paperback and trade paperback?

Question

what the difference between the two? and also what is mass market paperback?

Answer 1

mass market is,

smaller, paperbound edition of a previously published hardcover or trade paperback book that is printed on less expensive paper and sold in more mass-market outlets such as grocery stores.
www.rainwater.com/glossary/m.html

paperback is,

Books bound with a flexible, stress-resistant, paper covering material.

trade paperback,

A trade paperback is bound with a paper or heavy stock cover, usually with a larger trim size than that of a mass-market paperback. Compare Mass-Market Paperback.

Answer 2

As a writer who has only published in hardback, I may not be the best source, but I do buy a lot of paperback books.

A mass market paperback is, as it's name implies produced for "masses" of readers, and is produced to be as affordable as possible so that more and more people will feel they can buy it. It is usually that "chunky" size, approximately 7 x 4" and printed on pulp (wood pulp, and hence "pulp novels") paper that yellows after twenty years or so.

Trade paperbacks are larger by an inch or two in each direction. They are usually printed on paper with a higher cotton content and thus a better quality. They often have better cover art. Most literary work is published in trade paperback format.

I just checked Wikipedia under "paperback" and found (of course) that it has a definition superior to mine. I'll paste the URL below. If you haven't already bookmarked Wikipedia, be sure to do so!

Answer 3

Mass Market paperbacks are those small paperbacks you have all the time, for fiction, mysteries, romances, etc. They're generally cheaper than a trade paperback, both in price and in quality of the book (paper, cover). Trade paperbacks usually have the same pages, print, type as the hardback, unlike the mass market.

Answer 4

A trade paperback is usually a 'high end' paperback, meaning large format, well-made, good materials used for the cover & pages. It can also mean the paperback is the original book and not printed after a hardcover edition. They are usually pretty expensive. Mass market paperbacks are smaller, cheaper and the print is smaller too. They usually are published after an initial hardcover edition of the book, but people wait to buy them because they're cheaper.

Answer 5

Mass market are what the majority of the books in the bookstores are made. About 5'' by 7''. Trade paperbacks are a little bit larger.

Answer 6

Paperback, trade paperback--I always considered them one in the same. A paperback book is generally made with standard trade back paper.

Answer 7

mass market is when a book is all printed in soft cover

Answer 8

This will explain it all

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_paperback#Trade_paperback