Two Game Sweep: How Mid-Sized Publishers Make the Decision to Release Two Physical Formats of a Book, using Black Ice as a Case Study

This report analyzes mid-sized publishers’ decisions regarding whether it is profitable to release a second physical format of a previously published book and the publicity practices for second releases at ECW Press, an independent Canadian publisher in Toronto, Ontario. The first chapter of this report describes the book being used as a case study, Black Ice, and discusses ECW Press’s decision to publish it. The second chapter summarizes the history of two-format publishing and how this influences the decisions pertaining to formats that publishers make today. Chapter three discusses how ECW Press decides which format is most appropriate for a book and the key factors that indicate to them that printing a subsequent trade paperback edition of a previously released hardcover will be profitable. The final chapter uses Black Ice as a publicity case study, demonstrating how mid-sized publishers publicize the release of the second edition of a book and how it differs from promoting the first release.