"The classic publishing houses, the Harpers, Appletons, Scribners, turned noses up at what they saw as "trashy" or "lower quality" writings of the Pulp Magazines and tried to convince themselves that the pulps were appealing to a market wholly different from their own educated, cultured readership."
"Paperback books are inexpensive, unprepossessing and last just long enough to do the job, which is to convey the information they contain and, in the process, to entertain, gladden, or infuriate." ~ Randy Ralph
"The humble paperback has put more information, literature, and art within the reach of more people than any other form at any other time." ~ Randy Ralph
"Paperback originals are more and more of a viable alternative." ~ Marty Asher
"No-one is to blame more than the publishers themselves for destroying the mass-market industry by allowing unlimited strip returns, for continuing to deal with magazine jobbers whose sell through is rock bottom, for over stuffing the shelves with ephemeral crap, etc -- all contributing to the many problems of overpriced mass-markets and short shelf lives. Publishers could solve the problem, but they don't seem to want to." ~ Claude Lalumiere
"Books came into the house by the case, and given the choice between hardcovers and soft, my kids picked the paperback every time." ~ Edward Fitzgerald
"The mass market paperback segment has long been characterized by slow growth, with modest sales gains driven by price hikes that have helped offset a steady decline in unit sales." ~ Publishers Weekly
"The old philosophy of affordability, portability, availability, and quality content [for mass market] was valid until about 2000." ~ Jack Romanos
"Trade paper editions have the energy of paperbacks and the respectability of hard covers." ~ Marty Asher
About 80% of the books purchased in the U.S. are paperbacks which are available in more than 80,000 outlets.
Paperbacks may be mass market, trade or text. Mass market paperbacks are distinguished by their smaller size, news print paper, and relatively low cost. Trade paperbacks are the same size as a hard copy trade book, or sometimes larger, use standard acid-free paper, and are considerably more expensive. A paperback text may either a trade or mass market edition that has been "adopted" for class use.
In recent years, the adult mass market category sales have been down. Adult trade paper sales were also down. Given the fact that so many of the books sold today are in a paper format, trends are more likely to be the result of wider issues and not the result of the format itself. The lower price, although increasing substantially in the past few years, for the paper editions remains a notable advantage, although hard copy works on the remainder tables or a the large discount stores may be similarly priced. I recently purchased a new, but remaindered, heroic fantasy novel at Hastings for less than the mass market price.
Buyer surveys indicate that the lower price is the primary attraction of this format as readers "trade down." Mass market paperbacks also have the advantage of a large number of distribution points such as supermarkets and discount stores. Many younger readers prefer the more convenient size and the easy portability of the mass market edition which is much more of a disposable book.
In the beginning, books were quite expensive and were often issued in paper covers with the expectation that the owner would have the book bound according to his taste in something more durable and attractive.
Earlier in the history of the book, the change from leather binding to cloth binding substantially reduced the cost of book buying. A cloth book cost about 17 percent of the cost of a leather one. A mass market paper edition costs more than that when compared to the cloth edition.
Although they became visible in the U.S. just before the second World War, paperbacks have a long history. In Europe, popular paperbacks appeared as early as 1845 by Christian Tauchnitz in Leipzig who introduced a popular reprint series. For quite a long time, there were relatively few original paper editions. Paper bound books were also common in France for most of the 19th Century. Early paperbacks did not fit in pockets, had tiny type, and unattractive covers. Growth in paperback production and sales was related to development of railroad transportation which provided people with an environment where activity was limited and reading was possible. Travelers desired small editions that were easy to carry and read while on the road. Inexpensive paper bound books were also disposable.
Cheap paper reprints had been available in Britain since the Victorian era (Routledge's Railway Classics or Pickering's Diamond Classics for example), but the books were of poor quality and dated. They were considered to be "cheap."
