Like many of you, I discovered in the inexpensive paperbacks of the ’70s many of the writers, stories and characters that originally appeared in the pulp magazines. The paperback reprints continued to be my main source for pulp-era stories through the mid-1990s, when reprints and replicas began to appear.
Yes, as Morgan points out, one of the best things about the paperbacks were their price:
Mass market paperbacks were once cheap and everywhere. I can remember buying them at K-Mart, drug stores, the old Hill’s Department stores etc. Truck stops in Texas had the old wire stands with a selection of Louis Lamour paperbacks. One problem I have not seen discussed in any of the blogs or online articles is cost. Mass market paperbacks have gone up in price often greater than the rate of inflation. I once calculated that a Lancer paperback in 1966 costing $.60 would convert in 2007 to $3.81. Paperbacks were costing over double that. Paperback books ceased to be an impulse item. You now had to think hard if you really wanted to buy that paperback, Sturgeon’s Rule was always in the back of your mind.
I remember scanning the spinning racks of paperbacks in just about every store I went into in the ’70s. They certainly aren’t as available today, and certainly not as cheap.
It would be a shame to see paperbacks dwindle even more. But, alas, time marches on.
I must admit that except for picking up a vintage pb from time to time (if I spy one I do not already have) I never seem to buy mass market pb’s anymore. If I do not spring for the hardcover edition I prefer the 5 1/2 X 8 1/2 inch size which are much like a soft cover hard back. Much easier to read and when I buy them from Amazon the cost is not much more the a mass market pb.
I have to ‘fess up, 90 (if not 100) percent of my paperback purchases these days are from the used books stores. It’s impossible to find the variety of fiction that once was available.
Hard Case Crime does an excellent job the paperback field, but they are certainly one of the few.
Agreed, William. It used to be that the paperback was considered the “popular” edition, but now the prices are making that term even more of an anachronism. I guess as with all other tangible consumables current prices are squeezing this great format firmly into the collectors’ realm.
Unlike Mr. Taylor, I actually prefer the smaller pocket book size that is becoming harder and harder to find. The current “soft cover hard back” edition of Asimov’s Foundation, for example, is $13.83 here in Canada on Amazon. A brick-and-mortar store will charge something like $17 at least. To be fair, it is available in the smaller mass market size, but even that’s almost $11.
What with the e-book revolution upon us, it is possible that we will see less and less paperbacks and those we do see will be higher priced.
May I suggest a possible solution? Say to hell with current paperbacks and attend the NYC Paperback convention at the Holiday Inn, 440 West 57 Street, NYC, on September 19, 2010. Hours are 9am to 5pm and the dealer’s room will be packed with inexpensive vintage paperbacks. There also will be pulps and plenty of guests. This show has been an annual event for over 20 years and I’ve attended most of them. Gary Lovisi is in charge and it’s worth a trip it you live in the NY/Phila/NJ/CT area. I’ve even seen collectors from the west coast in attendance.
And the vintage paperbacks are inexpensive. Except for a few titles like Jim Thompson or oddball books, the old paperback market never really took off like we thought it might. You can buy Gold Medals, Ace Doubles, etc for just a few bucks each. I’ve seen quite a few priced for a buck each.
Visit http://www.gryphonbooks.com for more.
While you’re saying the bleep with new paperbacks, there are tons of old pulp magazines and vintage paperbacks at my show, as well.
Pulp AdventureCon 2010 … Ramada Inn of Bordentown, NJ, just off exit 7 of the New Jersey Turnpike, in the Trenton NJ vicinity. 10am to 5pm. Admission is a miserly $5 for nearly 50 tables of pulp and paperback goodness.
http://www.boldventurepress.com
we are living through the other end of a generation gap. Goodbye most of the cool stuff I love. I must go now… and get a grandson to help me with my nookie.
it’s just nook grandpa….why do you keep calling it that?