Mass market paperbacks will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks

[ZodWallop]

Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks

Mass market paperbacks have long been on their death bed and now the plug has been pulled. I kinda wonder if that format was the most impacted by ebooks?

I do think in part it was killed by big publishers realizing they could sell trade paperbacks for $15-20 instead of the $6-7 of the mass market.

[Sirtel]

I bought hundreds of mass market paperbacks from about 1995 until 2011. Then I moved to ebooks and I haven't bought a single mass market paperback since.

Still, I'm sorry to see the format go. It was cheap and affordable even by people with low income (as I've been for most of my life). Trade paperbacks and hardcovers are much more expensive, and take more shelf space too.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I bought hundreds of mass market paperbacks from about 1995 until 2011. Then I moved to ebooks and I haven't bought a single mass market paperback since.

Still, I'm sorry to see the format go. It was cheap and affordable even by people with low income (as I've been for most of my life). Trade paperbacks and hardcovers are much more expensive, and take more shelf space too.

I'm in the same boat, I bought tons of these books all through the 80s through to mid 90's. But then I stopped for 2 key reasons. 1. I ran out of space for my books and 2. The print simply got too small for my starting to age eyes. I think that is another reason why sales declined. I got back into book buying mode in 2009 when I started buying ebooks. The ability to increase the font size was a game changer for I expect millions of us prolific readers. Up to 2800+ books and counting!

[Dr. Drib]

Goodbye LPs
Goodbye pennies
Goodbye CDs
Goodbye mass market paperbacks

BUT WAIT! Yes, even YOU can amass MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! Simply buy all the mass market paperbacks you can find for mere nickels! Forget about the lottery!

Simply wait 10, 20, or 30 years and then SELL each paperback for hundreds of dollars! (NAY! FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!)

[WillAdams]

I prefer to buy this size when it's an option, and I've been collecting a couple of series in this size, and will be quite put out if the last few books are not available in this size.

[rkomar]

I was having trouble finishing series in MMPB sizes over seven years ago (last time I was near a bookshop). The bookshop owners had been running their store for decades, with all of the walls covered in shelving for MMPB books. They already noted back then that fewer and fewer newer books were being offered in that format, and that most new books had to be shelved in the bigger racks on the floor. So, I'm not surprised that the printers of MMPB formats are disappearing.

[issybird]

Warning: geezer reminiscence.

I remember. When MMPB were so cheap I'd buy one just to kill a half hour train ride. Sic transit. So to speak; a zeugma that just happened.

[Gormagon]

Oh, only a few weeks left...did someone saw this in his or her crystal ball?
"Prediction is very difficult, especially if it's about the future." - Niels Bohr

I am sure these few weeks will be the longest weeks of my whole life...that's what I saw in my tea leafs today!

[DNSB]

Perhaps you should do a bit of research before unleashing attempted sarcasm? You would have found multiple articles similar to Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks from Publishers Weekly.

I found the article linked above rather familiar to what the OP posted:

Last Call for Mass Market Paperbacks

The format credited with making books more accessible via low prices and widespread availability will all but vanish from the publishing scene in a few weeks

[Gormagon]

Just because something is mentioned somewhere on the internet does not will make it come true. Nobody can predict the future except maybe for the fact that you will die someday, just like the rest of us...and other obvious things like that water in liquid form will still be wet in a few weeks et cetera.

[DNSB]

Did you bother to read the article or any of the similar ones? ReaderLink which is the major distributor of books has stated that they will no longer distribute MMPBs. This means they will no longer be available in book stores and other locations. I first ran into this in Feb., 2025-Feb so it's not a surprise to anyone who has been following the publishing industry.

Do you also question that the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning will not be available in the 2026 model year? After all, Ford has said this is what will be but feel free to question it.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

ReaderLink which is the major distributor of books has stated that they will no longer distribute MMPBs. This means they will no longer be available in book stores and other locations.

Indeed, they've already stopped producing new mass market paperbacks at the end of 2025. So I'm sure there will be stock to still be shipped out to new book stores, but nothing further will be coming.

[haertig]

Although I haven't bought a mass market paperback in well over a decade, probably two decades if you consider only new, not used, ones - I'm still going to miss them. Nostalgia I guess. Most of the print novels I've purchased and read during my life have been mass market paperbacks. I still have some old ones - Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton mostly, packed away in boxes somewhere - that I think are marked 50-60¢

[Tarana]

Haven't bought one since my vision worsened, but I will miss anyway. My sis and BIL have mass paperback sized shelves full, so I guess I can visit them there. Can't read them without a magnifier though.

[DNSB]

Much the same here. It's so much easier to increase the font size on my ereader than to try to hunt down a large print book.