So we have heard nothing about this though multiple people have asked on various threads. After the next book there is no news...
So what is going on? Is there going to be any News? Did I miss something?
Do you see that wall? The writings on it . . .
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I hope they don't scrap it, my wife LOVES Pathfinder Tales.
Publisher, Chief Creative Officer
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We are not scrapping Pathfinder Tales. There are certain complications regarding our current partnership that we're working through (hence the lack of info on upcoming books), but we are NOT shutting down the line.
Stay turned, and please, at least for the moment, stay patient.
Thanks for the news and reassurance.
Thanks for the update
*Crosses fingers that the upcoming books being released in the previous smaller size is one of the results of the current efforts to work through the complications.*
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Hey folks—
I just wanted to follow up on Erik's comment and let you know the state of the Pathfinder Tales line.
Going forward, we will no longer be partnering with Tor for the Pathfinder Tales novels—Gears of Faith is the last one we'll be releasing through them. We're currently in talks with other publishers to see who would be the best fit for the line, and things like format and schedule are also up for review as part of that. I'm confident that the line will continue, and I'm really excited about some of the possibilities we're discussing, but for right now there's going to be a bit of a gap as we transition. As Erik said, thanks for being patient, and stay tuned!
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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since it sounds like things are in negotiations, I just wanted to share my 2 cents that I would much prefer a return to mass market paperback, rather than trade paperback. Even if the price was the same as it currently is for trade paperback.
They fit on my bookshelves better, in my backpack better, and in my hand better when I'm reading (especially on the bus if I don't get a seat).
Also, the maps in the Tor line have been too busy and hard to read, and I am very familiar with the maps from the game line. I much preferred the maps in the Paizo published versions.
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I would also like a return to the old format again.
The new one didn't work for me.
Also it wasn't a problem to get the books from Paizo from my flagstore (i got #1-#26), but the Tor books somehow never arrived, i had to get them from amazon and kinda lost intetest a little as a result.
At $10 i would buy every book, no matter from which writer.
At $15 i would pick the writers i like.
At $12.50 i would also buy everything, thats my "i don't care" limit.
Thanks for informing us, Erik and James. :-)
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I agree with Joel on the maps (the Tor ones were terrible, in my opinion).
However, I strongly prefer the Tor paperback format - the quality of paper and size/quality of font anyhow (I don't care about the physical dimensions).
I didn't realise how much that could impact on the enjoyment of my reading a book until you made the switch. I know many preferred the old format but I for one would consider it a degradation of quality to return to that. (I would still subscribe).
I'd also really, really, really like it if you could manage monthly releases.
Fingers crossed the gap in scheduling is a silver lining and it allows paizo to press on with their side of things and build up a bit of a "buffer" in product to allow a quicker release rate once a publisher is found.
Smaller books, smaller books, smaller books, smaller books, smaller books ...
And just to be clear, it was mentioned in another thread that two of the reasons for the larger format was 1) to allow for a larger font size for the benefit of readers whose eyes don't handle smaller print so well and 2) to justify a higher purchase price. So when I hope for a smaller book size, I mean exactly and only that.
Ya'll want to have mass market paperback books cost the same as trade paperbacks? Go ahead. You want the smaller size books to retain a larger size font. By all means.
But please give us our smaller size books back. Heck, if you re-release everything Tor-made also in the smaller sizes, you might just get to sell all those novels again.
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I don't care about format, but I'd be really interested in seeing stories featuring characters from some of the newer (and more unusual) character classes in the game--like the Occult ones, for example. I still haven't quite wrapped my head around how they fit into traditional sword & sorcery stories and settings, so it'd be great to see how they "work" in Golarion.
Just my two cents I prefer the trade paperbacks...
It's sad that the Tor partnership doesn't seem to have worked out for Paizo. I'll be keeping an eye on what comes up to see if it's cost effective for me to subscribe again. The increased cost, increased book size and loss of digital versions from the subscription were just too much to accept in one hit for me, so I just got Kindle versions through Amazon. If Paizo had been able to sell the digital versions of their own books I'd have grabbed them here instead.
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Any news on the Audiobooks front?agreed here - I listen to 4 audiobooks for each paper novel i have time to read.
Here's another vote for Audible. I buy all my novels in Kindle format for my lovely wife, for me it's Audible. Slowly collecting all the Pathfinder Tales in both of those formats, so I am hoping that both formats will remain available with the new publisher.
Trade paperbacks are terrible, horrible things.
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Trade paperbacks are terrible, horrible things.
My old Pathfinder tpbs (#2-26 at least) are still in very good condition, but the three Tor versions are already very frayed at the edges after one reading.
That being said, i'm used to bound hardcover books, which are of course the best.
But i suppose the price would be too high for most people. ;-)
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Trade paperbacks are terrible, horrible things.My old Pathfinder tpbs (#2-26 at least) are still in very good condition, but the three Tor versions are already very frayed at the edges after one reading.
That being said, i'm used to bound hardcover books, which are of course the best.
But i suppose the price would be too high for most people. ;-)
I remember having to order a copy of one of the Tor books to be picked up at Barnes and Noble. Why? Because they already had two copies on their shelves, both of which had the covers falling off.
I hope with who ever is looked at for future publishing partner, that a kindle version will still be on the table.
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Thanks for the feedback on formats, folks! Obviously, any such decisions will have to be made with our new partner (whoever they turn out to be), but I'd be *shocked* if the new deal didn't include making the books available in Kindle and audio format.
Just release the books in mass market and trade size. That's what lots of companies do nowadays.
I think the goal from Paizo's perspective was to get greater exposure to a wider market via Tor's extensive distribution/marketing networks.
No doubt there were some behind-the-scenes savings as well in terms of personnel and other resources. Tor probably produce paperback novels more efficiently than Paizo.