The first paper bound full-length novel published in the U.S. was Charles O'Malley which was issued in 1840. Others soon followed. Traditional book publishers asked Congress to ban paper bound books. In 1843, Congress increased postal rates for paper bound books and the market collapsed.
The rapid expansion of the railroads in the 1850s and 1860s led to "railroad" literature, usually cheap crime, romance, and joke books. The Beadle Brothers issued the first dime novel in 1860, Malaeska: Indian Wife of the White Hunter. These 96 page paperbacks did have a sewn binding. The "dime novels" were popular into the early 1870s and inexpensive paper allowed for quite a low price. Series with elegant names were popular: Riverside Library, Fireside Library, and Lakeside Library. By 1885, about one-third of the 4,500 titles published in the U.S. were part of these libraries. By 1890, the market was saturated. In 1891, change in U.S. copyright law prohibited U.S. publishers from taking the work of foreign authors without permission and royalties. At about the same time, pulp fiction magazines became popular and they stole readers from the dime novels. Grosset and Dunlap expanded their sales by issuing pulp paper reprint editions within a hard cover. Many of the authors popular in the pulp adventure and romance magazines will later appear in mass market paper.
In 1931, Kurt Enoch, established Albatross Books with a branch office in London. His books were in a 7/ 1/8" x 41/4" format. He was successful and soon purchased Tachnitz. He later fled Germany when the Nazi government came to power.
Allan Lane's Penguin Books began in 1935 in the U.K. and followed the Albatross model. Penguin aimed at a modern, "middle brow" audience who would be interested in quality modern books in an inexpensive edition. Penguin books were cheap at six pence and the paper format allowed a variety of expenses to be cut (production and transportation) while allowing for volume sales. Text was more legible than in earlier paper editions. Categories (biography = blue, crime =green, and fiction = orange) were color coded to make it easy for buyers to identify particular types of books. Titles were by contemporary authors. Penguins were sold at railway stations and at Woolworth's which made it easy for ordinary people to buy them. In 1937, Pelican books were launched to publish books on serious contemporary issues. By 1938, Penguin had sold ten million books. Following its British success, Penguins were soon exported to the U.S., but American Penguin was not successful, perhaps because Allen Lane strongly disliked cover illustrations. Later, Puffin (picture books for children) was created to expand the range. In 1970, Penguin was acquired by Pearson. Penguin soon acquired Frederick Warne (Peter Rabbit). Other acquisitions followed.
In 1938,Pocket Books, with the kangaroo mark, introduced its first 25 cent book, Pearl Buck's The Good Earth in a test edition sold at Macy's and Liggett's department stores. Unlike, Lane's Penguin, Pocket had attractive illustrations on the front cover. The Good Earth was very successful and in early 1939 Pocket released ten titles in larger editions beginning with James Hilton's Lost Horizon in editions of 10,000 copies each distributed through the American News Corporation.
Pocket's success had a dramatic impact on the publishing industry. American News Company, the major pulp magazine distributor, created the Avon imprint in 1941. Dell issued its first titles in 1942. In 1943, Ballentine [Ian Ballantine originally worked for U.S. branch of Penguin] began to issue the first Armed Services Editions.When the war was over, 1,322 titles had been produced. These were popular and made millions of service people familiar with the paperback format. With wartime shortages, there was demand for lightweight, disposable escape reading for troops. Even to this day, many readers still consider the mass market paperback to be lightweight, disposable escape reading.
New paperback publishers soon launched and several had their roots in pulp magazine publishing such as Ned Pines' Popular Library. Bantam (1945), New American Library with Signet and Mentor imprints (1948), Harlequin (1949), Fawcett (1950), Ace (1952), Ballantine (1952), and Berkeley (1955 soon followed with their mass-market paper editions. In 1949, Fawcett issued the first modern paper bound original under its Gold Medal imprint. This was a new direction for these publishers. In the same year Harlequin was established with a broad list, but soon focused on romances.
