On Paperback Book Day, a brief history of the format

There's a day for paperback books? This may be news to some, but each year on 30 July, some observe Paperback Book Day to commemorate the publication of the first Penguin paperbacks in England back in 1935.

Dime novels, penny dreadfuls

Paperbacks have existed before that, often as cheaper reprints of bulkier, more expensive hardcover editions or contents in magazines. According to one article, the first-ever mass-market English-language paperback is Malaeska by Ann S. Stephens, published in 1860 by brothers Erastus and Irwin Beadale in the United States. The brothers' enterprise would become known for its ten-cent "dime novels", the precursor of what we call pulp books today. The Beadles opened an office in London in 1862, and the English soon took to these books, which they called the "penny dreadful".

So it's a wonder why Paperback Book Day is in honour Penguin rather than the Beadle brothers. Were prevailing attitudes towards dime novels to blame? Many of the stories in these early US paperbacks were about characters living in the American frontier: cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans. Across the Atlantic, the more popular penny dreadfuls were about shady characters and the supernatural. Not exactly high literature. But the industry provided many, including women, a launchpad for their writing careers. Some could say that these works heralded today's fan fiction.

British publisher Allen Lane released ten reprint titles as part of the launch of Penguin Books in 1935. Among those were The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Ariel by Andre Maurois and William by E.H. Young. Less than a year after they were introduced, about a million Penguins had been sold.

Back in the US, inspired by the success of Penguin, American publisher Robert de Graaf started Pocket Books in 1939, which began by teaming up with Simon & Schuster to issue pocket-sized paperback reprints. Before launching the imprint, they tested their format with the release of what is considered the first "respectable" mass-market paperback in America: Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, in November 1938. The success led to the launch of Pocket Books with ten titles that included Lost Horizon by James Hilton, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Paperback popularity

From then on, paperbacks consisted of reprinted material from magazines or older books, but in 1950 came Gold Medal Books by Fawcett Publications, which published original works, including westerns and mysteries. Despite some grouses from hardcover publishers and competitors, Gold Medal sales took off, and the business model was adopted by other paperback publishers.

Paperbacks were cheaper and more portable as some of these editions were small enough to fit inside a pocket. Passengers on trains started taking them on board, especially for long journeys (apparently Allen Lane's inspiration for launching Penguin was because he couldn't find anything to read while waiting for a train). Soldiers in World War II read paperbacks when they weren't fighting. And as they did back in the 1800s, paperback publishers launched the careers of many writers and served as platforms for them to experiment with their craft.

The proliferation of paperbacks also led to the growth and diversification of various genres, from sci-fi, crime, horror and romance to the trashy, gory and mind-bending. Many mass-market paperbacks were put together with cheap materials and not made to last, hence the term "pulp". Nor were the stories re-readable, some would say, emphasising the throwaway aspect of these books. But that would depend on readers.

And they were everywhere. The invention of the spinner rack helped put paperbacks in newsstands, subway stations, pharmacies, convenience stores, airports ... places usually not associated with books. Unlike Penguin, mass paperbacks by US publishers tended to have eye-catching covers, which ensured they would fly off racks and shelves faster. Regardless of content, paperbacks got more people reading, and that's good ... isn't it?

When paper becomes passé

But today, with prices skyrocketing as costs of publishing and bookmaking go up, even paperbacks are becoming a luxury. Advances in technology and the hassle of maintaining a library of physical books have compelled some bookworms to switch to e-readers or similar gadgets. Seems nobody figured out that books don't last or stay pristine in the hot, humid tropics, and oh goodness, the packing and unpacking of all those tomes when moving house!

Whither the paperback – or any physical book – in the digital age, where machines are being trained not just to read books but write them too?

Ah, well, if physical books are on their way out as many doomsayers have been predicting since the arrival of the Kindle, might as well enjoy the sensation of picking them off a shelf, thumbing the pages and taking in that new book smell while they're still around. One suspects, however, many Paperback Book Days will be marked before the end comes.

As long as people are thirsty for knowledge and stories, there will always be a place for writers and their output, regardless of form or content. These days, literary and artistic aspirants can (also) find homes and audiences in various digital platforms. The webtoon and webnovel sectors are booming, and some titles have been made into films. Fifty Shades of Grey started out as online fan fiction. 

If Paperback Book Day does go out of fashion with the format, and if one is inclined to commemorate the invention and history of the book, there's always World Book Day.