Trade paperback
A
trade paperback (
TPB, sometimes referred to as a
trade paper edition) can refer to any book that is bound with a heavy paper cover. Trade paperbacks are generally cheaper than
hardcover books, but more expensive than
mass-market paperbacks. The shape of a trade paperback is similar to a
hardcover book, as opposed to a
mass market paperback, the height of which is approximately the combined width of the a mass-market paperback and a hardcover book.
Trade paperbacks were once used primarily for special editions, but for many
literary titles trade paperbacks have now replaced regular paperbacks as the format for a book's subsequent release once its hardcover edition has been discontinued. Generally, regular pocket-sized paperbacks are now used only for popular and
genre fiction titles. For new writers publishing their first works, a trade paperback may even be the sole format of a book's release. Publishers' returns policies for trade paperbacks are typically more similar to those for hardbacks than for
mass market paperbacks.
Dimensions of a standard trade paperback are 198 mm × 129 mm (8" × 5¼").
In the genre of comic books,
trade paperbacks are usually used to reprint several issues of a comic series, usually an important storyline or the entire series itself. Graphic novels are also usually found in trade paperback form.
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"Why do Books Cost So Much?" by Christopher Dreher