It wasn't until the late 1950s that mass market paperbacks were sold directly to retail book outlets rather than the retailers served by the periodical distributors.
The original purpose of the mass market paperback was to expand the market by selling books, mostly reprints, in locations that lacked a bookstore. Paperbacks would be sold anywhere that periodicals were sold. They would be distributed by the same people that distributed periodicals. With the rack for holding the books, any retail outlet could become a mini-bookstore. Such outlets might include grocery stores, drug stores, railroad stations and airline terminals. Books were originally issued in a standard size to fit the racks, 4.25 by 7 inches. Early paperbacks were usually reprints or, if originals, genre fiction. Fiction claimed most of the titles.
Five factors were responsible for the success of the mass-market paperback in the U.S.:
Traditionally, mass market paperbacks were distributed by about 500 independent distributors (IDs) who then serviced a large number of retail outlets. At the same time, many of the paperback publishers were independent and not part of a larger hard copy publishing house. Today, with the growth of the large national chain book stores and the fact that paperbacks are normally issued by a traditional publishing house, less than half of the mass-market books are distributed by IDs. Each ID has an exclusive franchise in its territory. To reach IDs, most publishers used a national distributor. There has been considerable consolidation among IDs in the past few years so that there are a few major ones in the U.S. Service quality has declined and returns are up. Eventually, publishers hope that there will be economies of scale and a more competitive distribution system. Our own Anderson News Company is one of the largest independent distributors.
In the beginning and even today, a large proportion of mass-market paperbacks are reprint editions and genre fiction. Since reprints have already been available in a hard copy edition and since genre fiction has often been looked down upon by reviewers, critics, and librarians, the mass-market paperback has had little status and some have not take it seriously. Titles such as Only the Depraved, the Torrid Twins or Anybody's Girl offended many. In fact, in 1952, the Gathings Committee in the House investigated the threat of paperback novels. The Committee found that "...pocket-size book which originally started out as cheap reprints of standard works, have largely degenerated into media for the dissemination of artful appeals to sensuality, immorality, filth, perversion, and degeneracy."
As more original publication has occurred in paper and as genre fiction has been taken seriously, the mass-market paperback is not the poor cousin it used to be. However, nearly all authors would prefer to be published in hard copy editions and reviewers are more likely to review a cloth edition.
The cover art for many earlier mass market paperbacks had a lurid quality ("barely clad she-kittens in the throes of lust") that attracted many male readers. There was considerable overlap between pulp magazines and the paperback book formats. In some cases, art that appeared on a periodical cover would later appear on a paperback. The bold and colorful cover art attracted buyers, and today appeals to collectors. Typically, the cover art was much more lurid than the content within. Pulp refers to the large-format male oriented fiction magazines that were issued on cheap, coarse paper during the 1920s, 30s, and 40s. Cheap, sensationalistic escape reading (mysteries, adventures, westerns, fantasy, science fiction, and romance) regardless of format became "pulp fiction." Collectors prefer the term vintage paperbacks for mass market paperbacks issued from 1938 to 1958 {some will extend the time period to 1968}. These books were issued in a pocket-sized format and a cover price of 25 cents. There is an Official Price Guide to Paperbacks for those interested.
The first Harlequin romance was issued in Toronto in 1957. Romance accounts for half of all mass market paperbacks sold. The publisher is now the largest mass-market publisher in the U.S. Harlequin publishes 80 to 100 books each month and sells 160 million books in 24 languages each year. Harlequin has a website, Romance.net, an online book club (eHarlequin), and an email newsletter "My Romance" which can be personalized to reflect the interests of the subscriber. For example, those interested in "marriage of convenience," "opposites attract," "love at first site," "taming the bad boy," or "stranded with a stranger" may receive news about titles with this theme. Harlequin has lagged a bit in the last few years and is currently placing more emphasis on individual rather than series titles.
