Betty Ballantine, introduced paperback books
Betty Ballantine, who with her husband helped transform reading habits in the pre-internet age by introducing inexpensive paperback books to Americans, died Feb. 12 in Bearsville, N.Y. She was 99.
She had been in declining health and died at her home, about three hours north of New York City, her granddaughter Katharyn Ballantine said.
Betty and Ian Ballantine established the American division of the paperback house Penguin Books in 1939. They later founded Bantam Books and then Ballantine Books, both of which are now part of Penguin Random House.
In those early years, the challenge for purveyors of high-quality, inexpensive paperbacks was enormous. At the time, Americans mainly read magazines or borrowed books from libraries; there were only about 1,500 bookstores in the entire country, according to the Ballantines, who wrote about the origins of their business in The New York Times in 1989.
With a $500 wedding dowry from Ms. Ballantine’s father, the couple established Penguin U.S.A. by importing British editions of Penguin paperbacks, starting with “The Invisible Man” by H. G. Wells and “My Man Jeeves” by P. G. Wodehouse.
They were not alone in seeing the potential of the paperback market in the U.S. Pocket Books had just started publishing quality paperbacks.
Both companies charged just 25 cents per book, making them easily affordable for those unable or unwilling to pay for hardcover books, which cost $2 to $3 each — about $45 in today’s money. And they overcame the distribution problem by making books available almost everywhere, including in department stores, gas stations, newsstands and train stations.
The paper shortage during World War II put a crimp in the business, but that was temporary.
In short order, paperback books were flying off the racks and shelves, with readers able to buy two or three at once and more companies starting to publish them. The Ballantines were making good on Mr. Ballantine’s stated goal: “To change the reading habits of America.”