Alas, Poor Mass Market Paperback

Some thoughts on my old friend, The Mass Market Paperback.

[@yuleeyahoo]

The mass market paperback is the format that truly made books available to the masses.

[@BigPhilly15]

I love the mass market paperback. It’s handy, readable, and affordable. In Barnes & Noble’s redesign, I’ve noticed they expanded their MMP selection. I long for the days of my youth in the 80s and 90s where bookstores were packed with MMP. And, that lovely smell of those pages! ❤

[@timmeyer9191]

I've heard B&N has been moving towards more MMP & TPB versus the hardcovers for things other than classics.

[@BigPhilly15]

@@timmeyer9191 Yeah seems like they lean on hardcovers for big new releases but are otherwise a paperback shop. The good news is the new CEO has redesigned stores to be more bookish again-for actual readers-rather than miles and miles of Legos and vinyl records and cheap gifts.

[@jscottphillips503]

A wonderful tribute! That is exactly how I feel... it is indeed a lament. The mass markets were SO portable and had all that great cover art, and I never minded if they got beat up as I carried them in my pocket everywhere while reading them. They were going through life WITH me. They had a warmth and a heart all their own. When you saw someone else out there with a paperback, you felt an immediate kinship with them. As cool, convenient and Star Trekky as the new little Kindle is, it will never have the warmth of our tried and trusted mass market paperbacks. They were our constant companions, becoming souvenirs of life, and earning a place of honor on our bookshelves.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I still carry them around. They fit nicely in my work bag.

[@garylovisi357]

Michael, so very well put. Cheers!

[@fordprefect80]

One great thing about the traditional mass market paperback is they're light and much easier to rest on your lap when you're reading in bed. Damn you The Complete Chronicles Of Conan.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I'll always love mass market paperbacks. My favorite kind of physical reading experience. :D

[@lindachurch4555]

Our neighborhood thriftstore sells all paperbacks at 25 cents each and has tons of MMPs, so it's a good place to get them cheap. They have a lot of old sci-fi. I find the trade paperback easier to read but when I go to thrift stores I still stock up on MMP. I have found some older books that don't seem to be printed in any other format other than MMP. I do love nice covers!

[@cammobunker]

The used bookstore was a weekend destination for me every week when I was a kid and it was wall-to-wall MMP. The best part was there was one where I could swap three for one so I'd buy at other stores and trade at that one, with a few actual purchases. It was rare when I'd have the cash to buy brand new books at the time, so the MMP was my staple. Hardcovers were around of course but unless I picked them up in a flea market or yard sale were beyond my reach financially. I have to say two things: first, I loathe the TPB format. It's big, heavy, clumsy, flimsy and they cost like 2-3 times what a MMP would. That's my take on TPB. Now, e-readers; I love digital. I've discovered so many great authors that for one reason or another cannot crack the "Traditional" publishing code (that's a rant in and of itself; don't get me started) but self publishing via Amazon or other sites makes them available. I am absolutely flabbergasted at the prices big pub houses expect to get for a digital book. About 70% of book cost is printing, binding, packing, shipping and remainders. Digital removes all of that. You prepare one file, and it goes up to be downloaded thousands and thousands of times...at no extra cost to the publisher. Royalty remains the same to the author, so...pure, sweet profit for the big five publishing houses. I refuse to buy any ebook that costs 30 or forty bucks. That's insanity.

[@kirktanka8199]

Agree completely about the TPB!

[@QueenoftheBlackCoast]

I love mmp. That's mostly what I grew up buying. They were everywhere. Bookstores, grocery and drug stores,etc. As a kid I also got them from the Scholastic book club at school. I borrowed HC's from the library. I used to go to the library weekly. Now I just download books from there. There will always be a place in my heart for mass market paperbacks. When you grew up in the country they and the library gave me access to books I would never have been able to get otherwise.

[@The_Living_Shadow]

Paperbacks are King. I used to only like hard covers but when I was in the Navy I always had a paperback in my back pocket. Didnt matter if it was my coveralls on the ship or cargo pocket of my ACUs in Afghanistan. I have since started collecting old 60s-80s mass markets. I also really like getting movie novelization. But every paperback I get, regardless of time period, new or old, I protect it with contact paper. Either clear laminate or clear matte.

[@ABT212]

To me the pocket book is more friendly a reading experience. You have it all in your hands and you cozy up to it, you get in there closer as it whispers in your ear.

[@JeffMPalermo]

My conspiracy theory regarding trades: I think that publishers found out that they could make larger profit margins on trades. That is to say, it would not cost much more to make a trade than a mass market, but they could charge much more for them in retail. In that way, they just jack up profits by manipulating the format rather than cutting costs, etc.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I believe in your conspiracy theory.

