The Paperback Conquest of America
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LOGOS The paperback conquest of America Betty Ballantine The genesis of what has come to be known as the papeiback revolution in the United States can be traced to 1939, when, impervious to the imminence of wai, two men, one in the US and the other in the UK, were preparing an assault on what they believed was an untapped market in the US for low-cost books. The US initiative, headed by Robert de Giaff, resulted in the launch of a major One of the founders of Bantam paperbound book imprint called Pocket Books, Books, and later of Ballantine undei the aegis of Simon &. Schuster. The Biitish Books, Betty Ballantine has in initiative was in the mind of Ian Ballantine, who had wiitten - only the yeai befoie - his giaduate her long publishing career thesis on low-cost book publishing and was in line worked with a galaxy of authors, fot the job of biinging the famous Biitish papet from Westerns to serious non- backs. Penguin Books, into the US. The Ameiican fiction. At Ballantine Books she Penguin ventuie was a modest operation compaied with Pocket Books. Still, Penguins were interna brought science fiction and tionally known and piestigious, and Allen Lane, fantasy to a wide audience. who had founded the house in the UK in 1936, was Looking back, she says: eagei to bieach the US maiket. "Paperback publishing has been a In the face of what was about to happen more-or-less continuous gamble: ovei the next six years, both projects were a form of business insanity. Yet the visions were both right in exciting, vital, full of crisis, often the long term. Ameiica in 1939 was a wilderness so cut'throat and always rapidly fat as distiibution of popular books was concemed, moving. But withal a load of fun. with literate leaders crying out to be fed. Americans And it is still developing, and - read magazines and for books relied on small local thank goodness - I am still a part lending libraries. Ian and Betty Ballantine were martied the of it!" day befoie they sailed fot the US in June 1939. The entire staff of Penguin Books Ameiica consisted of them and one stock boy. The concept was simple. Spot the demand and impoit as many, or as few, copies of each title as it seemed to wartant. Within two months of the launch,war bioke out in Euiope and shipments of up to 50,000 books at a time were being lost to Geiman submarines. Moreover, the 1,500 odd bookstores in the US which were regarded as good credit risks did not all rush to buy the new British product. Many believed that paper- 58 LOGOS 7/1 © WHURR PUBUSHERS 1996 The paperback conquest of America backs would compete with the more lucrative sales output up to that point had been dedicated to war of domestic hardcover books. Still, there was a suf books, and the Ballantines had formed close rela ficient welcome to keep the business afloat, espe tionships with the military. Forming an official cially in college and university towns, where there alliance with the Infantry Journal, they now pub was much enthusiasm for titles like Susan Steb- lished oiiginals as well as lepiints, including many bing's Thinking to Some Purpose. People with special titles edited and designed to be used by aimy pei inteiests discovered titles like Amold Haskell's Bal sonnel to replace the inciedibly outdated manuals let and others that were mainstays of the Penguin extant at the war's outbreak. Several of these were non-fiction list. among the first visually oriented works to appear in As the war progressed, theie was stiong paper covers. The price was still 250 and they were US interest in wotks like Harold Nicolson's Why lapped up by a public eager for any information Britain Is at War. Penguin's political Specials pro they could get on what their boys were doing and vided infoimation unobtainable otherwise. How why. Successful titles included How w Shoot the US ever, the physical quality of the books began to Army Rifle, Psychology for the Fighting Man, What's deteriorate, due to wartime shoitages in the UK. that Plane? (an aircraft recognition manual) and Eventually, it would become impossible to sell Tank Fighter Team. Among successful titles that fol Biitish-made books in the US. lowed these military themes was John Steinbeck's Pocket Books, uninhibited by mateiial oi The Moon is Down. financial lestiictions, within two yeais established a Wartime conditions were good for book well-deseived reputation foi vaiied editoiial con sales. Civilian travel was severely restricted, the rail tent, albeit on the light side. A wide range of well- system being dedicated to military movements. Peo tested titles was readily available fiom haidcovei ple stayed home and kept in touch with events by publishers willing to release reprint tights in titles listening to the radio. Or they went to a weekly that had long since ceased to sell at the noimal movie to watch war reports. But more and more haidbound piice (then $2.00 to $2.50). they not only lead books, but sent books to theii Mote importantly. Pocket Books was boys in the field. Cheap lightweight papeibacks reaching an evei-incieasing maiket through drug were ideal foi this puipose. stores, chains and othei non-book outlets. The The demand foi books among the forces deteimined leadeiship that had been sustained by a was enormous. TTie Council on Books in Wartime netwoik of small lending libraiies housed in candy soon gave high priority to books that could be car and tobacco stoies grasped eageily at the new foi ried anywhere. A plan to provide reading matter to mat, piiced at a handy 25^ apiece. the millions of men and women in unifoim was It was not long befoie Penguin and drawn up and implemented. Penguin Books became Pocket Books stimulated competitive stait-ups, a full-fledged Ameiican pioduct, with illustiated notably Pyramid and Avon, the lattei of whom coveis bearing no resemblance to Allen Lane's uni named theii new line "pocket size" books, an imita versally known bicolor Penguin design. Reprint tion from which they were eventually dissuaded. rights to all kinds of books were virtually con Aftei Peail Haiboi in December 1941, tributed by publishers to create the Armed Services the US book trade, like the rest of business and Editions - a project with which Ian Ballantine, with industry, was changed virtually overnight. Paper his established connections to the army and his quotas were almost immediately imposed. All book impressive list of wai books published undei the publishers were confined to the parameteis of theii Ameiican Penguin impiint, was closely connected. pie-wai pioduction. Pocket Books, which had Undei the aegis of the Council on Books in expanded considerably befoie wai broke out, was Wartime, these Editions were bound and distiibuted assigned a reasonable quota, although latei it would as modulai libraiies every month to all units in the feel the wartime pinch in faiily drastic teims. Pen aimed foices. Books, like bullets, were officially guin, forced into US production by the exigencies declaied "expendable", a shrewd tactical maneuvei of wartime shipping and paper shortages in the UK, which enabled the piogiam of pioviding leading had only a small quota. But their entire American mattei fot the millions actively involved in the 59 LOGOS 7/1 ©WHURR PUBUSHERS 1996 .