According to Publisher's Weekly Dorchester Publishing will no longer be printing MMPB (mass market paperbacks) anymore.  They will go to e-books and for their more popular titles some books might be printed at trade size.  All About Romance had a blog written before the Publisher's Weekly article about Dorchester and the move.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books talked about how this was sprung on the authors with almost no notice, leaving them with publicity expenses and confusion over their contracts.  DP did a very poor job on the shift and wasn't answering any inquiries.

Well as a person who prefers print that kind of sucks. I don't know how many books I read are actually from Dorchester though.  I don't really go looking for ebooks that often.  So I'll probably only get them if the new books for any series I like are only in ebook format. 

I have nothign against ebooks although I like the look and feel of a print book better.  My main issue with ebooks is that I'm not a rereader and so like print books that I can trade afterwords. 

ITA with Mary.  Can't trade an ebook!  And I guess I'm old fashioned but I LIKE the feel of a book in my hand, the smell of an old book store, turning the pages, etc.....

Anyone have a list of romance authors that were under contract to Dorchester?  I think Rose Lerner(debut In for a Penny) was one.  BTW-it was fabulous! 

I'm curious which authors are affected as well..I seldom pay attention to who publishes the book..guess I may be in for a shock when I can't find my favorite author!

I've avoided getting an e-book reader because I also like holding an actual book in my hand and also, I have this "thing" about knowing which page in the book I am on.   I understand that e-books don't have page #'s, which would totally drive me NUTS.

I'm also curious - which authors does this affect?

Well, I'm like Lynne J. I prefer my book in hand. I think this totally sucks to put it bluntly. I'm curious to know which authors it affects also.

You can find a list of their authors here.  http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/Authors.cfm

I prefer a book in my hand,  too.   And I love that I can have so many more books to read by trading.  

my ebooks hav epage numbers but when I make the print larger I may be on a page for 3 pages instead of just 1.

You can find a list of their authors here.  http://www.dorchesterpub.com/Dorch/Authors.cfm

wow there are so many good authors in that list. I really hope they move to other publisher because as much as I like ebooks, I rather get books on print, especially in mmpb since not only are they cheaper but they also don't take too much space like HB and TPB in my bookshelf.

Also, now days, you can find anything in the interent for free. I mean just look at all the people who illegally downloads music for free  and I know people also downloads free ebooks from those illegal sites. I think this will hurt there business a lot.

oh crap Christie Craig is one!

Jennifer Ashley, Pamela Clare, Christine Feehan, Elisabeth Naughton, Lisa Kleypas, Katie MacAlister, Julia Quinn....

Holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!

Folks, many authors have their first books at Dorcester.  Such as Kathyrne Kennedy and Jennifer Ashley, both having their recent books on another publisher.  DP brands are Lovespell and Leisure.  Used to be Shomi, until that label was closed.  (Christie Craig seems unusual that she did stay with them.)

That said, this is a really bad time for authors to be searching for a new publisher as all of print media is being very cautious.  Dorcester did have a habit of taking on new authors which is becoming very rare in the publishing business. 

Although I am avoiding MMP, to not even be able to get the book in print at all means I won't be reading and enjoying some books.  If I were an author, I would need to see some really convincing ebook sale numbers vs. print book to stay with them. 

I am so stubborn.  My business partner bought me an Kindle for a present and I haven't even opened the box and taken it out to try.  I am checking the prices on the books I am reading though, and every one, so far, the ebook is twice as expensive or MORE than the print hardback used or swapped.

I'm another person who likes an actual book in my hands. I have no plans to buy a nook or other devices like that.

That is a shame. I guess they won't be doing their book club that I've seen advertised anymore.  I wonder how much their ebooks will be. I don't like to pay more than $3 for a book, whether its print or ebook. (Obviously I sometimes DO whether I like to or not!)

Marjana I agree with you I rather get books on print, especially in mmpb since not only are they cheaper but they also don't take too much space like HB and TPB in my bookshelf.

