Chapbook

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of small, typically hand-crafted publication that compiles poetry or narrative prose from various authors is common in literary circles
2. This refers to a modest, often self-published volume featuring a selection of creative writing, such as poems or short stories
3. A small, often unbound literary work typically consisting of poetry or fiction that is usually self-published and aimed at a niche audience is known in literature

Etymology: A chapbook was once a cheap pamphlet sold by traveling peddlers, and the trade name explains the word. "Chapman" is an Old English word for a merchant or peddler, the kind who carried wares from village to village rather than keeping a shop. The "chap" element comes from the same root that gave us "cheap" in its older sense of goods offered for sale, so the word literally means a book hawked by a chapman. Those peddlers sold small, inexpensive printed works such as ballads, almanacs, folk tales, and religious tracts, which is why the term came to name the booklets themselves rather than the seller. The word still describes the same kind of product: a slim, low-cost publication, and its meaning has stayed close to the marketplace where it began.

Synonyms: pamphlet, booklet