Everything about Paperback totally explained
Paperback,
softback, or
softcover describe and refer to a
book by the nature of its
binding. The
covers of such books are usually made of
paper or
cardboard, and are usually held together with
glue rather than
stitches or
staples.
» See bookbinding and book covers; and compare cloth, and hardback, hardbound, or hardcover.
Use
Paperback editions of books are issued when a company decides to release a book in a low cost format. The lack of a hard cover, stitched bindings, and frequently the use of cheaper paper, contribute to the inherent low cost of paperbacks, especially when compared to the average cost of
hardcovers.
Paperbacks can be the preferred medium when a book isn't expected to be a major seller, or in other situations where the
publisher wishes to release a book without putting forth a large investment. Examples include many novels, and new editions or reprintings of older books. Publishers must balance the larger profit to be made by selling a small number of
hardcovers (including sales to libraries, which prefer
hardcovers) with a large profit per unit -- against the potentially larger profit to be made by selling a large number of paperbacks with a small profit per unit. Many modern books, especially genre fiction, are first editions in paperback. It is only the best-selling of books, such as 2003's
The Da Vinci Code, which can maintain its sales in hardcover sufficiently to delay a paperback edition for longer than a year.
History
Inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century and exist in a number of formats that have specific names, such as
pamphlets,
cheap editions,
yellowbacks,
dime novels and
railway novels. Today most paperbacks are called either "mass-market paperback" or "trade paperback", the differences of which are described later.
The 20th century mass-market paperback format was pioneered by German publisher
Albatross Books in
1931 but the experiment was cut short. In England
Penguin Books adopted many of Albatross's innovations, for instance the conspicuous logo and the color-coded covers for different genres, beginning in
1935, and was an immediate financial success. British
publisher Allen Lane launched the
Penguin imprint in 1935, with 10 reprint titles; this started the paperback revolution in the English-language book market. Number one on the Penguin list of 1935 editions was
André Maurois's
Ariel.
Allen Lane intended to produce cheap books. He bought paperback rights from publishers, ordered huge
print runs (for example, 20,000 copies) to keep
unit prices low, and looked to non-traditional book selling retail locations. Booksellers were initially reluctant to buy his books. But
Woolworths, placed a large order on the books, and the books sold extremely well. After this initial success, booksellers were no longer reluctant to stock paperbacks. The word "Penguin" became closely associated with the word "paperback".
Robert de Graaf, in 1939, issued a similar line in the USA, partnering with
Simon & Schuster to found the
Pocket Books imprint. The term "pocket book" became
synonymous with paperback in English-speaking North America. In
Québec, the term "livre de poche" was used, and continues to be used today. De Graaf, like Lane, negotiated paperback rights from other publishers, and produced large print runs. His practices contrasted with those of Lane in his adoption of illustrated covers, aimed at the North American market. In order to reach an even larger market than Lane had, he went the mass market route, through distribution networks of newspapers and magazines, which had a lengthy history of being aimed (in format and distribution) at mass audiences. This was the beginning of mass market paperbacks.
Because of its position as Number One in what became a very long list of Pocket editions,
James Hilton's
Lost Horizon is often cited as the first American paperback book, which isn't correct. The first mass-market, pocket-sized, paperback book printed in America was an edition of
Pearl Buck's
The Good Earth, produced by Pocket Books as a proof-of-concept in late 1938, sold in
New York City, and now very collectible.
A number of companies entered the paperback publishing field in the United States in the years after Pocket Books' inception, including
Ace,
Dell,
Bantam,
Avon and dozens of other smaller publishers. At first, paperbacks consisted entirely of reprints, but publishers soon found it economic to publish original works. Genre categories began to emerge, and mass market book covers reflected those categories. Mass market paperbacks had an impact on slick
magazines (slicks) and
pulp magazines. The market for cheap magazines diminished when buyers went to cheap books instead — one factor in this was that the content included in both formats crossed over — authors also found themselves abandoning magazines, and writing for the paperback market. Many pulp magazine cover artists were hired by paperback publishers to entice readers with their exciting artwork. Many well-known authors were published in paperback, including
Arthur Miller and
John Steinbeck, and some, like
Dashiell Hammett, were published as paperback originals.
