9.4 Terry Pratchett: Notes on book formats.
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This article is from the Terry Pratchett Bibliography FAQ, by p.pinto ppint@lspace.org with numerous contributions by others.
9.4 Terry Pratchett: Notes on book formats.
audio/b "Audiobook" - a reading of the novel, or an abbreviation of it,
recorded on a number of compact cassettes. the Corgi audio/b range
is of abridgements narrated by Tony ("Baldrick") Robinson, filling
two cassettes per novel, running time circa three hours each; the
Isis audio/b range is of the complete novels narrated by either
Nigel ("Neil") Planer [or Celia Imries, on the first two witches
novels] and occupying variously six, or eight, cassettes; running
time varying widely between seven and a half, and eleven hours.
Neither publishers' audio/b cassettes are differentiated in a way
that blind or visually impaired (poorly-sighted) people can easily
distinguish; this is of less consequence with the corgi audio/bs,
as there are only two cassettes per novel to confuse; however, the
isis audio/b packaging does allow strict order to be followed - IF
the cassettes are ALWAYS returned to the appropriate position (and
preferably, the earlier, "odd" sides uppermost).
h/cvr "Hardcover" - the printed pages are published bound between boards
(generally cloth-covered: hence h/cvr editions also referred to as
"cloth"). the pages are properly sewn into signatures, and collec-
ted by being sewn to cloth tapes, and sewn and glued onto a backing
cloth, which is then glued to the inside edges of the cloth-covered
boards. the endpapers are then glued in to cover the insides of the
cloth-covered boards, and to the spine edges of the fly pages.
n.b. the gollancz/cassell plc editions of The Witches Trilogy and
The Death Trilogy are not so bound, being in effect p/bs which
happen to have board covers...
n.b. the gollancz/cassell miniature h/cvrs are not so bound, in that
the cloth elements of a proper binding are completely omitted.
[this note will need rewriting, should editions of Terry's books be
published in quarter, half, three-quarter or full leather bindings.]
mmp/b "Mass Market Paperback" - this term is descriptive of the distribut-
ion system used to make these merkin p/bs available to the retailer;
essentially, mmp/bs are treated as monthly magazines, their covers
being stripped and returned for credit, if unsold on the arrival of
the following month's titles. in _size_, the mmp/b is approximately
the same as the uk "a format p/b"; but virtually all uk p/bs are in
fact tp/bs. (cf. "p/b", "tp/b", "yp/b")
p/b "Paperback" - the signatures are blocked together and then trimmed,
with the resultant individual pages then being glued to the inside
spine of a card cover (also known as "perfect" binding). although
p/bs have been produced with their pages sewn in signatures, these
in turn being glued either to the inside spine of the card cover (or
first into paper or cloth tape) and this to the card cover, no such
editions exist of Terry's books. [but see the feetnotes to "h/cvr".]
the uk "a format p/b" is roughly the same size as the merkin mmp/b;
the "b format p/b" is approximately an inch and a quarter taller and
wider that the a format p/b. (see also "mmp/b", "tp/b" and "yp/b")
n.b. p/bs listed above are a format p/b, unless otherwise indicated.
tp/b "Trade Paperback" - this term is descriptive of the distribution
system used to make these (nowadays mostly merkin, for fiction)
p/bs available to the retailer; tp/bs are not sold via the news
wholesalers, nor the retail outlets they supply (news-stand, chain-
store and/ mom+pop store racks, etc.), but via the book trade.
they are not "strippable for credit". the tp/b may be a p/b of any
size, and so is not strictly of any particular format. (cf. "mmp/b",
"p/b" & "yp/b")
yp/b "Yuppieback" - this term is descriptive of the uk p/bs manufactured
from trimmed signatures of the h/cvr printing: it is a recent uk
innovation, normally published at the same time as, or three or six
months after, the h/cvr. the term was derived from the somewhat res-
tricted perceived custom for this edition: "those who can afford it
(the space as well as the cost) buy the hardcover, and normal people
like you and me buy the paperback: that only leaves yuppies, to buy
the yuppiebacks." the yp/b is necessarily of the dimensions of the
trimmed h/cvr edition signatures. (cf. "mmp/b", "p/b" and "tp/b")
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