The first historical romance,The Flame and the Flower, written by Kathleen Woodiwiss and issued by Avon, was issued in 1972. Thus, the extremely popular historical romance paperback is a very recent phenomena.
In the last year or two, some publishers have issued "upsized/upscaled" mass market editions. Often called "premium editions" or some such, these editions are more expensive and more attractive. These editions are .5 inch taller than the normal mass market edition and are priced about half-way between the trade paper and the mass market edition.
Mass market editions are often discretionary purchases so sales are impacted by general economic conditions. In addition, the widespread available of used books in all formats and easily found on the web has reduced sales. Too, discount stores often have hard copy and trade editions at relatively low prices. Older readers may find the small type, limited white space, difficult to read.
Titles distributed by periodical distributors often have little shelf time before they are removed and stripped. The national chains often return large numbers of titles if they don't sell well.
Sales are best in subcategories and categories. Romantic thriller would be an example of a subcategory. Still, the large number of choices available to the reader of genre fiction, for example, creates considerable competition between titles.
Still, it's clear that the mass market edition is the one most open to new authors of original fiction and non-fiction. As reputations, and sales, increase, authors move up to trade paper and then trade cloth editions.
The trade paperback was designed for the normal bookstore market as a step up from the mass market paperback in quality and design. It was also used to create books for course adoption that were more appealing in quality and design. Thus, the trade paperback is characterized by higher quality paper, better design and manufacture and a larger format since standard rack size was no longer an issue. Trade paper books were distributed via the book trade and not periodical distributors. Print runs are typically much smaller and these books are likely to have a longer back list life. Today, trade paper editions appear in a wide variety of sizes for a wide variety of subjects from scholarly monographs to colorful do it yourself books. However, an average size would probably be 5.5 by 8.5 inches. As with nearly all trade books today, they are "perfect bound." They are especially popular in independent book stores.
In 1943, Dover Books began to reprint scholarly books in trade paper editions, but these were not as visible as Anchor Books. Trade paper editions really became visible with Doubleday's Anchor Books in 1953. Anchor books were designed to meet the course adoption needs of college and university faculty. They were "egghead books" or "quality" paper books. However, they were also popular with serious readers and began to sell reasonably well in retail book stores. Later, a larger format was adopted for a variety of more popular non-fiction works, including hobby/leisure time and how-to-do-it and self-improvement works.
In 1976, Rosemary Roger's Wicked Loving Lies was one of the first genre trade paper books. Since then, publishers have found the trade paper edition a nice step up for authors who are beginning to be quite popular, but are not quite ready for a hard copy original edition. Mass market paperbacks that do well on the back list may be reissued in a trade edition.
Smaller specialty publishers often publish originally in this format. The books look good, the price seems reasonable to buyers, and production costs are slightly reduced. Because they look more like "real" books, trade paper editions seem more acceptable as gifts and are more likely to be kept. Younger book readers seem to prefer paper editions because of their more comfortable size and their lower cost.
With the various sizes, trade paper editions create problems for merchants with limited space since designated racks may be needed for works issued by a particular publisher.
The Quality Paper Back Book Club, the second largest in the U.S., has been most successful with its trade paper editions of books on a wide variety of subjects, but with some emphasis on social and environmental issues. Interestingly, it does best with middle-aged readers rather than younger ones.
While original fiction and non-fiction are certainly issued in trade paper editions, most publishers see this format as a way to showcase the backlist.
There is some discomfort over the notion that some recent works in trade paper were "disposable, impulse buy items," really "non-books" as viewed by the serious. Still, this entertainment oriented "yuppie" market continues to be important to some publishers.
Originally, one could purchase eight to ten mass market paper editions for the cost of a hard cover book. Today, the ratio is probably two to one or less. Higher prices discourage impulse purchasing.
The premature release of hard cover remainders is also a problem since the price of that hard cover edition is now often less than that of the mass market paper one.
Used books, including good, nearly mint hard copy copies, available via Amazon and others or used trade paper editions reduce the market for new books.
