Starting next month, Stephen King’s popular 2009 novel, Under the Dome, will finally be released in mass-market paperbacks.  It’s plural because the book is divided in half; with Part One coming out on February 25th, and Part Two arriving March 25th.  Took them long enough, given the popularity of the first season of the TV adaptation.

These new paperbacks seem engineered towards building up excitement toward Season 2, as well as for the novel itself.  These releases seem aimed towards the larger TV audience who likely wouldn’t buy the hardcover or even the similarly-sized trade.  Previous overly long bestsellers such as It and The Stand sold well when they were released, however, the split and staggered release of Under the Dome‘s paperback makes sense for today’s market.  It is also easier to hold, especially with the book at nearly 1,300 combined pages, and setting the release dates of the two paperbacks a month apart also keeps new readers in mind, especially those who enjoy the serialized storytelling of the show.

Do you like the way that the Under the Dome novel is being split and marketed to TV audiences?  I call it genius marketing.  When is Stephen King going to run out of steam?  Hopefully never.