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A mass market paperback is a small, non-illustrated, and relatively cheap version of a Book , usually coming out after the Hardback and often sold in non-traditional bookselling locations such as Airport s and Supermarket s, as well as in traditional bookselling locations, such as Bookstore s. Mass market paperbacks are distinguished from hardbacks also 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 Paperback s, which are similar in format to mass market paperbacks, but larger (near hardback size) and with different returns policies applied to them. The mass market paperbacks sold in airport Newsstand s have given rise to the vaguely defined literary genre of the " Airport Novel ", bought by travellers to while away the hours of sitting and waiting. HISTORY British series, in Germany. Lane intended to produce cheap books. He bought paperback rights from publishers, ordered huge Print Runs (such as print runs of 20,000) to keep Unit Price s low, and looked to non-traditional bookselling retail locations. Booksellers were intitially reluctant to buy his books. Woolworths , the department store, however placed a large order on the books, and the books sold extremely successfully. Booksellers were no longer reluctant to buy the books. The word "Penguin" became extremely 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. Genre categories began to emerge, and mass market book covers reflected those categories. Mass market paperbacks had an impact on slick Magazines (slicks). 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. US pocket books quickly entered the Canadian market, because the newspaper and magazine distribution network was controlled by the US. Some Canadian mass-market paperback initiative in the 1940s: White Circle Books, a subsidiary of Collins (UK), was fairly successful. 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 popularised, and a call for a Canadian author identity was discussed by the Canadian masses). See Egg Head Or Quality Paperbacks for a related genre. |
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