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What was wrong exactly with the original way of doing it that necessitated the need to partner with TOR?
The problem is that we're fundamentally a game company, not a fiction publisher, and that hurts us a lot when it comes to getting books in stores and marketing them to the public. A big publishing partner offers a lot of benefits: they can negotiate from a place of greater strength with printers/book buyers/etc., they've got a lot more people devoted to marketing, they've got a lot more money to throw around, etc. Even just having a partner helping pay for the production of the books takes a lot of the risk and strain off of us. But the real hope is that by partnering with a big company, we can get the books in front of folks who would otherwise never know about them, and expand the brand beyond just the folks who are already hardcore fans.
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As a bookseller, I've been trying to recommend the Tales books, but it's a bit difficult. We only have a handful in our system and one on our shelves (Shy Knives). >.< One day when I have time I might go through and see how many we can order for customers, but a lot of customers would turn that down for a series they don't know. I wish I could help more. I would happily sell the books to anyone and everyone.
I'm still trying to work my way through the list as well, having only read Liane Merciel's at the moment. I have a few others, but I can't afford to buy any right now.
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As a bookseller, I've been trying to recommend the Tales books, but it's a bit difficult. We only have a handful in our system and one on our shelves (Shy Knives). >.< One day when I have time I might go through and see how many we can order for customers, but a lot of customers would turn that down for a series they don't know. I wish I could help more. I would happily sell the books to anyone and everyone.
I'm still trying to work my way through the list as well, having only read Liane Merciel's at the moment. I have a few others, but I can't afford to buy any right now.
Thank you so much for helping to spread the word! That really is one of the most important things to a book's success. <3
Good luck, Paizo crew! I hope to see the line continue!
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Thank you so much for helping to spread the word! That really is one of the most important things to a book's success. <3As a bookseller, I've been trying to recommend the Tales books, but it's a bit difficult. We only have a handful in our system and one on our shelves (Shy Knives). >.< One day when I have time I might go through and see how many we can order for customers, but a lot of customers would turn that down for a series they don't know. I wish I could help more. I would happily sell the books to anyone and everyone.
I'm still trying to work my way through the list as well, having only read Liane Merciel's at the moment. I have a few others, but I can't afford to buy any right now.
I also plan to make little mini-reviews about them on booklr (book-centered tumblr)! I hope it helps even if it's just a bit! I'd happily do it officially, if I could. :3
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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What was wrong exactly with the original way of doing it that necessitated the need to partner with TOR?The problem is that we're fundamentally a game company, not a fiction publisher, and that hurts us a lot when it comes to getting books in stores and marketing them to the public. A big publishing partner offers a lot of benefits: they can negotiate from a place of greater strength with printers/book buyers/etc., they've got a lot more people devoted to marketing, they've got a lot more money to throw around, etc. Even just having a partner helping pay for the production of the books takes a lot of the risk and strain off of us. But the real hope is that by partnering with a big company, we can get the books in front of folks who would otherwise never know about them, and expand the brand beyond just the folks who are already hardcore fans.
That's fair enough, and I figured it would be to do with getting greater distribution. It just kinda sucked that it came at the cost of having an effect on your already established customer base.
I liked the older style of books much more than the TOR books. They fit on my shelves better (I have had to rearrange a bunch of shelves to accommodate the PFT line, and they both look weird on the shelf alongside each other, especially as I order my books according to series, so they are all mismatched in a line), not to mention the fact that they remind me of the old D&D novels. They are also easier to read and carry around on the go. Sounds like I'm just being pedantic, but it does make a huge difference.
I also liked getting the eBook versions as well. I had only availed myself of utilising them in that format a couple of times, but just having the option available was a great thing.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32
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Same hereAny news on the recent Tor books that have not been released yet as audiobooks?
I really want to listen to the latest HAJ novel.
Ditto.
I "read" approximately 6 audiobooks for every Dead Tree book these days. I have an hour and a half drive to work every morning, and just over an hour home (variations in traffic), which means I can knock a normal audiobook over in a little over a week. I'd be lucky to get half an hour of actual reading done in a fortnight...
I haven't read an actual PFT book since the audiobooks became available. It has meant that I have been double buying, but it has also meant that I've actually been able to read them, something I'd been struggling with (I had actually missed a few, and had to go back and buy them as audiobooks when they became available much later on). By taking away the audiobooks, it has effectively stopped me from reading the PFT line, to the point where it's kinda not really much use to me in continuing to get them in the dead tree anymore anyway, no matter who you partner with, as they will just sit on the shelf unread (apart from the odd one that I would make a conscious effort to attempt, such as Dave Gross or Chris A. Jackson's). It would actually make it easier for me to do this as well if they continued to be printed in their current format, as I really don't care for it at all. It's hard enough for me to come up with disposable cash to get books these days as it is, and I've only stuck with double buying this long because I like the PFT books and like having Dead Tree versions, even though I don't get to read them anymore. You're kinda just making it easier for me to give up trying altogether, which is sad... :/
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I'm checking on the audiobooks as we speak, but that's all handled by Macmillan Audio and Audible—we have no part in their production.
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I'm not a subscriber, and I don't buy all the Tales books . . . in fact, I primarily look to specific authors, or whether I feel the character about whom the story is being told is even worth reading about. However, just to get my penny's worth in: I much prefer the trade paper back. Those I've gotten have been good quality pages, and it's easier to read them without destroying bindings. Truthfully, if you could ever handle hardcovers, I'd be delighted! I much prefer the look of a hardcover on the bookshelf, and they're a lot more durable. If you could ever manage to get Dave Gross's quintet of novels into hardcover, I'd buy them in a heartbeat, despite already owning all of them in their soft cover variants. =D