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1 Books Chapter 6 © 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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1
Books
Chapter 6
© 2009, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
• History
• Books in the Digital Age• Defining Features of Books• Organization of the Book Industry• Ownership in the Book Industry• Producing the Book• Economics• Feedback
3
HISTORY
• Early books were hand-written and lavishly decorated, often by monks
• Gutenberg printed his first book in about 1455.– King Henry VIII saw the political potential and
required printers to have government approval
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Colonial America
• Early printers were often their own writers and publishers
• Religious and sentimental themes dominated
• Political pamphlets became popular around the time of the Revolution
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The Penny Press Era
• Changing print technology and increased literacy
• Public education, penny papers, increase in libraries
• Uncle Tom’s Cabin
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The Paperback Boom
• Civil War soldiers
• “Dime novels”
• Pirated editions of European best sellers
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The Early 20th Century
• Move toward commercialization– Media conglomerates– Authors represented by agents– Increased attention to profit– Mass audiences and mass marketing tools
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Postwar Books: Paperbacks and Consolidation
• Low-priced (25 cents) paperback books • Subject matter and writing quality varied
widely• New audience exposed to paperbacks
– More leisure time– More disposable income– Renewed interest in education
• Consolidation brought more financial and management resources to industry
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The Contemporary Book Industry
• Consolidation continues
• The Internet changed how books were sold
• More outlets are selling books
• Publishers cautiously exploring digital developments
• Content of modern books varied
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BOOKS IN THE DIGITAL AGE
• The digital revolution has not yet revolutionized the book industry.
• Introduction of the e-book – technical problems and limited availability of titles– e-books have the potential to reshape the
industry
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Printing on Demand
• Less radical than e-books
• Select the title you want, and it is printed for you.
• Could result in more special interest books
• Printing on demand and the e-book will probably never replace traditional books
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Mobile Books
• e-books are just as portable as traditional books– Can be read on a dedicated reader or other
handheld devices
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User-Generated Content
• Publishers are beginning to explore user-generated content.– Wiki novel– e-books based on individual postings
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DEFINING FEATURES OF BOOKS
• The least “mass” of the mass media
• Can have profound impact on society– Uncle Tom’s Cabin– Silent Spring
• Among the oldest and most enduring of mass media
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ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK INDUSTRY
• The book publishing industry can be divided into three segments
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Publishers
• Segmented based on target market– Trade books– Religious books– Professional books– Book clubs and mail order– Mass market paperback– Elementary and secondary textbooks– Higher education– Audio books– E-books– Other
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Distributors
• Traditional method– Publisher to wholesaler/distributor to retailer,
where consumer purchases it
• Online method– Consumer selects book from web site, and it’s
shopped directly to the consumer from the seller’s warehouse
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Retailers
• Big chains dominate traditional booksellers
• Major online retailers are not far behind
• Other retail channels– College bookstores– Direct-to-consumer booksellers
• Book clubs• Mail-order sales
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OWNERSHIP IN THE BOOK INDUSTRY
• The book industry is dominated by conglomerates with interests in other media.
• The top five companies are Pearson Publishing, Random House, Harper-Collins, Simon & Schuster, and Time-Warner Publishing
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PRODUCING THE BOOK
• A variety of people work together to produce a book
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Departments and Staff
• Editorial Department
• Production Department
• Marketing Department
• General Administration (Business)
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Publishing the Book
• Three main sources of book ideas– Agent recommendations– Unsolicited books (slush)– Ideas generated by editors
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ECONOMICS
• Modest growth in recent years
• Two main sources of income– Book sales– Subsidiary rights
• Two main categories of expenses– Manufacturing the book– Operating expenses
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FEEDBACK
• Best-seller lists– New York Times– USA Today– Publisher’s Weekly
• Nielsen BookScan
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Audiences
• People over 40
• Young adults showing decline in book reading
• Book reading positively correlated with income and age
