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.