[@taserrr]

Meh not exactly, I'd imagine their margins are very similar however one sells for 50% more or so, therefor increasing those profits too. Gotta keep in mind what the main costs of books are, and it's not the paper and the ink, it's transporting them and storing them in bookstores. The transport and store costs is higher for tradebacks, as is the paper quality and size, they also use up more ink, so it only makes sense for them to cost more money. I'd be pleasantly surprised if their margins were higher than 1-2% difference.

[@MasterMalrubius]

I learned something today. I had no idea between mass market and trade paperbacks. I noticed something changed but was not aware of the terms. The trade paperback had a lot of memories for me. I read a lot of 70s sci-fi and fantasy when I was younger. I guess that is what will always stick with me.

[@occultdetective]

Mass Markets fit in my back pocket quite nicely when I was a boy. Hiking along Turkey Creek, I generally had a Howard or Burroughs shoved in there. These days, my eyes can't handle the print size. I'll always love them though... Always.

[@tiffanyvantine3322]

One of the great things about mass-market vs trades is that mass markets are a standard height and length. This makes stocking your bookshelves much easier. We have one shelf in our bookshelf that is double stacked top and bottom, front and back. The rest of our selves can only be single stacked because the heights and lengths are too varied. BTW: I love that you mentioned War and Peace. I have about 7 1/2 hours left on the audio book, so I should be finishing this week!

[@JeffMPalermo]

Unfortunately, the new mass markets are much taller than the original ones, and the spaces between the text lines are a bit larger. It's really annoying when arranging your mass market bookshelves!

[@simonagree4070]

I feel a great fondness for mass market paperbacks, because that was the only type of book you could find outside of the library in the small towns where I grew up in the '60s. You bought the books you owned from spinners of paperbacks in drug stores and markets, and that was especially true for science fiction and mysteries. I still own quite a lot of these things, from the special military editions of the WW II years, to the near-pulp 25¢ - 35¢ publishing of the '50s, to the stylish, experimental 50¢ - 95¢ books of the '60s. The oldest were very durable, as they were designed to survive life in soldier's pockets, being passed around. Those from the '50s were produced more cheaply and are mostly falling apart, their spines cracking and crumbling. A lot of the '60s books are holding up surprisingly well, though browning. The problem is that my eyes are not doing as well, as I approach 70; it's tiring to read the small typefaces and cramped line spacing of mass market paperbacks. The trades are my go-to for new book purchases, and for anything I like enough to re-read I will look for a hardcover copy. Still, I hang on to certain things: my complete library of grubby Signet Shakespeare plays, my cheap paperbacks of early J.G. Ballard stories and novels, my set of Raymond Chandler with the cover paintings by Tom Adams. You can ask my estate about their availability someday.

[@heblanchard]

I was recently in Hudson News at Grand Central Terminal in New York and there was an entire wall of mass market paperbacks - so perhaps they still function as "yikes, I have a long train ride ahead of me and I need a book to read and carry!"

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m glad they still exist in train stations and airports!

[@mediumjohnsilver]

Luckily for me there is a used book store at the edge of town that specializes in used mass market paperbacks.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

That is lucky!

[@troytradup]

Oh, Michael, I miss mass market paperbacks so much. I'm already in an existential crisis this morning and now your video is just going to make me pine all day. I must go find cookies now.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I hope the cookies helped.

[@garylovisi357]

Michael, great video and thoughts. The mass market paperback is not going away, it will stay with is and some publishers are bringing out new lines like Stark House Press with their great Black Gat and Staccato crime imprints. These are new and numbered and are already very collectable. I have collected vintage era paperbacks for 50 years and do love them. They enabled a poor kid to create a library that could never have happened otherwise. I even publish a magazine, Paperback Parade devoted to this vast subject. Paperbacks do seem to be having a resurgence in be collected, and not just Vintage era editions, hit movie tie ins from all decades, sleaze and horror are hot. It was Philip K Dick who in one of his Paperback sf novels posited that one day paperbacks would be avidly collected and i think that day has arrived. They will be collectable like old and rare pulps, comic books and other historical artifacts of American 20th Century culture. Enjoy!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks, Gary!

[@kevinrosero9723]

That edition of War and Peace that you held up was my original one, too. I've never forgotten the cover. I read Moby Dick in a Bantam edition that I always remembered, too, with a dark green sea on the cover that just seemed to hint at a whale beneath.

[@brettrobson5739]

Oh for the days when a paperback fit in the back pocket of your jeans.

[@BookishChas]

Great video Michael! Kindle has mostly replaced mass markets for me, though I do buy a few. The print is often too small, especially for big chunkers.

[@DDB168]

Love mass markets. I gave up on harcovers and trades ages ago because I got sick of having to take out a bank loan before purchasing 😉 All trades have done is push me to using a kindle more often.

[@pbofan]

Perhaps the greatest - and saddest - thumbnail pic ever.

[@roberthawes3093]

Long live the mass-market paperback! You're right about the covers; they were often imaginative and eye-catching. With the economy in the state it's in, the mmp may make something a comeback, given that it's cheaper to produce. I remember that edition of Dracula, btw.

