On the plain-cover front, Penguin Australia recently released a big batch of classics with the old red & cream covers for A$9.95 each (regular paperbacks are A$20 and up these days)
They did much, much better than expected:
"Penguin hoped the diverse mix of 25 fiction and 25 non-fiction titles released with covers in the original orange-and-cream design would sell 250,000 copies in six months.
That target was reached in almost half that time and the books are still selling strongly, with nearly all titles being reprinted."
Full article here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/books/nostalgic-book-covers-judged-a-hit-with-readers/2009/01/03/1230681813593.html
I realise spiral-bound is not the same as a classic spiral-bound penguin, but that's an awful lot of plain-looking books being sold.
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Date: 11 Jan 2009 01:34 am (UTC)They did much, much better than expected:
"Penguin hoped the diverse mix of 25 fiction and 25 non-fiction titles released with covers in the original orange-and-cream design would sell 250,000 copies in six months.
That target was reached in almost half that time and the books are still selling strongly, with nearly all titles being reprinted."
Full article here: http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/books/nostalgic-book-covers-judged-a-hit-with-readers/2009/01/03/1230681813593.html
I realise spiral-bound is not the same as a classic spiral-bound penguin, but that's an awful lot of plain-looking books being sold.