| In 1860 Irwin P. Beadle & Company started making cheap paperback books, and selling them for ten cents each. By the 1870s these dime novels were all the rage. These were usually dramatic blood-and-thunder adventures. They could be mystery, Cowboy and Indians, romances or rag-to-riches stories. They were often made into series.
Somewhat akin to big little books.
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