[@johannemilsom7503]

I love mass-market paperbacks! They fit into my small hands, between the thumb and pinkie so easily. And with hardly much weight in their stiff pages. The trade paperbacks, with their floppy pages are too heavy. You can't hold them one-handed. 😮‍💨 I was never a fan of the 70s, me with my teenage angst and all, but I did have two saving graces, music and the wonderful mass-market paperbacks of Stephen King. Bless you. Mr. King! 🥰

[@stephenwalker2924]

Reading one-handed. Just like Charles Dickens in his youth. Very cool.

[@johannemilsom7503]

@@stephenwalker2924 Thank you Stephen.

[@StevenEverett7]

I always loved MMPs. Unfortunately, due to eye problems I've mostly converted to digital books. Now I have around 8 to 10 thousand paperbacks that I really can't read. 😢😢😢

[@zkinak2107]

Wow I have that exact set of LOTR paperbacks! Though mine are in tougher shape except for the hobbit and return of the king. I had no idea that they had a box to slide into.

[@enfermagembenfermagemb2251]

Great video and I couldn’t agree more. Wow, you are so lucky, I’m jealous. You have the signet paperback of War and Peace❤

[@troytradup]

Popping back in to share this update that just arrived from Uncle Hugo's bookstore in Minneapolis: "I’ve noticed that publishers seem to be doing smaller print runs so that they can raise the prices more often and raising the prices more rapidly than they used to. I’ve even been getting in replacement copies of books that were published 2 weeks before where the price has already gone up. And there are far fewer mass market paperbacks coming in the next six months than in the previous six months."

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks for that, Troy. I’m not at all surprised.

[@Kova-ow2en]

As a young gen z guy, I honestly prefer mass market then the other. I like the more compact and portable size. To me it’s the perfect size

[@Toracube]

My gripe with mass market paperbacks is that often the print isn’t great.. to those of us with bad eyesight this is a big deal. So many of my old sci fi I struggle with.

[@stews9]

Asimov once wrote the mass-market paperback book would be with us always because it's portable, requires no power source, and is relatively inexpensive. He didn't factor in deforestation but I'm sure had he done so he'd have countered with rice or corn fiber paper, or other renewables. Hardcovers last if the paper's low acid. Otherwise they burn up just like the mmpbs .

[@MriInterocitor]

The only reasons I don’t still buy a bunch of paperbacks are physical - escalating disabilities make e-reading the necessary way to go. But I have so much love for mass market paperbacks, and for much of my life, the trade paperbacks and hardcovers most likely to pass through my hands were library books. Tolkien, Lovecraft, L’Engle, Christopher, Niven, so many of my early faves first got to me in paperback. And for decades later, too, up to Stapledon, Stableford, Ligotti, Barron, Kiernan, Files, Hamilton (Peter, not Edmund), and lots of others.

[@fangs1972]

I'm glad you brought up the movie tie-in paperbacks. I was thrilled to get ALL of the last "Halloween" trilogy in mass market and if publishers are not going to do more of that, I wish they'd put the older novelizations in e. I want "Friday the 13th: Part 6" and "Jaws: The Revenge" as e-books, dammit!

[@ChrisCTheSlasherDude1979]

Love your Channel Mike , u got me to col more of the classic books , and comics as well

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks Chris!

[@DamnFoolIdealisticCrusader]

I miss mass market paperbacks being everywhere. I vastly prefer them for most things over big trade paperbacks. I’ve always been a paperback person which was probably burned into me in childhood. It also depends on what you grew up with. I can’t imagine reading the Bond novels in anything but the 60’s US Signet paperbacks. Whereas the trade paperbacks I enjoy are the Vintage/Black Lizard 90’s and onward reprints of classic hard boiled fiction.

[@ItsTooLatetoApologize]

If the book is short, I’ll buy it in mass market. But I prefer reading trade paperbacks even compared to hardcover. I probably have a touch of OCD because I like my books to be of similar size on my bookshelf. But that hasn’t stopped me from buying books of all different shapes and sizes. I have that exact copy of War and Peace and reading anything that thick in mass market is not as enjoyable to me because I try to not crack the spines so the glue doesn’t break and the whole book falls apart. 🤣 I’ve also thought of the slow death of mass market and I hope they don’t go anywhere. I was having a discussion with a very casual reader whom I work with, and he didn’t realize the system of publishing. How generally when a book is published it will be available in hard back for about a year or until the first print sells out, then the trade paperback will come out and be reprinted until it sells out or the demand for the book dies down, and then later (sometimes years later) the mass market will come out to try to stir up some sales again. And what your book collection looks like, with regards to both the types of books you own and the format of the books, can tell a person a lot. It can tell me when you discovered a series of books or author. It can tell me how OCD you are also. 🤣 It can tell me if you you buy your books second hand. It tells me things! Lol! The books whisper to me! Is this getting weird yet?? Lol! **AHEM** I guess I hope that while I don’t enjoy mass market as much as other formats, I hope they stick around because I guess I see a story in a person’s bookshelf too. Great video, Michael!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

You would have made an excellent detective. Unless you are a detective, in which case I bet you are a great one.