World War II brought both new technology and a wide readership of men and women now in the military or employed as shift workers; paperbacks were cheap, readily available, and easily carried. Furthermore, people who found that restrictions on travel brought them more time to read read more paperbacks.
Four colour printing and
lamination developed for military maps made the paperback cover eye catching and kept ink from running as people would examine the cover of the book. A revolving metal rack was designed to display a wide variety of paperbacks in a small space that found its way into
drugstores,
dimestores, and markets.
U.S. paperbacks quickly entered the Canadian market, because the newspaper and magazine distribution network was controlled by U.S. companies. Canadian mass-market paperback initiatives in the 1940s included White Circle Books, a subsidiary of Collins (UK); it was fairly successful but was soon outstripped by the success of
Harlequin which began in 1949 and, after a few years of publishing fragile editions of undistinguished novels, focused on the romance genre and became one of the world's largest publishers.
McClelland and Stewart entered the Canadian mass market book trade in the early 1960s, with its "Canadian best seller library" series (at a time when Canadian literary culture was beginning to be popularized, and a call for a Canadian author identity was discussed by the Canadian masses). See
Egg Head or Quality Paperbacks for McClelland and Stewart's paperback line.
Types
Paperbacks include inexpensive "mass market paperbacks", in the standard "pocketbook" format generally printed on inexpensive paper, which will discolor and disintegrate over a period of decades, and more expensive "trade paperbacks" in larger formats printed on quality paper, sometimes
acid-free paper.
"A Format" paperbacks are 110mm x 178mm (4.33" x 7.01")in size, "B Format" paperbacks are 130mm x 198mm (5.12" x 7.8"), while "C Format" (trade paperbacks) are 135mm x 216mm (5.32" x 8.51").
Mass market paperback
A
mass market paperback (
MMP or
MMPB) is a small, usually non-illustrated, and inexpensive
bookbinding format. They are commonly released after the
hardback edition, and often sold in non-traditional bookselling locations such as
airports, drug stores, and
supermarkets, as well as in traditional
bookstores. Many titles, especially in the area of genre fiction, are
first editions in paperback and never receive a hardcover printing. This is particularly true of first novels by new authors.
Mass market paperbacks are distinguished from hardbacks by the different business practices that publishers and booksellers apply to them. When booksellers note that books have been in stock a while and have not sold, they may return them to the publisher for a refund or credit on future orders. However, in the case of mass market paperbacks, this "return" usually means stripping the front cover, returning that for credit, and
pulping the book itself. Changes in the costs of printing relative to the costs of shipping have led to the creation of trade paperbacks, which are similar in format to mass market paperbacks, but larger (near hardback size), usually printed on higher quality paper, and with different returns policies applied to them.
The mass market paperbacks sold in airport
newsstands have given rise to the vaguely defined literary genre of the "
airport novel", bought by travellers to
escape the hours of sitting and waiting.
Trade paperback
A
trade paperback (
TPB), sometimes referred to as a
trade paper edition, is a standard-sized or large-sized paperback book. If it's a softcover edition of a previous
hardcover edition, and if published by the same publishing house as the hardcover, the text pages are normally identical to the text pages in the hardcover edition, and the book is usually the same size as the hardcover edition. The only difference is the soft binding; and the quality of the paper is usually higher than that of a
mass market paperback.
Trade paperbacks are typically priced less than hardcover books and higher than mass market paperbacks. Virtually all "
Advance Reader's Copies" are issued in trade paperback format.
Trade paperback comics
In the medium of
comic books,
trade paperback comics are used to reprint several issues of a comic series in one volume, usually an important storyline or the entire series itself.
Graphic novels are also sometimes found in trade paperback form. Publishers sometimes release popular collections first in a hardback form, followed by a trade paperback months later. Books that have done this include
Marvel Comics'
Secret War and
DC Comics'
Identity Crisis amongst many others. Comic book trade paperbacks are listed at Millarworld's trade paperback list.
(External Link
)
Major paperback publishers
Notes and references
Hancer, Kevin. (1990) Hancer's Price Guide to Paperback Books, Third Edition, Radnor, Pennsylvania: Wallace-Homestead Book Company. ISBN 0-87069-536-3
Canja, Jeff. (2002) Collectable Paperback Books, Second Edition, East Lansing, MI: Glenmoor Publishing. ISBN 0-96736-395-0
Further Information
Get more info on 'Paperback'.
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