[pithymaxim]

I always thought this was just price discrimination, extracting more surplus from readers by bifurcating them into two groups. Hardbacks are released first. Everyone who really wants it now needs to shell out more, even if they don't really care about the physical properties. Then the paperback is released to attract the more reluctant readers.

[TheOtherHobbes]

That's exactly what it is.

[r_c_a_d]

Yes, this seems obvious to me. If it were not, then publishers would release the hardback and paperback at the same time and let readers choose the format they preferred, wouldn't they?

[mmahemoff]

Same here. Very similar to a typical patronage model you see for digital media where there are some perks like early access, but rarely a major exclusive work.

[IAmEveryone]

Yes, and the article (sort-of) mentions that, but also a few additional reasons I wouldn't necessarily thought of.