[@Steve_Stowers]

Heck yeah! that edition of Tolkien. And, pretty much everything you say in this video.

[@d.r.martin6301]

Probably 80-85% of my lifetime book reading has been MMPs. And it remains the bulk of my collection (even as I thin the herd every year). But only rarely do I buy them new anymore. Ten bucks for a small paperback? Like you, I'll buy the ebook; assuming it's cheaper. Re. trade paperbacks, my theory is that people want editions that are more collectible; that look better up on a shelf. Also, roomier pages, bigger type, easier to read. And for independent authors like myself, trade paperback is the king of print-on-demand. (I haven't tried hardcover POD. Don't see the need.) I hope MMPs don't go away, but there's not much I can do about that.

[@jonnaah9683]

The bulk of my collection is mass market, the old stuff, been collecting 60 yrs. So much on them. Compact and handy. Good for those of us who have them. I focused on mass lit, into 21st C., Never got hooked on Howard, Burroughs, etc,

[@jonnaah9683]

Still collect whatever, but mostly need new lit, so use inter-library loan. Not interested in any electronic formats.

[@jonnaah9683]

Also read the biggies, like War,and Peace, Les Miserables, The Source...in mass market.

[@TheMikester307]

I love them too! They may go the way of the pulp magazines. My faves were the series of "Best of..." sci fi books Ballentine put out in the 70s and 80s, like "The Best of Henry Kuttner."

[@timmeyer9191]

Very interesting subject today, Michael.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks Tim!

[@stevengentry9396]

A really interesting video. Like you, I have a great affection for mass markets, having read so many growing up. I have likened them to Pez candy, going through so many sci-fi and fantasy books, among others. I don't see them going away, but rather reaching an equilibrium with e-readers in convenient, pocket-size reading. Both have advantages the other does not, and I think mass markets will always have a place with readers. As an aside, your copy of War and Peace reminded me of one of the few things I dislike in mass markets; very long books. I just finished Robert McCammon's Swan Song in mass market, and it was like handling a brick. Tiny font size (bless Kindle's font options), and wrestling to read the stuff hiding in the gutter toward the spine. But that's only very large books.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I have a giant MMP copy of Swan Song! I’ll get to it sometime.

[@kirktanka8199]

Looking forward to the video on MMP cover artwork. Great video. MMP is also how I think of Lord of the Rings.

[@_Mike.85]

mass market format > everything else. Let's hope it never dies.

[@danielmarlett1421]

They are my preferred format because they can fit in my pocket. A small kindle is about as portable but doesn't have the nostalgia.

[@LAVIV007]

Yup, and I was thinking it's only me imagining this. As side effect of the disappearance of The Mass Market Paperback books from bookstores, is the dwindling of 2nd hand bookshops. Both are just sad.

[@debmunsell1720]

Poor old book shops suffered for sure

[@Creek54]

I think the mass market paperbacks were invented for portability. Reading on the bus or the plane or on the beach. But the vast majority of people read at home, therefore the small paperback is not necessary. I still have about 500 mass market paperbacks from older days but I have fully transitioned to trade paperbacks. By the way, the first book(s) I can remember reading were either Planet of the Apes (Pierre Boulle) or Goldfinger (Ian Fleming).

[@FrankGrauJr]

That’s my favorite Tarzan series, too. I bought it as a kid and have never seen a better edition since (with respect to the covers)... though I’d like to have copies of the Frazetta covered editions.

[@richardbrown8966]

The reason mass market paperbacks are so rare is because Roger has bought them all.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Probably.

[@ernestschultz5065]

Mass Market Paperbacks fit nicely in a backpack or even a back pocket. Try that with a Trade paperback. I only collect Mass Market Paperbacks. No hardcovers or TPPs for me.

[@ravent3016]

I grew up on the MM PBs, and the SF/F and mysteries I loved were so accessible in that format. Now that I am older and my vision is quite poor, I prefer a larger font size or even ebooks because I can enlarge the font size. I still have a lot of those older editions (especially in SF) as they are not in ebook, but I do replace them when I come across ebooks.

[@MagusMarquillin]

I think my fondness of MMBP is mostly due to nostalgia - they may be lightweight and cheep, and often still the only way to find older stuff, but TPBs are nearly as lightweight, while having art nearly as big as the hardcover's, they can be slimmer then HC and MMPB, with a larger font then the MMPB, and best of all, don't seem to get those white lines running through the spine no matter how they've been read, and what damage they get is easy to overlook. This is a change for the better. As for the art, it's worse in some ways (particularly horror), but a lot of it is really fantastic - some classic and some experimental. There's good and bad in any era of publishing...we'll see about what the A.I. artist tsunami brings.