Mass market editions outside the trade have a remarkably short shelf life, often about a few weeks to a month. This is not enough time for word of mouth to generate awareness and interest. The problem is that there are too many new books [includes reprints] and not enough shelf space in book stores or other retail outlets. Spine out display minimizes the impact of well designed cover art.
Given the economies of production and the ease today of producing relatively small print runs, more and more publishers issue works in paper first. Some students of publishing have predicted that in the future (ignoring digital publication via the Internet) most books will be issued originally in paper and reissued in cloth for collections and institutions.
New authors and mid-list books are likely to be issued in trade paper editions or mass market if genre fiction. Although prices have increased, the paper edition is much less expensive (about half) than the hard cover one. Younger audiences often find paper editions more comfortable.
Because of the wide variety of fiction and non-fiction subjects issued in paper editions, genre fiction is less important in paper editions than before. However, it remains important and popular. Particular genres rise and fall in popularity from year, but overall genre paperbacks continue to sell well. Romance and mystery/detective/suspense are the most important genre categories today. High returns remain a problem for many publishers.
Most publishing houses now include cloth and paper (hard/soft houses) units so they have several options when considering a new or back list title. For example, it is fairly common for a popular genre author to move from mass market to trade paper and then to hard copy editions as she becomes more popular and readers are willing to pay a higher price for her work. Today, this can be done in a single publishing house. Trade paper editions have become much more important. With the mergers and combinations in U.S. book publishing, some houses have reduced their lists and publish fewer genre titles than before. Although there are a growing number of non-fiction titles, most mass market imprints focus on fiction.
Since most publishing houses do both "hard and soft" editions, paperback rights are not as frequently bought or sold. Originals are purchased outright and reprints may be from titles already within the house.
Given their large size, the national chain super bookstores need a relatively large number of titles to fill their space and appeal to a more varied audience than the traditional book store. This provides many opportunities for both mass-market and trade paper editions. Mass market paper has not received as much attention as trade paper. It is difficult for the mass market title to gain display space and they tend to disappear when shelved spine out. Smaller publishers issuing trade paper editions have been able to increase their sales. The down-side is that these chains have rigorous inventory control and quickly return books that do not sell well. Authors and series that do not sell well are not likely to be ordered in the future. Too, most chains will have one or two buyers for a genre or topic. This means that the decision by a few book buyers will determine whether or not paper editions are available in hundreds of stores.
Although there has been change in the last decade, many librarians are still only luke-warm about paperbacks. It may take some time to overcome the stereotype that paperbacks are mostly reprints or poor quality fiction. Many public libraries do not provide intellectual access to mass-market paperbacks via their catalog. Instead, the merely place them on a rack, perhaps with color coding on the spine. However, when many libraries have inadequate funding, the lower cost of paperbacks to meet recreational reading needs is a positive. Some libraries will rebind paperbacks so that they can endure more circulations. Some academic libraries that formerly automatically purchased the hard copy now buy the trade paper edition if one is available.
The School and home school markets frequently use mass market paperbacks to supplement the curriculum, especially in reading areas. There is an Educational Paperback Association which focuses on paperbacks likely to interest schools. The children's book clubs offering titles through the schools sell a large number of paperback books and stimulate student interest in reading and buying paper books.
Until recently, publishers have done little to create a range of paper titles for the ethnic or racial audience. The fact that Harlequin now has four romance series in Spanish is a good sign and should expand the market.
In the olden days, it was common for the paper edition to be issued about one year after the cloth edition appeared. The original publisher wanted to be certain that all hard copy sales were exhausted before the paper edition came on to the market. Today, the time lag has been reduced. This may be because both editions are issued by the same publishing house. It is now common for some publishers, especially university and professional presses, to issue hard copy and trade paper editions at the same time. A genuinely popular genre author will still appear in a cloth edition some time before the paper edition.
