I don't know much about book lingo other than Hardcover and paperback.  How can I tell the difference between the newer type larger paperbacks and the smaller thick paperbacks?  Is there a way to tell in the system? Thanks! 

The larger ones are "Trade paperbacks", the smaller are MMP or "Mass market paperbacks". Some listings show whether it is a trade or MMP but many listings will just say paperback. If it is important to me, I will try to determine the size from the book's listing on Amazon, but no guarantees.

Thank you Sally.  I will be seeking out Trade paperbacks.   Have been carrying around The

Great Gatsby and I could not find any description.  

I just went over it carefully and found on a page "This Scribner trade paperback edition 2004” 

There is no way in the system to order a "trade" paperback specifically. The system has paperback or mass market paperback listings, but I have never seen a "trade".Publishers will publish multiple sizes under the same ISBN number so there are no guarantees if Amazon or the PBS listing has trade size dimensions on the "paperback" ISBN.  The only way to really try to make sure you get the size of book you want is to use Requester Conditions and put the measurements in it. Don't use terms like Trade Paperback, because many people don't know what that means or don't use the term the same way.

I find the purchase price of a new book is a good indicator of what size it is. It won't work for all the books, but books that are available for direct purchase via pbs have pricing details. MMPBs are generally $8.00 to buy (less any discount the site offers). TSPBs are usually $12.00 - $15.00. since I started watching the prices I haven't been suprised by the size

It is up to the publisher if they use the same ISBN for the trade sized and the mass market sized.  Some do.  Some don't.  If you want only trade sized, you need a RC.  And include dimensions.

there is also something I call a tall mass market. they seem to retail about 9.99.

There is also a squarer trade sized that gets used for the YA and teen books.

That's a premium mass paperback, Charles.   Same width as regular mass paperbacks, but taller and with more white space between the lines.

I found this in the Alibris glossary.

trade paperback - A soft cover edition of a book that generally has a high-quality binding and is in a larger size format than a traditional paperback. Also known as quality paperback.

There are also paperbacks that are actually the same size as a hardcover book. I guess they must be called trade pbk also but I don't know for sure.

What Emily said...some publishers use the same ISBN for both Tradesize and MMP, so a member RC is a good option for receiving the edition you want.

Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase in the number of 'named' print book sizes...trade paper, mass market/pocketbook, premium, and that other size that is like MMP only taller. 

Valerie - that definition may be out of step with common usage, as soft cover usually refers to a product neither paperback nor hardcover.  That designation usually goes with a canvas type cover (such as Bibles).  And Trade paperback is used for many of the larger size paperback editions with regular paper covers.

<www.leepers.us/evelyn/faqs/sf-written.htm#23> has a really long explanation of the differences of different formats.

Briefly:

In the United States we have three basic "formats" for books: hardback, trade paperback, and mass-market paperback.

Hardbacks (a.k.a. hardcovers) have stiff board covers under some covering, often with an additional dust jacket. This covering used to be cloth, so these are supposed listed as "Cloth" in ads and such. They cost US$20 and up (give or take). The size varies, but most novels are about 16cm by 20cm (6in by 8in) by whatever thickness the length requires. Coffee-table books are even larger ones, usually with lots of artwork and designed to be put on coffee tables (or perhaps made into them).

Trade paperbacks have very thick paper covers, and paper similar to hardcovers (actually often better, since they don't usually have the ragged edges one sees these days on hardbacks). They are usually about the same size as hardbacks, sightly shorter because the binding is done differently, and without the added thickness of the covers. They cost in the US$10 to US$25 range (generally novels are in the lower part of that range, non-fiction in the upper). One feature several people have mentioned is that in general they have the larger font of the hardback, making them easier to read. There are also some trade paperbacks that look exactly like mass-market paperbacks, but usually with better quality paper/covers. You can tell they are trade paperbacks because the copyright page will have a notice that they are not strippable.

Mass-market paperbacks have very thick paper covers, but cheaper paper et al than trade paperbacks. They are usually about 10cm by 18cm (4in by 7in) by whatever thickness, but there are also "large-trim" mass-market paperbacks that are the same size as the standard trade paperback. They are usually in the US$5 to US$9 range, but the large-trim ones cost more. They are "strippable"--that is, bookstores can rip off the front cover and return just that for full credit. They are supposed to destroy the rest--not all do, and so some publishers have/still do(?) require that they return the cover and the first ten pages. In general the quality is poorer than trade paperbacks, with glue that may give over after a few years, etc. Nowadays most, if not all, mass-market paperbacks have a notice on the copyright page that if you are buying a coverless copy, it is stolen property.

There are MANY different sizes to paperbacks under the heading TRADE paperbacks. I can see (literally) three different sized trade PBs on the new book cart waiting to be processed into our library system.  Paper/cover quality are all the same, just size of the item varies. Some publishers do this to stand out on the book shelf so people will pick them up and check to see what they are. As for larger font, some might but many don't have the same as the HB version.

MMPB are usually all the same size.

zengab, Last few times I was at Barnes and Noble I noticed the books that were "standing out" on the shelves.  Paying $14.99 for a Softcover paperback of Martian Chronicles made me ill.  I had to buy it for my daughter for school.  Last week I paid $3.00 for Fahrenheit 451 at the Friends of Library store.  Unfortunately I bought another copy of Pride & Prejudice because I thought it was different from the my Barnes & Noble Children's Classic.  Both books appear to have the same text.