Book publisher gives up on print. A sign of things to come?

Dime stores disappeared a long time ago. Now it seems dime store novels may be going extinct as well. Talking about mass market paperback books, the kind you see at a drug store or Wal-Mart. Cheaply made, cheaply sold romance novels, sci-fi, westerns, true crime. Stuff that isn’t going to win the Pulitzer but will do just fine for a day at the beach.

Readers have been turning to larger trade paperbacks, hardcovers, or electronic books. This week mass market publisher Dorchester Publishing said they’re walking away from paper altogether and concentrating on e-books and print on demand.

Dorchester’s decision comes at a time when romance novels in electronic form are very popular but the way they’re printed is not.

We talk to Tim DeYoung, a senior vice president at Dorchester. We also hear from publishing industry veteran Joseph Esposito and Frank Lyman from Libre Digital, a company that helps publishers find electronic readerships.