Why do WillowTree Press Paperback Original Titles cost slightly more than other mass market paperbacks?
WillowTree Press Paperback Original (PBO) titles cost slightly more than other Mass Market Paperbacks (MM) for several reasons. First, the titles are just that, Paperback Originals. This means that they have not been released in Hardcover Bindings, and therefore have not had the initial high markup and profit margins of case bound books. Secondly, while some WTP titles are trimmed to the size of standard Mass Market Paperbacks, they are printed on high quality acid free paper as opposed to pulp newsprint like other MM titles. In reality this makes a PBO from WillowTree a “Trade Paperback” in quality, and a Mass Market Paperback in size only. Lastly, because of our commitment to protecting Mother Earth, WTP titles are printed using environmentally friendly recycled stock and soy based inks. All of these factors combine to increase the cover price of our titles, however, the increase is minimal when compared to the cost of MM titles of similar length, plus the quality of the book is far
