For those of you who don’t know,
I work in a library. We have all genres of books carefully filed, but, hidden
against the back wall of our fiction section, are the shelves of paperbacks.
When I’m looking for something to read, I always migrate back there. I have
always been and will always be a lover of classic paperbacks (especially the
ones with Those Covers).
Just the other day, a man came to
me saying that he knew we had a particular mystery novel, but he couldn’t find
it on the shelves. I looked it up and, sure enough, it was categorized as PB.
Paperback. When I told the patron where he could find his book, he looked at me
with disbelief.
“Back there?” he asked
with his eyebrows halfway up his forehead. “You’re sure?”
He’s not the only one. At least
once a week I hear something like this. But, here’s the thing: There are a lot
of books that come out as mass marketed paperback! They’re not all trashy
romance novels! (Not to dis on trashy romance novels at all, mind you!)
I just don’t understand why
paperback books are synonymous with something to be ashamed of. I hope
my book comes out as a paperback, complete with Shirtless Hunk and Swooning
Lady. Those are the books that inspire me, that made me want to become an
author in the first place.
This is only my two cents, but I
really hope we can reach a point where paperbacks are just as accepted as other
books, not looked down upon by readers! In the meantime, I will continue
collecting my paperbacks and displaying them proudly!
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