[@angelica351a]

I agree.First I thought Rhonda died from the thumbnail!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I wouldn’t be making any videos if that had happened!

[@Paul_Bond.]

I like trade paperbacks because they don't look out of place next to my hardbacks on the book shelf, all my mass market paperbacks go on separate shelves. Your example of Joe Abercrombie is interesting, I have all his work in hardcover apart from the First Law trilogy, if I want them in hardback I will have to pay £500+ second hand. There is a tenth anniversary set in hardcover at a reasonable price of £15 - £20 per book but these are smaller than trade paperback and traditional hardbacks with no dust-jackets and inlay-ed cover art. The trade paperbacks with the original art work have filled a stop gap for me as they sit nicely with the others. And now I look on the damn interweb and find that they were re-released in hardcover with the original art last year at the very reasonable price of £20 each! Such is the fun of book collecting!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I have the 10th Anniversary set. They look nice but are not particularly well made, unfortunately. The trade paperbacks will probably hold up just as well if not better.

[@TheJFGB93]

I'm just 30 y.o., but the first books I could buy that were in English were all MMP. I read Orwell's _1984_ in that format, and some years later I got books 2-4 of _A Song of Ice and Fire_ new for a ridiculous cheap price. In fact, I think I haven't bough a new American hardcover ever (my _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows_ doesn't count, because my father bought it). I still like hardcovers better for durability reasons, but I would be so sad to see the MMP go away, since they are what helped me read more in English in the first place.

[@steviepickles9174]

I hope that they stick around in perpetuity. I love them. I’m 44 and cut my teeth on this format. I own hundreds and I have applied Con-Tact Paper to each and every one of them. Up until five or six years ago (up to the rise of Suntup Press) I only read mass markets. I know that “fine edition” publishers existed before, but Suntup caught my eye. I tried them and now I am hooked on this new, for me, reading experience. The feel of the paper, the type setting etc. I will keep going with the mass market paperbacks for as long as they keep making them while I explore this new, deluxified, landscape.

[@ITCamefromthePage]

I love Mass Markets because they have a uniformity and save space. Unfortunately occasionally the mass market format leads to incredibly SMALL print, which I can't read well anymore. Movie Novelizations and Tie-In books still give me my Mass Market fix lol. In Canada it is so weird because the price difference of a mass market and a digital edition is '2 dollars', so yes it's cheaper but the digital edition is still clearly overpriced because the price between formats is NOT 2 dollars... Honestly Novelizations are on the SEVERE decline, they are nowhere NEAR as universal as they once were. We get the odd novelization for horror films still and old movies getting the novelization treatment (although weirdly enjoy those are in the Trade style NOT mass market) but they will soon be a thing of the past. I should do an examination on that sometime. Great video!

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I guess novelizations are probably another victim of being able to watch anything instantly anytime. I think tie in books are still doing okay, but definitely not the same thing.

[@jeremyfee]

It's ironic how expensive some of these cheap old paperbacks are these days. :)

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

It is.

[@charliedogg7683]

The mass market paperbacks, or massy to their friends (and aren't we all their friends?), have a place of honour on my bookshelves and in my reading life. The trade paperback is for me the format for comics collections; the novels and anthologies in trade I find cumbersome and heavy, and I don't want to fall asleep while reading in bed and holding one of those. Also, they always cost more than mass market paperbacks, at least here in Australia. Conan comics from Marvel helped me learn to read English and the UK Sphere and US Lancer Conan paperbacks helped me become confident in reading and writing English so they really matter to me. I'd like to imagine a future where the paperbacks are still a presence in the bookshops to some degree but I really don't know, both it and the trade paperback may disappear if accessing texts via Kindle becomes cheap enough. On the upside, if this happens then the paperbacks on our shelves may become as valuable in the future as copies of Weird Tales from the 1930s and 40s are now. Great video Michael.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Thanks!

[@bigaldoesbooktube1097]

I have always lived and worked around the London area and here MMPBs are definitely going strong. They dominate the bookstores and news stands as they are convenient for commuters. The only thing that could stop them are Kindles. I hope that will never happen as I cannot read from E-readers 🤞.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I’m glad MMPs are going strong in your strange, faraway land.

[@stephenwalker2924]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 lol

[@timmeyer9191]

Perhaps some publishers will be buying shelf space at grocery store checkout lanes for MMPs. Same way that magazines do & comics used to. I could see publishers trying that to spark some interest.

[@ZoeyDeLeonVA]

My bookshelf mostly consists of MMPB books shows how broke I can be.

[@uptown3636]

I've always preferred the trade paperback's readability, but wow do those mass market memories hold sway over my imagination! The mass market paperback introduced me to Doyle and Bradbury, among other favorites. Good insight to point out that Kindle killed the MMP!

[@parlabaneisback]

I've got a fair few mass market paperbacks; but I haven't read one for years.

