BOOKS The Publishing Industry Amazon KINDLE

BOOKS The Publishing Industry

Amazon KINDLE

OTHER (not so recent) Trends • Harry Potter

Trends • “The Oprah Effect”

History of Books • Papyrus Egypt, 2400 B. C. -made from reeds

Plato

• China: bamboo strips (1600 BC)

History of Books • Parchment- treated animal skin, 300 BC

History of Books • Vellum- the term for high quality parchment • Smooth • durable

History of Books • Codex - protomodern book form, 2 nd 3 rd century A. D.

History of Books • Paper: 13 th century (cheaper than vellum…)

Manuscript Culture • Middle Ages, 4001500 A. D. • Illuminated manuscripts

• ALLINCAPITALLETTERSTHATRANTO GETHERSOITWASREALLYHARDTOR EADTHEWORDS

History of Books

History of Books

PRINTING

PRINTING • China: movable type, 1000 AD • Koreans: 1400 AD

The Gutenberg Revolution • 1453 -56 • Printing press with movable type

The Gutenberg Revolution • Social transformations - information spreads beyond localities • People see themselves as individuals -- not solely dependent upon leaders and families • Can challenge traditional wisdom

Books in the U. S. • • • 1830 s - machine-made paper Cloth rather than leather covers mid-1800 s: paperback books 1860 s - paperback dime novels Also known as pulp fiction

Advances in Printing • Linotype: mid 1880 s. Allows type to be set mechanically with typewriter-like keyboard.

Advances in Printing • Offset lithography: Books printed from photographic plates rather than metal casts.

Types of Books

Types of Books • Trade Books - for general readers, sold at bookstores (fiction and nonfiction, biographies, literary classics, art books, cook books, etc. ) Can be hard or “quality” softbound. • Is the largest segment in sales ($). COLLEEN?

Types of Books • Professional Books Target occupational groups, not general public. Law, business, medicine, technicalscientific.

Types of Books • Textbooks • El-hi – influence of Texas and California • College – Average cost $72. 83. – Average student spends $832 a year on textbooks and supplies.

Think-Pair-Share 1. how much money did you spend this semester on textbooks? 2. which books cost the most money? 3. if you returned any books last semester, how much $$ did you get back? 4. what choices are available at your university or college for purchasing textbooks?

Media & Culture • $78. 95 Authors: – Richard Campbell: 9. 00 – Bettina Fabos: 75 cents – Chris Martin: 75 cents TOTAL: $10. 50

• Publisher (Bedford/St. Martins) – Paper, printing, editorial: $20. 50 – General Administrative costs: $7 – Marketing costs: $10. 50 – Pre-tax income: $4. 90 TOTAL: $42. 90 • Freight Expense: TOTAL: $1

• College Bookstore – Personnel: $8. 90 – Operations: $8. 1 – Pre-tax income: $7. 55 TOTAL: $24. 55

Types of Books • Mass-market paperbacks - most sold, but not most profitable segment (low margins of profit) • Religious books - most popular book of all-time?

Types of Books • Reference Books • University Press Books

Types of Books • Reference Books • University Press Books – Wrong Turn

Organization of Industry • • • Acquisitions editors Subsidiary rights Advance money Developmental editor Promote books with “dumps”

Organization of Industry • Superstores – Borders-Waldenbooks – Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, Doubleday • Online stores – Amazon. com – Barnes&noble. com

Ownership in Book Industry • Bertelsmann - owns Random House, Bantam-Doubleday-Dell • Viacom - owns Simon & Schuster • Time Warner - Little, Brown; Time/Life Books

• More books published now than ever before: 160, 000 annually in U. S. alone.

THINK PAIR SHARE • What kinds of trade books (novels, nonfiction, etc. ) do you like to read? • How do you find out about a book you might like? • Where do you buy books? • Do you check books out of a library?