1. © 2012, published by Flat World Knowledge Understanding Media and Culture By Jack Lule 1

2. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA 2

3. © 2012, published by Flat World Knowledge Chapter 3 Books 3

4. Chapter 3 1-4 Section 1: History of Books

5. Ancient and Medieval Books Papyrus scrolls were earliest book forms The codex was more portable, sturdier form In the Middle Ages, books were written on parchment and decorated by hand – illuminated manuscripts Chinese invented block printing around 700CE Papyrus  parchment  paper Until invention of movable type, books were expensive and not widely available 5

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7. The Impact of Movable Type With access to movable type on a Gutenberg press, a step up from block printing, books became cheaper and quicker to produce Political, intellectual, religious, scientific and cultural Ideas began to spread more quickly Access to texts led to higher literacy rates for women Catholic Church felt threatened, wanted to prescreen any book before printing Popular literature in vernacular emerged from the millions of circulating books 7

8. 8 Gutenberg Bible

9. Copyright Law Evolution Copyright law originally intended to protect the work of authors from being copied by anyone else Queen Anne (1710) 14 years; Constitution 14+14 if author still alive; 1909 28 +28; 1976 life of author+50; 1998 life of author+70 Copyright law also allowed authors to profit from their work The copyright laws continue to evolve today as the demand for protection increases 9

10. Copyright Law Evolution Works not covered by copyright or for which the copyright has expired are part of the public domain May be used freely without permission or payment but the author must still be credited (e.g., works of Shakespeare) Fair use – copyrighted material may be used by someone other than the author for “purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research” Remixing, linking and other uses of original material on the Internet have led to many legal challenges 10

11. Copyright Law Evolution Other exceptions to copyright laws: Facts that are common knowledge (e.g., George Washington was the first US President.) US Government publications (e.g., the Constitution) Author waives copyright Some programmers provide "freeware" or "shareware“ Some authors make their books available freely 11

12. Publishing Industry Evolution Early book printers acted as publishers, producing the pages and then selling them During the 19 th century, technologies made publishing simpler and more profitable In the 20 th century, paperbacks thrived As the 21 st century started, book publishing was dominated by six companies 1-12

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14. Chapter 3 Section 3: Major Book Formats 1-14

15. Hardcover & Paperback Books Developed from early codices – First cloth bindings in 1820 – Dust jackets arrived in 1830s, allowing for distinctive covers Durability makes them attractive – More expensive to produce and to buy Paperbacks are more popular because they are less expensive and more portable than hardcovers Some publishers are simultaneously releasing hardcover and paperback versions of some titles to gain the widest readership right from the start. 1-15

16. E-books No physical production, transportation, or storing costs so they are cheaper to buy Can be read on the screen of various electronic devices – Started out as digitized versions of print titles – Now original digital versions are being created Some concerns with e-books include the prevalence of piracy and the potential for digital decay. The New Yorker cites a projection that e-books will someday account for between 25% and 50% of all book sales 1-16

17. Chapter 3 Section 4: Current Publishing Trends 1-17

18. Blockbuster Syndrome Large media corporations are beholden to stockholders to turn a profit – Publishers bank on books expected to sell millions by giving authors big advances and doing a lot of publicity – Books looked at for revenue potential rather than literary value New authors’ possibilities are limited because of time, effort, and money going to blockbusters Overall book sales have been realtively flat over the past 8 years 1-18

19. Superstores and Price Wars In the 1990s, many independent bookstores closed due to the rise of superstores – Superstores now losing market share to large retailers and to online retailers Stores that sell large volumes can offer deep discounts to customers – Companies like Walmart and Target don’t have much shelf room for books and so sell only a select number of the best sellers, fueling the blockbuster situation. Online retailers drop book prices very low in order gain sales in other areas 1-19

20. Chapter 3 Section 5: The Influence of New Technology 1-20

21. E-Books Poor reception of early e-books due to short battery life and difficulty in reading text on early e-book readers iPad and iPhone gave e-books a big boost – Oprah Winfrey praised Kindle and it became popular – In first few months of the release of the iPad in 2010, more than 1.5M books were downloaded – Price wars have lowered book costs to $9.99, way below cost, which is a concern to traditional publishers – In 2010, more than half of the Kindle books were public domain and free 1-21

22. Amazon vs Macmillan Amazon bought Macmillan books at wholesale and set their own retail price – Low prices to increase Kindle sales In 2010, Macmillan wanted to change to rules so that they set the price and took 70% of the profit – If Amazon stayed at wholesale price, Macmillan would not release e-books for 7 months – Eventually Amazon caved in and charged $12.99- $14.99 for most new books except best sellers 1-22

23. Apple e-books lawsuit In July 2013, the Justice Department won its antitrust lawsuit that accused Apple of conspiring with publishers to raise the prices of e-books. The guidelines suggest that Apple should be forced to terminate its existing agreements with five major publishers and also avoid entering similar agreements in the future with providers of music, movies and TV shows and games. The guidelines would put rules in place to prevent Apple from facilitating price-fixing among publishers, or from retaliating against publishers that refuse to bend to its terms. The Justice Department also suggested that Apple allow Amazon and Barnes & Noble to insert links inside their e-book apps to their e-bookstores, so that consumers can easily compare prices of e- books. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/u-s-proposes-solutions-for-apples-e-book-price-fixing/ 1-23

24. Digital Libraries Began with Project Gutenberg in 1971 Advocates believe access to millions of volumes for free will increase literacy rates – Digitized versions preserve fragile originals and allow instant access Concerns over copyright issues and antitrust violations led to formation of the Open Book Alliance – Google Books, the largest online library, ran into trouble when it tried to digitize as many titles as possible without regard to copyright. They were sued and paid a $125 million settlement to publishers. 1-24

25. Print on Demand and Self-Publishing Self-publishing is an option for authors who aren’t able to get a deal with a publisher – There was originally a stigma with self- publishing, based on the thought that those authors just wanted to see their own name in print. Authors retain more control of their work but might pay the vanity press a fee and not sell many copies 1-25

26. Print on Demand and Self-Publishing Now printing on demand means books don’t have to be printed until they are ordered, saving costs (Lulu, CreateSpace) The self-publishing success stories involve writers who sold well enough to be offered a deal with one of the traditional publishing houses 1-26

27. Aptara 2012 e-book survey of publishers 31% of eBook publishers produce enhanced eBooks, though only 12% correlate the enhancements with a positive impact on sales Amazon.com is the most popular sales channel, used by 68% of eBook publishers. Apple’s iBookstore comes in second at 58%. Amazon is also the most lucrative eBook sales channel. Publishers’ own websites come in a distant second place for generating the most eBook sales. 1-27

28. Aptara 2012 e-book survey of publishers 4 out of 5 publishers now produce eBooks, a 30% increase in three years. 36% of eBook publishers are realizing double-digit annual eBook revenues—that’s a 100% increase (in publishers) since last year. 60% of eBook publishers still employ print-based editorial and production workflows that add time and cost to each eBook. More than half of publishers’ content is going to “digital waste”: 65% of eBook publishers have converted less than half of their legacy titles (backlist) into eBooks. 1-28

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32. More Info on e-books eBook & eReader Stats and Charts – http://pinterest.com/bwmbooks/ebook-ereader- stats-and-charts/ 1-32