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“In 50 years today’s children will not remember who survived Survivor…but
they will remember Harry [Potter].”
—Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, July 2000
Our Oldest Mass Medium
Growing in numbers of titles Large numbers of presses Conglomerates moving in Has met cultural challenges:
Television Hollywood Newspapers and magazines
Unlike television, highly portable
History of Print Papyrus, circa 2400 B.C.E. Parchment
Treated animal skin Gradually replaced papyrus
Codex First protomodern book Made of bound materials by the Romans, 4th century
Manuscript culture: medieval church Illuminated manuscripts Book as reverential artifact Grammar rules developed
1000 C.E.: Chinese invent movable type Radical development that was not developed in Europe until the 1400s
History of Print (cont.)
1453: Johannes Gutenberg invents the printing press Inestimable influence on Western culture
Leads to development of popular literature The first book printed in the American colonies: The Bay
Psalm Book (1640) First novel reprinted and sold in colonial America: Pamela
(1744), brought here by Benjamin Franklin Paperbacks by mid-1800s
Led to dime novels, pulp fiction Ex. Tip Top Weekly, featured most popular dime novel
hero of the day, the fictional heroic adventurer Frank Merriwell.
Offset Lithography
Developed in the early 1900s Anything you can take a picture of, you can
print. Led to computerized typesetting Books disseminated further, preserving
culture and knowledge and supporting a vibrant publishing industry.
Publishing Houses Form
Early “prestigious” publishing houses foundation of modern book industry All of the oldest houses survive now as part of larger
conglomerates: Ex. Scribner’s—published F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great
Gatsby, 1925) and Ernest Hemingway (The Sun Also Rises, 1926)
Book industry helped assimilate European immigrants into American culture, language.
Despite a decline from 1910 through the 1950s, the book industry bounced back after World War II.
Book Types Trade books
Fiction Other popular writing Adult and juvenile divisions
Professional books Law Business Medicine Technical-scientific
Textbooks McGuffey reader (mid-1800s) Elementary, high school, vocational, and college divisions
Book Types (cont.)
Mass market paperbacks Instant books
Topical books published quickly after an event occurs
Religious titles Reference books
Encyclopedias Dictionaries Atlases
University press titles Scholarly works
TV and Film Influence Books, and Vice Versa
Through TV exposure, books about talk show hosts, actors, politicians all sell millions of copies. Stephen Colbert, Barack Obama, and Julie Andrews have
all had great commercial success.
Oprah’s Book Club: one of the most influential book promotion forces on TV
Film industry gets many film ideas from books, from Oscar-winners to the biggest blockbusters. J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings developed into a hugely
successful film trilogy
Different Book Formats Audio books
Feature actors or authors reading abridged versions of popular fiction and nonfiction trade books
Readily available for download onto iPods since early 2000s Four hundred–plus new audio books available annually help
generate more than $923 million in sales. E-books
Industry has been challenged by how to translate paper books into digital medium.
The Kindle: Amazon.com’s digital reader Market for e-books still developing with technology
Digital technology is also being used to archive and preserve books for future generations. Google Library Project, The Open Content Alliance
Censorship and Banned Books Every year the American Library Assocation (ALA) compiles a list of
the most challenged books for that year. Books challenged over content including sexually explicit passages,
occult themes, violence, homosexual themes, and racism Table 10.2
Ownership in Publishing
Like most mass media, commercial publishing is dominated by a handful of major corporations with ties to international media conglomerates: Random House HarperCollins Penguin Group Simon & Schuster Time Warner Book Group
What Bertelsmann OwnsBooks• Random House– Bantam Dell PublishingGroup– Crown Publishing Group– Doubleday Broadway– Knopf– Random House
Publishing Group– RH Audio Publishing– Random House
Children’s Books– RH Direct– RH Information Group– RH International– RH Large Print– RH Value Publishing– RH Ventures– Waterbrook Press• Direct Group (Book
Clubs)– Der Club (Germany)
– Círculo de Lectores (Spain)
Music• Sony BMG (50% with Sony)– Arista– BNA Records Label– Burgundy Records– Columbia– Epic– J Records– Jive Records– LaFace Records– Legazy Recordings– Provident Label Group– RCA Records– SONY BMG Masterworks– SONY BMG U.S. Latin– Verity Records
Journalism• Gruner + Jahr– G+J Germany– G+J International– G+J France/Prisma Press– G+J Online– Vodafone-live!– Yavido Mooph
Media and Printing• Arvato– Mohn Media (pre-press,bookbinding)– Dynamic Graphic
Television/Radio• RTL Radio• RTL Television Group
Publishing Business
Acquisitions editor Identifies talent Handles subsidiary rights
Developmental editor Handles feedback to author Coordinates outside judges of the work
Copy editors Problems in writing or length
Design managers Layout and cover design
Selling Books
Book clubs and mail order Bookspan
Bookstores: independents vs. chains Chains: Barnes & Noble, Borders Indies: Maintain 11% of market share
Online Bookstores Amazon.com, 1995, leader of online sales Barnes & Noble, bn.com, 1997
Future of Book Publishing
Literature from Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Silent Spring has had a positive influence on social change in America
Yet today, less than one-third of thirteen-year-olds read daily, a 14% decline from 20 years earlier.
Other studies suggest reasons for hope—60% of all avid or regular book readers are under the age of forty.
Increasingly, the book industry is trying to promote new ideas and authors while trying to maintain commercial viability.