Not all books are created equal. Some have heavy boards to protect their delicate insides and cost as much as dinner and a movie. They're called hardcovers.

Many people favor hardcover books for various reasons; Readers like them because they look great on a bookshelf and they seem more special when given as gifts. Writers like them because it makes them feel legitimate and big-time. Publishers like them because the profit margin is higher. Book reviewers like them because they're fresh and wellthe way their dust jackets wrap around them is so sexy. OK, I'm just guessing on that last detail.

But the list of cons could be even longer when it comes to hardcover books. For one, are there enough readers who can afford the big cover prices? Unless the book is a bestseller or on a special discounted display at your local store, you're shelling out $22-$30 for most hardcover releases these days. Heck -- the new Harry Potter book, though close to a mammoth 800 pages and two whole pounds, is $34.99.

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HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER...

Some publishers have decided to embrace the hardcover book's sleeker and thriftier little brother (or sister if you will) -- the paperback book. Whether you're talking about mass-market books (the kind you find in the grocery store spinner rack) or the slightly bigger trade paper edition (they're not as purse-friendly as a mass market but they look much better on your shelf), the paperback is usually the best deal around.

Black Cat was one of the earliest innovators of the form. Created in 1961 by Grove publisher Barney Rosset to get certain books like "Naked Lunch" and "Tropic of Cancer" into drugstores and train stations, the imprint died off in the '80s but was revived in 2004 by Morgan Entrekin, the current president of Grove/Atlantic.

"After 9/11, it was apparent to me that the traditional (publishing) system was broken in a way," says Entrekin.

In many cases, Grove was taking returns for 70-80 percent of the hardcover print run. The stagnant life of the hardcover would often hurt the book by the time it was printed in soft cover.

"A book's paperback version -- the one that's supposed to be more accessible and stays in the marketplace longer --- is dead before getting printed because it was failing in hardcover and then not given another chance." So Black Cat, and many other presses big and small, is skipping the hardcover step altogether.

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HARDCOVER SUPERIORITY COMPLEX

But here's where red flags go up. Some argue that newspapers don't like to review books in paperback. Or worse, some say a book coming out straight to paperback is like a movie coming out straight to video -- it must not be very good. And don't even bring up e-books that let people download copies one at a time off the Internet.

Jonathan Messinger, the Books Editor for Time Out Chicago, says the book's format matters little to him. "It's the contents that are the most important, not the dressing it comes in. I think publications that don't review paperback originals are just lazy. But if the argument is that hardcover books are ones that publishers have deemed either salable, prestigious or some other mark of virtue, and then the media decide to follow that argument and only review those books, then those publications are sacrificing some degree of editorial control to the publishers."

Book blogger Claire Zulkey says she'd like to see more paperbacks covered in papers, "Especially if that means that smaller press books have a better shot at being reviewed. I do think that books should be made more accessible, affordable and portable and hence I'm definitely all for more paperbacks." But she admits a soft spot for the old-fashioned hardcover. "As a person who likes the smell, feel and heft of a book almost as much as she likes to read them, hardcover will always have a place with me."

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MEET ME IN THE MIDDLE

Some publishers like Macadam/Cage are trying to see if there's a middle ground. They've recently started a program called "Reader's Choice," where they'll put a book out in both formats simultaneously. Publicity Director Melissa Little says the changing marketplace is the main factor. "If you go to Australia or Ireland or France you can only buy paperback originals. The UK is almost there. The US is headed that way, too. In the interim, we feel that we might as well be creative about taking a step ahead of the rest."

While some major presses are putting out more paperback originals, some smaller presses have experimented with the hardcover format. Johnny Temple started Akashic Books ten years ago and decided to put out certain books in hardcover for what he calls "The prestige factor. Not just for the author, but for Akashic too." They eventually slowed down on the hardcover publishing after they found it to be a money loss. But one upcoming hardcover release has been earned. Arthur Nersesian, who has published six previous novels, has always been a popular author for Akashic, selling more than 100,000 copies of his works. "The Swing Voter of Staten Island" is due out in October. On the flipside of that, Akashic is also publishing the next book by Elizabeth Crane, an author whose first two books were published in hardcover by Little, Brown. "For every person who thinks a paperback original is a step down, there are twenty more people who will buy the book that wouldn't otherwise."

One of the big paperback originals of this year is Sherman Alexie's "Flight," from Black Cat. "It was actually Sherman's suggestion," says Entrekin. "And we already have over 70,000 copies in print. Authors are coming around to this."

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Kevin Sampsell is asap's Book Pusher, reporting on the word scene from the inside. Sampsell is an event coordinator at Powell's Books in Portland, Ore. He also runs a micro empire called Future Tense Publishing.

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