The shelf life of a hardcover book can be anywhere from three to six months for the average book release. Sometimes a book becomes a hit bestseller and will sell for longer, but on average, the life of a hardcover is short.
Books tend to have a much longer life once published as trade paperbacks. They also appeal to a much wider audience, with price points typically under $18.
When a popular hardcover is published as a trade paperback, it can also top the bestseller charts and can even be more profitable for publishers than the hardcover releases.
Popular Hardcover Books Publishing in Trade Paperback in 2022
The Disappearing Act
Catherine Steadman
An actress discovers the dark side of Hollywood in this “engaging and suspenseful” (New York Times) psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Something in the Water and Mr. Nobody.
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Wish You Were Here
Jodi Picoult
The pandemic has stranded Diane O'Toole in the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed. Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.
Publication Date: June 14, 2022
The Maidens
Alex Michaelides
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient comes a spellbinding tale of psychological suspense, weaving together Greek mythology, murder, and obsession, that further cements “Michaelides as a major player in the field” (Publishers Weekly).
Publication Date: May 24, 2022
The Lost Apothecary
Sarah Penner
In this addictive and spectacularly imagined debut, a female apothecary secretly dispenses poisons to liberate women from the men who have wronged them—setting three lives across centuries on a dangerous collision course. An instant New York Times and international bestseller, The Lost Apothecary is a bold work of historical fiction with a rebellious twist that heralds the coming of an explosive new talent.
Publication Date: February 22, 2022
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid
From the author of Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo . . . Four famous siblings throw an epic party to celebrate the end of the summer. But over the course of twenty-four hours, the family drama that ensues will change their lives forever.
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
The Other Black Girl
Zakiya Dalila Harris
This instant New York Times bestseller explores the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing.
Publication Date: June 7, 2022
Velvet was the Night
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
From the New York Times, bestselling author of Mexican Gothic, comes a simmering historical noir about a daydreaming secretary, a lonesome enforcer, and the mystery of the missing woman they’re both desperate to find.
Publication Date: May 3, 2022
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
The Vignes twin sisters grow up together in a small, southern black community. They run away at age sixteen. Many years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. What will happen to the next generation when their own daughters’ storylines intersect?
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
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