In
comics, a
trade paperback (often shortened to
TPB,
TP or
trade) is a collection of stories originally published in
comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one
story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles. Although
trade paperback is actually a publishing term that refers to any book with a flexible cardstock cover which is larger than the standard
mass market paperback format, comics fans unfamiliar with that meaning have come to use the term to refer to the type of material traditionally sold in comics shops in that format: collected editions of previously serialized stories. The term
graphic novel is sometimes used interchangeably, but some people maintain that the terms are distinct, with the difference being that the latter term refers to a square-bound printing with largely original material.