The Book Industry Week Five

BASIC THEMES The modern book did not arrive in a flash as a result of one investor’s grand change The book as a medium of communication developed as a result of social and legal responses to the technology during different periods The book as a medium of communication existed long before the existence of the book industry

FIGURE 7.1 Timeline of the Book Industry TIMELINE: THE BOOK INDUSTRY

THE BOOK INDUSTRY TODAY AUDIOBOOKS – a recording in which someone reads a printed book or a version of it EDUCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BOOKS PEDAGOGY – the use of features such as learning objectives, chapter recaps, and questions for discussion K-12 MATERIALS – books and materials created for students in kindergarten through the 12 th grade HIGHER EDUCATION – books and materials that focus on teaching students in college and post-college learning PROFESSIONAL BOOKS – books that help people who are working to keep up-to-date in their areas as well as rise to the next level of knowledge

CONSUMER BOOKS CONSUMER BOOKS – books that are aimed at the general public TRADE BOOKS – general-interest titles, including both fiction and nonfiction books, that are typically sold to consumers through retail bookstores (both traditional and web-based) and to libraries CONSUMER BOOK CATEGORIES Trade Mass market paperback Religious Book club Mail-order Scholarly Subscription

FIGURE 7.2 Consumer Spending on Trade Books (2010) CONSUMER SPENDING ON TRADE BOOKS

MAJOR PUBLISHERS Random House Simon & Schuster Penguin Group Hachette Book Group, USA HarperCollins Macmillan

PRODUCTION IN THE BOOK PUBLISHING INDUSTRY ACQUISITIONS EDITOR – a person who recruits and signs new authors and titles for the company’s list of books ROYALTIES – shares of a book’s sales income that are paid to an author, usually based on the number of copies sold LITERARY AGENT – a person who, on behalf of a client, markets the client’s manuscripts to editors, publishers, and other buyers, based on knowledge of the target market and the specific content of the manuscript

FIGURE 7.3 Structure of a Typical Book Publishing House PUBLISHING HOUSE STRUCTURE

PUBLISHING SUCCESS BEST SELLER – a title that sells more than 75, 000 hardcover copies or 100,000 paperback copies BLOCKBUSTER – a book that sells well over 100,000 copies REDUCING THE RISKS OF FAILURE DURING THE PRODUCTION PROCESS Conducting PREPUBLICATION RESEARCH Making use of authors with positive TRACK RECORDS Offering authors ADVANCES ON ROYALTIES

DISTRIBUTION IN THE BOOK INDUSTRY Wholesalers are important players in the role of distribution within the book industry PRINT RUN – the number of copies of a book that are printed BOOK TOUR – a series of appearances that an author makes in various cities in order to promote a title and stimulate sales ASSESSING A TITLE’S POPULARITY Popularity Indicator 1: The size of the PRINT RUN Popularity Indicator 2: The content of reviews Popularity Indicator 3: The scope of the marketing plan

FIGURE 7.4 The Role of the Wholesaler THE ROLE OF THE WHOLESALER

EXHIBITION IN THE BOOK PUBLISHING INDUSTRY Exhibition of Consumer Books BRICK-AND-MORTAR STORES – stores that have a physical presence in the offline world There are also online exhibitors like Amazon Exhibition in Textbook Publishing The “exhibition” area of K-12 texts is not primarily the schools; it is special evaluation boards that inspect various titles to determine their appropriateness for children in their area At the college level, instructors choose the titles they want to use and require students to buy them

CONVERGENCE AND CONGLOMERATION IN THE BOOK INDUSTRY PRESOLD TITLE – a book that publishers expect will sell well to specific audiences because it ties into material that is already popular with those audiences across other media QUESTIONS TO ASK WITH REGARD TO CROSS-MEDIA RELATIONSHIPS AND THE BOOK INDUSTRY 1.To what extent are the books that are getting the most of the media attention today generated as a result of the author’s or a character’s popularity in another medium? 2.Are we seeing an increase in cooperative activities between movie companies and book publishers owned by the same conglomerate? That is, are movie companies mostly using the publishers to sell books that publicize the movies, and are book companies trying to come up with titles that can become films?

ETHICAL ISSUES IN BOOK PUBLISHING PLAGIARISM – using parts of another person’s work without citing or otherwise crediting the original author The Book Industry and the Internet, What does this mean? Borders Closes the Book: The Future of Google Books: