Dictionary of Literary Biography: American Literary Publishing Houses 1900-1980 (v. 46)

Trade publishers are those who publish books to be sold in bookstores -- both hardcover volumes and higher priced 'quality' paperbacks. Mass market publishers produce inexpensive paperbacks to be sold in such nontraditional outlets as newsstands and supermarkets, as well as in bookstores. Peter Dzwonkoski writes in this DLB volume's foreword that beginning with the formation of Pocket Books in 1939, America has witnessed the phenomenon known as the 'Paperback Revolution,' which has made literature available to more readers than ever before. Volume 46 of DLB tracks the growth and development of trade publishing from the early decades of the 20th century through to the present. 200 entries include: Atheneum Publishers, The Atlantic Monthly Press, CityLights Books, Dramatists Play Service, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Grove Press, Alfred A. Knopf, McGraw-Hill, W.W. Norton and Company, Sheed and Ward, Simon and Schuster, UptonSinclair, Time-Life Books, Vanguard Press and The Viking Press.