[@HeyYallListenUp]

I have a soft spot in my heart for mass markets. Back in the day, they were the cheap way (and sometimes only way) to get a book. I don't prefer them now over hard covers/trades because the print is too small for my old eyes. I also suspect that ebooks have largely killed the market for mass markets due to price, but I still prefer to read a MMP and will pay a few extra dollars for it.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I think a lot of people give up mass markets as their eyes 👀 age.

[@martins1964]

i mostly read Stephen King in the 90s, so mass market paperbacks served me well, though these days i prefer trade paperback, or even some of those oversized paperbacks.

[@benriley6716]

Good video. Would love to see a video on the state of current book covers. And any insights on why covers have gone so far downhill.

[@troytradup]

One big reason is cheapness: publishers don't want to pay professional artists or graphic designers, so they're using a lot more cartoony AI artwork. Another reason (at least in my opinion) is the general infantilization of America: Hey, let's make this copy of War and Peace look like a Disney cartoon, and maybe that will make the kids read it. Sorry, I'm in serious grumpy old man mode today. 😡

[@JeffMPalermo]

@@troytradup Came to say just this.

[@stephenwalker2924]

Many new TPBs are pretending to be old PBs when it comes to covers. Classic art work is trendy again, e.g. every Horror TPB wants to look like a Stephen King PB from the late 70s/early 80s. Grady Hendrix is probably to blame in this instance.

[@troytradup]

@@stephenwalker2924 I might say Grady is to be celebrated rather than blamed but hey, tomato, tomahto. 😄

[@Decrepit_Productions]

By sheer coincidence, I'm currently near the end of the first Mass Market Paperback I've read since before acquiring a Paperwhite mid-2021. It's actually that title's seventh reading, the first occurring Mar 1988. I chose it to give me something to do while my Paperwhite recharged. (Yes, I can read on the kindle as it recharges. But I'm a bit clumsy and don't want to risk damaging its mini-USB socket.) The vast majority of my paper-print book library is MMP. I have great fondness for the format. That said, during my ongoing MMP read, it took a decent chunk of book before my tired-old eyes comfortably adapted to what now seems ultra-tiny text. Also, I suspect a MMP the thickness of War and Peace might be too difficult to hold for any extended length of time while lying down, which is how I do almost the whole of my "novel-length" reading. In younger days, even large hardbacks were manageable lying down. Nowadays, my Paperwhite with a hand-strap is far more doable than any paper format. As to my take on the future of MMP, I'm way out of the loop, there being no bookstore in my area, either new or used (aside from at least one dedicated Christian bookstore). I suspect they will survive until a collective big corporation execs get together and decide that, for whatever reason, they need to vanish.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Let’s hope those executives never get their act together .

[@carolinec3951]

Thanks for your videos. They are informative and amusing. I laminate my mass market paperbacks with clear contact paper. It reinforces weaker paper. I think as long as harlequin prints romance there will always be MMPs.

[@barbaraboethling596]

I love the MMP, and it seems many a niche genre, like westerns, do too. I only have one hardback western. Cover art just works beautifully on a MMP. My only problem with them these days is the tiny print in a lot of them. I am part of the tail end of the baby boomer generation, and there are a lot of us. We have lousy vision. Maybe we're part of the reason MMPs are declining, and the Ereader is gaining momentum.

[@TheJohno95]

I can't speak to the book market, since most of the bookstores I frequent are used ones or flea markets. But in the comic book market, there has been a push-back against the digital market. Comics are a different beast, since they rely mostly on the collector market in this day and age. That's a war for another day. But with the drop-off in the comic digital market, even the people that just read them and don't collect them are starting to get frustrated with the digital market. Partially the outrageous price points (which digital was supposed to make better) and partially because with some digital data bases shutting down, there went their cash with nothing to show for it. Yes, comics in an attic or basement might get moldy or eaten by silver fish, but you can keep a watch on them. I think you're right when you say that the trade paperback format has done more damage to mass market paperbacks than anything else. I won't lie...When I started seeing them pop up, I thought they looked neat. But as time goes on, I just feel like they're some weird interim between hardback and mass market paperback. They're more expensive than the mass markets, but they're somewhat cheaper than a hardback. But, honestly, if I'm going to drop twenty bucks, might as well be thirty. A hardback looks more respectable on a shelf. And that is the other problem. Storage. Mass markets are smaller and easier to crate up if you don't have shelf space. It's the old fogey in me, probably, but like you said, I grew up on them. And, honestly, the thing I still like is they're easy to take on a trip. They're usually fairly small and easy to carry with you in a coat pocket or in hand. And nobody is going to probably still a non-electronic device, so you're mostly safe there. There is room for all formats under the sun. The young people seem to like the trade paperback format the most and that's fine. Kindles are good for the people that can stand to look at that screen all day. And the old formats are fine for us old folks who just like what we like. So, I just live and let live. As long as someone is reading, I don't care how. Ok, I'll just say it. I can't hold it in. Comics are hurting because the local comic shops took over the market from the gas stations and drug stores and turned it into a niche market. Now they're crying because their medium is going through a big crunch and they can't figure out how to stop it. As much as the collectors will want to say that it's always been a "collector's market", the fact is that back in the day, comics were mainly made to appeal to kids. And it was cheaper for mom or dad to buy a kid a comic than to buy them some cheap toy that would fall apart on the way to the car. And as the kids aged out, new ones took their place. And some became collectors. But the current model of sell where they are almost completely in comic shops has caused the hobby to deteriorate. And what few young people do get in, they're usually buying the trades (which is fine, I do, too) or their parents are pushing them to buy "keys". Nothing irritates me more than being in the comic shop and seeing some dad bring their kid in and going right to the counter and spout out: "We're looking for keys." I miss the days when the comic shop was rows and rows of boxes where you wanted to just bask in the glory of the days of yesteryear for as long as your parents could tolerate you doing. That was what the comic shop was for. They don't like to hear it, but this stranglehold they have on the industry is what is killing it. The snake eating it's own tail. Whew! Got that off my chest.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

