Richard Blystone, CNN, Live at Didcott, England. So that's a look at the marketing and popularity of one trade book. There are other categories of books. Again trade books are all general interest titles. Recently religious publishers have issued books about social issues from a religious point of view, but these are trade books.
Many paperbacks are reprints of hardcover editions.
Many are original paperbacks, like science fiction novels, for example. There are also a lot of classics up there on the web that can you download free. It remains to be seen how big a factor electronic books will be in the whole scheme of things. And if you go to that website there was Stephen inviting you to download the first two episodes of The Plant . And here's what he says about paying for it.