyone 13+, and yet doesn’t seem to have compromised on content or writing style what so ever. All in all, an amazing book that I am sure will be loved by all.

Buy your copy of the Abduction today at A Great Read and get 40% off the RRP!