Plus they are much heavier, which is hard on my shelves.

Pamela, lucky you!!! There are tons of free and cheap ebooks available! Amazon offers free ebooks all the time, for limited periods. You can find people who will trade ebooks with you too, though its against the rules. I plan to get the new Kindle wi-fi this fall. I am excited! I won't buy books for it very often, and when I do they will be cheap ones LOL.

I would rather have print books too.  I also don't have an ereader.  My question would be if this might be a start of a trend especially with smaller publishing companies.  I know New Concepts Publishing is print on demand and Dorchester is going that direction.  If more smaller publishing companies go to print on demand and focus on ebooks will bigger companies start focusing on ebooks more then they do now.

Wow, I saw some big name authors on that list. I wonder if other publishers will try to woo them. With so many paper books here at home it makes no sense for me to buy an e-reader in order to get some author's future releases. I'm hurting for the authors. If anyone comes across blogs or articles on these authors and what their future plans might be please post them. I don't generally read stuff like that but I'd like to follow what's happening.

As a side note, I doubt I'd follow any of the authors to trade size, no matter how much I enjoy their books. This is such a shame.

Gail

I switch to ebooks for Christiine Feehan. But most likely I'd put the tradesize or hardcover on my waitlist and wait for quite awhile before I bought it in ebook form.  Or wait for it from the library.

With so many paper books here at home it makes no sense for me to buy an e-reader in order to get some author's future releases

This is another reason I'm in no hurry to get an ereader.  I have 900 print books here.  I don't really need to download a book for an instant read.  I have probably 20 ebooks on my computer and I rarely read them.   Some I've had for a couple of years now and I jsut don't sit and read at the computer.  Maybe now that I have a laptop, I'll get around to reading them. 

I do have an ereader but I still like the feel of a print book in my hands.  When I want to skim a story I've read before or go back and re-read certain parts, it's much easier to pick up a print book and flip thru the pages.  Plus, I have to peek at the ending of a book.  I just can't resist and you can't do that easily with an ebook.

There are so many free ebooks out there or shorter stories that are only available in ebook form.  I have close to 200 ebooks but I've probably only paid actual money for 1/3 of them.  The rest are freebies.

I can't imagine a publisher is doing away with MMPBs.  I'm sure they outsell trade sized books and are cheaper which is a major concern for a lot of people these days.

If I was reading Large Print, then I'd be jumping on the eBook wagon really fast.   For now. I'm sticking with paper.  Although my library is part of the eBook network so I could check out and download eBooks for 3 weeks. 

Dorchester says they will still be doing the bookclub.  Not sure how that will work.  Or if it will be all trade sized. 

If I was an author, I'd want an ePublisher with a little more experience than DP.  Any switch over will have it's glitches.  Dorcester is already behind the times with their dated covers and website.

Thanks for the link Bette.

While there are some of my favorite authors on the list, I would miss reading their books. There are many authors with great books out there. If they don't want to provide the mass market paperbacks, I'm sure there are other publishing companies that will.

I imagine they'll have some sort of print options available for libraries as well.   I will just only get the ebook version if it's the  latest in a series and I can't wait for the library or the WL for the book club edition is slow moving.

I imagine they'll have some sort of print options available for libraries as well.   I will just only get the ebook version if it's the  latest in a series and I can't wait for the library or the WL for the book club edition is slow moving. Like I said before-got 900 books here.  I'm in no real hurry for anything.

A couple things...

- they are considering TPB options (especially for club books) and Print on Demand.

- from one of their authors: "The thing is, Dorchester was going under. Totally. They may yet. They haven't paid their authors in months, and for that reason they weren't allowed at RWA this year." So if their options are e-pub or NOTHING, e-pub is ok by me.

That being said, here's what Smart Bitches had to say about it:

http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/dorchester-does-digital-authors-do-what