In the nineteenth century, publishers used “thousands” to measure several books printed with one of them. This meant publishers could print small initial runs and sell the books at a discounted price to test popular demand for new titles in the early 1800s. If they were successful, they would print more copies and sell them at a higher price, which would help determine whether to invest more money in its production.
“Thousands” is the number of subscribers of the magazine or newspaper during the 19th century when it was common for many city-based publications to be sold only on a subscription basis. For publishers, they printed copies based on subscribers’ numbers at a cheaper rate than buying at the newsstand. This helped them reach more readers, hence selling more copies.
The publishers realized that books produced in smaller, easy-to-manage formats were more affordable and more convenient. Thus, sales increased while they kept printing costs low and expanded the audiences reached. Publishers reacted and began publishing smaller, more affordable books; this later made a thousand become a vital unit measure for publishers.
In the 19th century, publishers started using thousands as measurement tools instead of hundreds that they had used in the previous centuries. This is because the new formats allowed publishers to produce more books in a shorter time and maximize profit.
