Go Small or Stay Home

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The Victory Book Campaign was renewed in 1943, but Trautman knew that paperbacks of bestselling and popular books were what troops overseas wanted. Inspired by the lightweight magazines created for the Army, as well as the pocket-sized country guidebooks Eric Knight was developing, Trautman decided to make his own pocket-sized paperbacks. While working on a miniature servicemen’s edition of Omnibook magazine, Trautman realized that if he cut it in half, it fit his pocket. This became the prototype for the Armed Services Editions. Trautman presented the prototype to Malcolm Johnson, publisher at Doubleday, Doran &amp; Co., and Johnson pitched the idea to his fellow publishers on the Council on Books in Wartime. The council members ultimately approved the project. The first batch of Armed Services Editions included thirty different titles, and 50,000 sets of them were sent overseas in late 1943.</jats:p>