I have a lot of paperback books and love them almost as much as I do hardcovers. So when I saw the following from Publishers Weekly, I had a moment of panic:

“ReaderLink stopped distributing mass market paperback books at the end of 2025… the latest blow to a format that has seen its popularity decline for years. According to Circana BookScan, mass market unit sales plunged from 131 million in 2004 to 21 million in 2024, a drop of about 84%, and sales this year through October were about 15 million units. But for many years, the mass market paperback was “the most popular reading format.”

Gemini clarified whats happening:

The shift away from mass market paperbacks isn’t the death of physical books, but it is a fundamental restructuring of the “hard copy” economy. Mass market books were always the high-volume, low-margin “disposable” tier of publishing—the rack-sized books found in grocery stores and pharmacies. With the bottom tier (mass market) disappearing, publishers are doubling down on Trade Paperbacks and Hardcovers. Since digital and audio handle the “cheap and convenient” segment now, physical books are increasingly marketed as collectibles or aesthetic objects. Buying a book will become an intentional trip to a bookstore or an online order, rather than an impulse buy while grabbing milk.

Mass market books usually retailed for $7.99 to $9.99. Trade paperbacks usually start at $16.99. By killing the mass market format, the industry is effectively raising the “floor” price for a new physical book by nearly 100%. This pushes budget-conscious readers further toward e-books or libraries.

Publishers will claim this is about “consumer preference,” but it’s just as much about margins. It’s more profitable to sell one $18 trade paperback than two $9 mass market books, especially when you factor in the rising costs of shipping and paper. The “non-bookstore” book is what’s disappearing. We are moving toward a world where physical books are treated as a premium hobby for collectors, while the “casual” reading is handled by screens.