Editing Paperback (section)

{{Short description|Book with a paper or paperboard cover}}
{{redirect|Paperbacks|the Canadian band|The Paperbacks}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

[[File:Blank book on a table.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A blank paperback book]]
[[File:Buchbindung 01 (fcm).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Glued binding]]

A '''paperback''' ('''softcover''', '''softback''') [[book]] is one with a thick paper or [[paperboard]] cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with [[adhesive|glue]] rather than [[stitch (textile arts)|stitches]] or [[Staple (fastener)|staple]]s. In contrast, [[hardcover|hardback]] (hardcover) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic.

Inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century in such forms as [[pamphlet]]s, [[yellow-backs|yellowback]]s and [[dime novel]]s.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|See, for example, the [[Tauchnitz]] editions.}} Modern paperbacks can be differentiated from one another by size. In the United States, there are "mass-market paperbacks" and larger, more durable "trade paperbacks". In the United Kingdom, there are A-format, B-format, and the largest C-format sizes.<ref name="GuardianSize">{{cite news |last=Wilson-Fletcher |first=Honor |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/insidepublishing/story/0,,534924,00.html |access-date=2006-11-16 |title=Why Size Matters |date=11 August 2001 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref>

Paperback editions of books are issued when a publisher decides to release a book in a low-cost format. Lower-quality paper, glued (rather than stapled or sewn) bindings, and the lack of a hard cover may contribute to the lower cost of paperbacks. In the early days of modern paperbacks, the 1930s and 1940s, they were sold as a cheaper, less permanent, and more convenient alternative to traditional hardcover books, as the name of the first American paperback publisher, Pocket Books, indicates. In addition, the Pocket Books edition of ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'', one of the first ten books it published in 1939, emphasized the impermanence of paperbacks by telling readers: "if you enjoyed it so much you may wish to own it in a more permanent edition", they could return the 25 cent book to Pocket Books with an additional 70 cents and it would send them a copy of the 95 cent [[Modern Library]] edition "substantially bound in durable cloth."<ref>"Did You Like This Book?", Emily Brontë, ''Wuthering Heights'', Pocket Books, New York, 1939, n.p.</ref>

Since the mid-20th century, paperbacks can also be the preferred medium when a book is not expected to be a major seller and the publisher wishes to release the book without a large investment. Examples include many novels and newer editions or reprintings of older books.

Because paperbacks tend to have smaller [[profit margin]]s, many publishers try to balance the profit to be made by selling fewer hardcovers against the potential profit to be made by selling more paperbacks with a smaller profit per unit. First editions of many modern books, especially [[genre fiction]], are issued in paperback. Best-selling books, on the other hand, may maintain sales in hardcover for an extended period to reap the greater profits that the hardcovers provide.{{citation needed|date=June 2016}}