Publishing Small Pocket-sized Books
Pocket Books publishing is the act of
publishing small pocket sized paper back books, or bringing
these books to market for public view. Pocket books were
the first massively marketed books in America. These
books were small, pocket sized, paperback books that were
primarily non-fiction. Some of the first companies
to utilize pocket books publishing were Simon and Schuster and
Penguin Books.
There were a number of strategic benefits to
pocket books. First of all, they were much smaller and
easier to transport than the more bulkier hardback books that
were prevalent before these books came out. They were
cheaper to make and thus could be sold for a cheaper price to
the public. These books were the lovechild of the
newspaper and the hardback novel. Now, Americans could
buy a book without paying extensive amounts of money, consume
the book, and come back again the next week, while spending a
minimal amount of money on this form of entertainment.
The books were also initially glued instead of stitched, which
saved a considerable amount of time and money in the production
process.
Pocket books publishing took off in World War
II due to material shortages that prevented other media types
from being used as extensively. Other imitator companies
begun to spring up, creating similar miniature sized books that
were paperback and small. Pocket books are well known for
their publishing of major television series books such as Star
Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Today pocket books publishing is an industry
wide phenomenon. There are all genres of pocket books,
and many times if there is a series of books, they are usually
printed in the typical pocket books style. Children’s
horror novels such as RL Stine’s books took off in the 90′s as
a popular pocket books format. The Harry Potter books,
although not smaller in size, are somewhat based upon a pocket
books publishing format. These books are part of a series
that is printed in paperback, non-fictional, targeted toward a
particular audience (children), and highly marketed.
These books are not too expensive and are
found in nearly every home. The pocket books publishing
tradition therefore is still very much alive today and can be
found in every home that has a small miniature paperback book
dealing with a non-fictional or entertaining topic..