When it comes to comics I must admit I love the gigantic omnibus format. Of course I’ll read anything I get my hands on.

[@farhad_s]

Never thought of MMPB vs Kindle before, that's an interesting point.

[@FrankGrauJr]

I’m a sucker for great cover art. I’ve bought plenty of pocket-books for the cover art.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

I guess I’m almost an old foggy; I loved the MM. Still do. I haven’t bought one in a long time. Are the like vinyl records? Off to read my Kindle!

[@jamesabbiati5775]

MMs are wonderfully nostalgic, but they've become my last choice of reading formats. Fonts are usually smaller than I like and they don't sit in a book stand nearly as well as trades or hardcovers. That said, there are times (the beach) when I'd prefer a cheap MM I can stick in my pocket.

[@Wabin22]

This is such a strange topic, as it seems to be very differently here in Europe. I'm not really sure what's the difference on a regular paperback and mass market, but I know for sure that the version of The Heroes that I have is more like the mass market you show here than the bigger flappy ones. I've actually never seen the version you're holding here :) I recently got Conan The Destroyer as a mass market paperback, and it was new and a re-print from.. 2009 I believe? Btw new book day today, and I got myself a beautiful copy (mass market paperback btw) of Jungle Tales of Tarzan ;)

[@Wabin22]

I would also like to add, that I've seen ebooks that are way more pricy than the original paperback version. Which is really strange.. Here in Sweden our bookstores are also stuffed with paperbacks that can sort of be like the ones you call mass market? I don't know really, but it seems to be huge differences depending on where you live.

[@davebrzeski]

I suspect that one of the problems affecting the mass market paperback is simply that Amazon & other POD producers do not offer that size. I have an awful lot of old MMPs, but these days I tend to need to attach magnifying lenses to my reading glasses to read them. I know Tolkien was published in MM format in the US, but I think they were always larger in the UK.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Somebody just sent me some POD paperbacks in MMP size. They are a bit strange. I figured Amazon made them but maybe not.

[@denisadellinger4543]

I know what gen Z will say. Every now and then I will read an article written by a younger generation born when the computer age blew up. They will be all wise and tell us what we don't need any more and what is out of style and will no longer be popular. It amazes me and I laugh. Younger people like the E readers. I think for our generation, mass market will always be part of our reading experience. The older the better. They get new life online and in used bookstores. Maybe they will get a resurgence. The cover art is just fantastic. I hate to be a pessimist but we may get about twenty five or thirty more years of books before everything goes to readers. but I think we will always have used books. People get rid of their old books and they sell to those who want to read them. There are so many sites online to buy them. I will live the rest of my life doing things the old way. I'm for comfort. So my heirs will be getting rid of my paperbacks like yours will yours. I just want to read them all before I die.

[@MarshOakDojoTimPruitt]

thanks for sharing

[@joeespin4377]

the reaqson for the unfortunate shift away from mass market is purely economic. the larger format is more expensive to print which translates to higher purchase price which translates to higher profit margins per unit. there will come a time when the paperback book will become to high a price for the normal person to afford and sales will decrease to such a low level that the publishing houses will only print hard backs.

[@douglasreynolds7903]

I have noticed a trend when looking for some older books that the Mass Market offerred was significantly higher than the trade or even the hardback. Either they realize the fan base for them, the Mass Market are first editions, or the cover art is worth the price increase. I love Mass Markets and prefer them first unless a nice hardback is offered. I don't care for Trade Paperbacks as a whole.

[@bwk2235]

That was my War & Peace as well.

[@duffypratt]

I blame Harry Potter. No mass market of it, which likely trained a whole generation of readers to prefer larger formats. In our used book shop, mass markets are currently a little less than half the shelf space. None in the children’s section. Less than half of the cont lit section. About half the mystery/thrillers, and about 2:1 in fantasy/sci-fi. I take this as proof that contemporary literature is closest to children’s books. The format I can’t stand is the newer, longer mass market books. They seem to combine all the disadvantages of mass markets and trades. As for e-readers, it will almost always be my last choice - for economy, availability, and travel. That would differ if I lived in an area with functioning mass transit.

