The advent of paperback books in the 20th century led to
an explosion of popular publishing. Paperback books made owning books affordable
for many people. Paperback books often included works from genres that had previously
been published mostly in pulp magazines. As a result of the low cost of such
books and the spread of bookstores filled with them (in addition to the creation
of a smaller market of extremely cheap used paperbacks) owning a private library
ceased to be a status symbol for the rich.Hardcover books have a stiff binding.
Paperback books have cheaper, flexible covers which tend to be less durable.
An alternative to paperback is the glossy cover, otherwise known as a dust cover,
found on magazines, and comic books. Spiral bound books are bound by spirals
often made of metal. Examples of spiral bound books include: teachers manuals,
and puzzle books (crosswords, sudoku). Publishing
is a process for producing books, magazines, newspapers, etc. pre-printed for
the reader/user to buy, usually in large numbers by a publishing company. Such
books can be categorized as fiction (made-up stories) or non-fiction (information
written as fact). A book-length fiction story is called a novel.
(1) Source
: Wikipedia