Smithsonian Magazine posted an interesting article this week about the way the paperback novel became a popular reading format. A British publishing executive was looking for something to read other than magazines or pulp fiction during a train ride and had a brainstorm to bring "quality" reading to the masses at an affordable price:

He then acquired the rights to ten reprints of serious literary titles and went knocking on non-bookstore doors. When Woolworth’s placed an order for 63,500 copies, Lane realized he had a viable financial model.

Lane’s paperbacks were cheap. They cost sixpence, or two and a half pounds, the same as ten cigarettes, the publisher touted. Volume was key to profitability; Penguin had to sell 17,000 copies of each book to break even.

The first ten Penguin titles, including The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers, were wildly successful, and after just one year in existence, Penguin had sold over three million copies.

The article, written by Anne Trubeck, is interesting and informative, and  concludes with the idea that e-boooks might be the next format to capture the mainstream, if it weren't for the hefty investment of buying a dedicated eReader, such as an iPad or a Kindle.

But how about digital audiobooks as the next handy and convenient format to capture public interest? You can download them anytime, anywhere to your computer, mp3 player or phone -- most of which we already own! No purchase of some special, expensive, new device necessary!