The new trend towards larger size paperbacks that's slowly taking over mass-market outfits here in the US is spreading across the pond, according to an article in Reuters UK this week. The first publisher on board is Headline, which will introduce the "upperback" mass market version of Faye Kellerman's STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS in January:

"We think the new format looks different enough to be appealing," said Kerr MacRae, deputy managing editor at Headline, which is owned by French media group Lagardere. They're easier to read the way the text is reset."

Headline plans to keep the cover price of its bigger-format thrillers the same as it is on smaller ones. "The short answer on how we'll make it profitable is that we'll need to sell more of them," said MacRae, who this week is at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the publishing industry's largest annual event.

"It's marginal cost," he added, "and we think retailers are excited about it."

No indication on what the price will be for the new format pb, but it's safe to say that we're not talking 5.99 pounds here...