[@troytradup]

@@ingridfitz5677 They tried the first two or three HP in mass market format, but I'm guessing not enough people bought them to continue. In the UK they also did trade paperbacks with "adult" covers -- which would have been nice to see in the US. Although now it doesn't really matter, I guess (at least to me) because, well, you know.

[@MrDoinfine]

I think the decline of the mass market paperback is largely driven by publishers and booksellers - they think they make more money by pushing the more expensive trade paperbacks. I vastly prefer small format paperbacks, and will go out of my way to find books I want to read in that format. Funny you should say that people like large paperbacks for their floppiness (don’t know if you meant it). Floppiness is one of the reasons I dislike them. The way the pages hang down when you hold the book one handed (if you’re strong enough), or flop around when you move the book. I love the stiffness of a small paperback, the way it feels in the hand.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I hear people praise the floppiness of trade paperbacks a lot on BookTube. It is a bit odd.

[@brianmelendy1194]

I love the mass market paperbacks. I go out of my way to find them. However, There are new MMP that are slightly longer in format and they screw up the bookshelves and I can't stand them. Trade paperbacks are cool but the cost too much. How about a video on how the new covers suck and all look the same.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I will definitely do that video eventually.

[@thekeywitness]

Love the handy size but hate the tiny text.

[@fionam3554]

...talks about Burroughs in paperback - when he has what looks like a special hardcover of John Carter of Mars - which is probably an omnibus - the book is thin.. I don't think it is 200 pages.

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

I'm not sure how they're dying when bookstores I go to are mostly paperbacks. Lately, I struggle to find hardback books. I ignore paperbacks because I find them annoying to read (I just want to set the book down and just use a finger to flip the page, not hold it the whole time) and I stress out and feel like I have to rush because the longer the book is open, the more damage I'm doing. (not to mention that I feel bad prying them open enough to read in the first place, and that alone has stopped me from reading some books) I feel like I have to be much more careful to avoid damaging them further. And the ones that are damaged enough to be easier to read make me nervous that pages are going to fall out. I much prefer a more durable hardback that can lay open without intervention or worry.

[@hughminor9369]

Love mass market papebacks, I have thousands.

[@BookTimeWithRyan]

My condolences.

[@BookTimeWithRyan]

Oh, nevermind.

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

Yes Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country were at least made in mmpb (the standalone novels). I own them but I think they are UK version.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

I figured they had to exist.

[@stephenwalker2924]

Cannot abide e-readers. I know it's the words that count not the format - but this old dog ain't learning any new tricks. I grew up on Stephen King and James Herbert and Herbert Van Thal mmps, and so have a great fondness for them, but as long as it's made of paper I'm happy. For some strange reason, I prefer the American covers of Stephen King's hardback and paperback books to the covers we get here in the UK, mostly. Some modern covers can be quite lovely so I'm not as despondent about contemporary book-cover art as a lot of folks on here. And it has to be said: nothing smells as good as a musty old paperback with yellow pages and a broken spine.

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

Prefer the mass market smaller pocket book because you can put it in your pocket, the other format requires a bag etc, though, of course, there is the Kindle. Most of my paperbacks are mass market format (not sure what they are called here in the UK, perhaps the same, I just called them paperbacks). Will always love the cover art of the paperbacks. Most of the "paperback sized books" (if they have any actual size as they are vectors) now are definitely on the Kindle and via the Kindle Unlimited but as you say, there are zillions of books out there that are not available in any other format. I just wonder if they will all come back into print again once they enter PD ?? Or will then be just added to various e-book projects and downloaded forever.

[@michaelk.vaughan8617]

Yeah, MMP’s had the best cover art.

[@AndrewBuckleBookReviews]

@@michaelk.vaughan8617 I definitely agree, I wonder if others will be enthused about the TPB covers in 60 years or so time ? Perhaps

[@BookBlather]

These days, I’ll always pick a trade paperback over mass market. My wrists are getting old and achy, and holding those suckers open for a long time gets uncomfortable. I prefer a nice trade that just flops open.

[@barbaralin3053]

the reason why mass market books diminish is because there are fewer readers, so the 'mass market' doesn't exist. Therefore we can't enjoy low cost on books. However, the mass market shifts to kindle. It's a pity because i don't read e-books.

[@bobgdn]

Bookstores?!? What are they?

[@evanames5940]

I am 67 so I imagine in my non Keith Richards life, they will always be there for me. Commuting I liked ereaders, primarily Amazon, but when asking Amazon tech support to close my Audible account he deleted my Amazon Prime account. When I called Amazon tech support, who must hate their jobs, all I got was the big raspberry. Oh well, they lost the 6 books sales I bought this month. Vengeance is mine, or so the Lord says.