How many volumes in a trade paperback?

Hey, Tropers. I have a question that's Exactly What It Says on the Tin: On average, how many volumes are there in a trade paperback compilation? How long or short can they get?

Just curious and looking for a little insight. Thanks in advance. :)

"Trade Paperback" refers to the size of the pages, not the number of volumes contained in it. A "standard" paperback has pages that are 4.3 inches wide by 7 inches tall. The size of a "Trade Paperback" is 6 by 9. It can have any number of pages, and therefore can contain any number of volumes (within reason, of course.) I have on my bookshelves trade paperbacks that are only one novel, and others that are compilations of <looking> one novel, one novella, and 16 short stories; three novels; and 73 individual poems.

edited 17th Apr '14 3:17:32 PM by Madrugada

I was referring specifically to trade paperback as a comic books term, hence me posting this in the Comics subforum. I know there's a broader definition, but that wasn't the one I meant.

The point stands, though. There's really no set limit as to how many volumes a Trade Paperback can contain.

Edit:Wrong Thread.

edited 17th Apr '14 5:41:34 PM by C0mraid

If you asking how many issues are usually in a Trade, 6 is the standard, but there is some variation. In general, you won't see less than 4 issues collected or more than 10 (unless it's like one of the giant Marvel Essentials books or DC's equivalent or something). Hardcover collections can have a higher issue count. A lot of series will release 6-issue paperback trades and then begin releasing 12-issue hardcover ones (Vertigo calls these hardcovers "Deluxe Editions"). Of course, hardcovers can also be just as small as paperbacks too.

I'd say 12 is a more common "standard maximum" (although these days, 12-issue trades will only come out when they've already been published as two 6-issue trades), although Marvel seems to be getting fond of 350+ page trades that contain 15-20 issues (especially their Epic Collections that are in the 420-512 page range, including as many as 25 issues).

, Thank you

Not sure how common this is but with almost all the trades that I have, they're usually grouped by arcs or something similar. So, if any of the comics you're following have a five or six issue arc, expect all those issues in the arc to be grouped together for the trade.

Yeah; Sandman, for instance, is grouped by arc, with done-in-one stories in their own trades, even though the done-in-one stories were interspersed among the arcs when published in comic form.

For American comics, a trade is usually six issues, though there are variations. Japanese trades tend to have nine installments, British can reach 60+ for black-and-white or 30 for colour (albeit with fewer pages per chapter), and in France, most comics are published as graphic novels, so the question of how many issues it contains is meaningless.

I think it all depends on the story arc being told because mainly, there are about 6 issues in one volume for trade paperback, but if you come across a story like say Avengers vs. X-Men, which was about 12 issues (13 if you count issue 0), then some trade paperbacks would have more than 6 issues in the volume.

edited 1st May '14 6:38:49 PM by Rabbitearsblog