The Book Lover’s Guide to Publishing Part #4: Design & Size

Who’s ready for the fourth and final installment of The Book Lover’s Guide to Publishing?! This week, we’re speaking to Jeanne-Marie Hudson, the Vice President, Associate Publisher, and Director of Marketing for Berkley. Have you ever wondered why books come in different sizes or why the same book can have multiple covers? Read on to find out! What’s a mass market paperback? Mass market paperbacks are a smaller trim size and more inexpensive than trade paperbacks. The original mass markets, or “rack sized” paperbacks were designed to fit in racks at supermarkets, drugstores, and other non-traditional book outlets. There is also a larger trim and more expensive “premium” mass market that is now quite popular, particularly for bestselling authors. How is a mass market paperback different from a trade paperback? Trade paperbacks are essentially the same size as the hardcover, but with a different binding and a lower price. They started as primarily bookstore product, but now are also in mass merch accounts. What about movie tie-ins? Movie tie-ins are paperback editions of books that have become movies (or TV shows, which is of course a TV tie-in). They are published in mass market, trade, and some movies or TV shows warrant both formats. They utilize the movie studio art to create a clear connection for the consumer. Interestingly, we frequently also see dramatically increased sales for the original art paperbacks alongside the sales of the MTI, even if the title of the movie and MTI is different from the original work. A huge thank you to Jeanne-Marie, the rest of our employees who took the time to be interviewed, and to YOU for reading along! We hope you learned something new about the world of publishing. Happy reading, Penguins!