Pulp fiction books hold an important place in special collections libraries. As a genre, pulps were initially marketed in the United States to adult audiences with a combination of eye-catching covers, low prices, and racy story lines.
The genre was named after the pulpwood paper used in their production. This paper was one of the cheapest available and is characterized by its unfinished edges and low quality. The age of pulp lasted from to and featured storylines of crime, science fiction, war, and westerns with stereotypical character archetypes. As the pulp fiction story evolved so did the content become more sexual and explicit. Pulps were published in magazines featuring multiple short stories and later as individual books.
The first pulp was published in by Frank Munsey called Argosy. It was pages consisting of short fiction stories and poetry printed in block text.
It was an instant success. By the s, the design and illustration of covers in colour became a notable feature of pulps. Pulp covers appealed to readers with their explicit use of images and text. This style of cover design defines the genre as much as the style of writing that emerged in the early decades of pulps. Pulp fiction publishers would often assign pseudonyms to their authors to prevent an audience following, which would result in the author being paid more money.
Tactics such as this, combined with cheap paper, allowed pulp fiction magazines and books to be sold for a low price, thus making them accessible to all audiences. These books were merely for entertainment value, often including series and recurring characters, that kept customers coming back for more. Pulp fiction books can be found in special collections collections today due to their cultural and social impact during the twentieth century. Pulps had a profound impact on the development of non-fiction by establishing the beginning of detective stories and science fiction genres in English.