Paperback publishers soon discovered that buyers were more likely to purchase books in a series. That series could be a trilogy, for example, written by an author or a series of individual works issued under a series title. In fact, some readers will collect all items in a series. The "Goosebumps" books are a good example of this in children's book publishing.
Mass market paperbacks frequently go out of print quickly and have a short shelf life in many book stores. This is particularly a problem when one reads the second volume in a series and discovers that the first volume is not available. Reprinting mass-market edition is sometimes haphazardly done. It seems strange that books are stripped and discarded when they might sell if kept on the shelf a bit longer or promoted at the local level.
Returns have long been unhealthy. Typically, the smallest monthly return percentages for paper editions has been near 30 percent and sometimes as large as 50 percent. The ID route person decides week by week which titles to return and which to keep. There is little doubt that a title that requires some time to develop word of mouth to become popular and sell well will not make it in this situation. With mass market books, "return" means destroyed. With trade paper books, "return" means that are returned to the publisher.
Some general reviewers are still reluctant to review paper editions, especially mass market ones. Specialist genre reviewers do review paperbacks, but the hard copy and trade editions receive more attention.
The author receives a lower royalty on paperbacks. This may be offset by much larger sales because of the lower price. Still, most authors strongly prefer to be published in a hard copy edition like "real" authors.
The class room trend of adopting several monographs or standard works instead of a textbook seems to have declined in the last few years. However, the serious reader market for trade paperbacks remains.
Some studies reveal that about 80 percent of all mass market paperbacks purchased are not kept. Many of these are shared with friends and some are sold or traded at used paperback stores. As the cost of mass market books increases, more readers are likely to buy the used book rather than a new one. Amazon sells used copies next to the new ones. Sticker shock may be a problem. Since many paperbacks are purchased as impulse items, the economic climate and amount of discretionary spending available will have a considerable impact.
The Internet has dramatically expanded the gray market by making it easy to buy and sell used paper editions to a national audience.
Both the trade and the mass market segments have lost ground in recent years. Children's trade and adult trade have done better than the mass market.
The ratio between the hard copy and the paper price has changed over the years. At one time, the mass market edition price was as low as ten percent of the hard copy edition. Today, it is more likely to be closer to one-third. Mass market paperbacks have become more expensive. Some suggest that the price for "entertainment" reading should be about the same as an ordinary film at the neighborhood theater.
Some publishers have cut their mass market list in recent years. For example, Ballantine issues about five titles per month instead of eighty in the past. List cutting is a result of a mature or declining market and of the consolidation of publishing houses.
Graphic novels are sometimes seen as part of the periodical publishing business because of the linkage to comic books rather than being stand-alone individual works. The market has grown rapidly and there seems to be some danger of too many publishers issuing too much product too quickly. "Follow the leader" has been a publishing problem for many years. Some believe that the number of titles is increasing faster than the market is expanding. Finding and keeping shelf space is a problem both in bookstores and comics specialty stores.
From the beginning, the mass market paperback has been associated with genre fiction and escape reading. In recent years, genre fiction has increasingly been published in trade paper and trade hard copy editions. The mass market genre fiction book should provide inexpensive entertainment. Discuss opportunities and threats to mass market genre fiction, including "sticker" shock.
Discuss your own experience in buying and reading paperback books with some attention to assets and liabilities and the degree to which you keep the books that you buy.
From the beginning, cover art has been a major part of the appeal of the paperback, especially since many purchases are on impulse. Discuss appeal elements that appear or might appear on a paperback cover. Can you recall any memorable covers that you have recently encountered?
Trade paperbacks have blossomed in recent years as a container for much original publication. Some suggest that the hard copy book will be replaced by the trade paper one. What do you think? Why?
Paperbacks, especially mass market ones, are intended to be disposable consumer goods rather like periodicals. As an information professional, does this bother you? Why? What might be done to preserve this intellectual content if that is appropriate?
