Paperback Book Day Date in the current year: July 30, 2024

For a long time, books were bound exclusively with hard covers made of thick paperboard covered with heavy paper, cloth, or sometimes leather. The history of paperback books with soft covers can be traced back to the early 19th century, when innovations in the printing process enabled British publishers to mass-produce cheap paper-bound novels marketed as entertaining reading or softcover editions of existing works. These books had a smaller format than regular hardback books and were primarily aimed at railway travelers.

Modern paperback format was devised by the German publisher Albatross Books in the 1930s. However, their experiment with softcover books was cut short due to the approach of World War II. It is British publisher Allen Lane who is credited with bringing high-quality paperback books, both fiction and non-fiction, to the mass market.

In 1935, Lane co-founded Penguin Books (as an imprint of The Bodley Head) with his brothers Richard and John, intending to produce inexpensive books. He adopted many innovations introduced by Albatross Books, such as using a conspicuous logo and type on the cover without an illustration and color-coding book covers by genre.

Booksellers were initially reluctant to stock paperbacks, but when Woolworths ordered and sold a large amount of Penguin books, paperbacks started to gain popularity. In the United States, paperback books were popularized by Robert de Graaf, who partnered with Simon & Schuster to launch the Pocket Books imprint in 1939.

At first, all paperbacks were reprints of previously published books. The situation changed in the early 1950s, when Fawcett Publications launched Gold Medal Books, an imprint focused on paperback originals including mysteries and westerns. These books quickly became hugely popular, and other publishers started to release paperback originals, trying to emulate Gold Medal’s success.

Modern paperbacks are usually smaller than hardbacks and printed on cheap paper. They are commonly released after the hardback edition and sold not only at bookstores, but also at supermarkets, drugstores, airports, railway stations, etc. Some publishers also release the so-called trade paperbacks (high-quality softcover editions). Unlike mass-market paperbacks, trade paperbacks are almost the same size as the corresponding hardcover editions and are printed on high-quality paper. They are published by the same house as the hardcover editions and sold at bookstores.

It is unclear who and when came up with the idea of celebrating Paperback Book Day, but its date is thought to commemorate the day when Penguin started publishing paperbacks in 1935. You can celebrate the holiday by curling up with a paperback book, posting photos of your favorite paperback editions on social media, browsing your local bookstore for some new paperbacks, gifting someone a paperback edition of your favorite novel, and spreading the love for paperbacks on social media with the hashtag #PaperbackBookDay.