The estate of Harper Lee will no longer allow the publication of the mass market paperback edition of To Kill a Mockingbird. Lee’s estate is expected to earn higher royalties from the trade paperback, which sold 22,554 copies so far this year compared to the 55,367 copies of the mass market paperbacks. While its unclear why (greed) Lee’s estate would terminate mass market paperbacks, the real cost will be to already budget-conscious public schools:
Without a mass-market option, schools will likely be forced to pay higher prices for bulk orders of the trade paperback edition—and given the perilous state of many school budgets, that could very easily lead to it being assigned in fewer schools. (Schools typically receive a bulk sale rate that gives them more than 50 percent off of the list price of a book—they most likely pay less than $4.50 per copy of the mass-market paperback of TKAM, whereas a copy of the trade paperback would cost no more than $7.50.) Hachette is upfront about this possibility: a bullet point in the email reads, “The disappearance of the iconic mass-market edition is very disappointing to us, especially as we understand this could force a difficult situation for schools and teachers with tight budgets who cannot afford the larger, higher priced paperback edition that will remain in the market.”
