Growing up in a world that was partly divided by hardcovers and paperbacks, I find the news that the format’s largest distributor sounded the death knell surprising. Perhaps it’s not a format many avid readers are fond of, but it’s one I’ll always remember kindly.
When I was younger, the majority of my books were the pocket sized mass market variety. Cheaply made, but that was the point. As a teenager, I personally preferred the more portable size, since these lent itself to reading on the go and shelf space was always at a strong premium. But I remember it most being driven by cost: hardcovers cost far more, and were less often available at the used bookstore. If not for novels eventually being released in the mass market paperback format, I would likely have starved for books as a kid! Exchanging books at the used book store periodically, was also a far more realistic endeavor than getting to the library, and “brand new” was rarer for us in those days.
The majority of my hardcovers were Star Wars novels and notable novels that were hand-me-downs, like my mom’s copy of the original Thrawn Trilogy or my brother’s copy of Jurassic Park. The rest were probably acquired on fire sale. Mass markets dominated my shelves for years. I don’t think I actually owned a trade paperback until The Fellowship of the Ring was headed for the big screen about 2001. At roughly the same time, the Lord of the Rings was re-released with three volumes, and being a big deal of course got the better format. My mom paid a whopping $12 for the first volume judging by the back cover, probably as a birthday or Christmas present more than a splurge. It’s been quite a while since then.
Next time that I can really remember having a trade paperback was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which I can remember specifically as a Christmas present. That was the year I was sick for Christmas, actually. I can’t remember if that was in time for the film’s 2001 release or not, but it’s from the 1999 printing. Later novels in the series actually made up the majority of my trade paperbacks well into adult hood. I can still remember receiving the Half Blood Prince in hardcover as a gift while I was waiting for the paperback release to become available, and having somewhat mixed feelings. On one hand, gratitude and the glee of continued reading; on the other, feeling like they must’ve thought us poor and that now my bookshelf wouldn’t match. Most other trade paperbacks on my shelves are either relatively new purchases over the past 10-15 years, or something over than a novel.
As a reader, I’ve never really been a fan of hardcovers so much as I recognize the necessity of them. I think most people inclined towards “physical” books today, aren’t likely to be cost bound. If cost is the predominant factor, or like me, you’ve spent your life in that situation of “Damn, if only I could knock down walls and build a library….” then digital is likely the focus.
Anyone in the same reading situation that I was as a teenager would probably be consuming their content via e-books due to the cost, or more likely OverDrive through their public library–I know I would’ve gone nuts if that was a thing when I was a youngster. That’s also a demographic that mass markets were great for IMHO, those who would simply have far fewer books if you had to pay a premium for a hardcover release. Yeah, it was enough that waiting until the paperbacks filtered into our local stores was worth it.
As an adult, I’ve rather come to threat e-books as the cookie problem. Something you just cough up for if you have any pocket money. My pastor when I was a teenager, often made quips about his penny pinching German heritage. He had a great sense of humor. But he also figured out that a major difference between him and his wife doing the grocery shopping was the fact that a random thing of cookies was going to end up in that cart, if he was the one executing their grocery list. You know, it’s like magic? Yeah. I basically refuse to consider how much money I’ve spent on books as an adult. It dwarves my access to books when I was growing up.
I’ve been fortunate that for most of my life, books haven’t been a luxury. But I will always have a soft spot for paperbacks. They might be crappily made, they might fall apart given heavy reading or a few decades on a shelf, but they formed the foundation of my teenage reading. For that, I can only smile fondly.