🔗 On Paperbacks and TikTok - Cal Newport

"In 1939, Simon & Schuster revolutionized the American publishing industry with the launch of Pocket Books, a line of diminutive volumes (measuring 4 by 6 inches) that cost only a quarter; a significant discount at a time when a typical hardcover book would ​set you back​ between $2.50 and $3.00."

Meanwhile in the UK, founded fully four years earlier, Penguin didn’t need the ‘qualifier’ preceding ‘the publishing industry’.

"Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its inexpensive paperbacks sold through Woolworths and other stores for sixpence... john.philpin.com https://john.philpin.com/2025/12/23/on-paperbacks-and-tiktok-cal.html