Books Flashcards
advertises itself as the “Westernmost Independent Bookstore of the United States.”
Talk Story Bookstore
The publishing industry always has been tugged by what publishing scholars Lewis A. Coser, Charles Kadushin, and Walter W. Powell call — the desire to preserve the country’s intellectual ideas versus the desire to make money.
“the culture and commerce of publishing”
described the four characteristics of book publishing in the United States:
Lewis A. Coser
Charles Kadushin
Walter W. Powell
America’s first book —- is printed in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Bay Psalm Book,
The Bay Psalm Book
1640
creates the first lending library in 1731
benjamin franklin
published the revolutionary pamphlet Common Sense in 1776.
thomas paine
requires publishing houses to pay royalties to all authors.
International Copyright Law of 1891
in 1900, —- becomes compulsory nationwide, which means increased literacy and more demand for textbooks.
elementary education
founded in 1926, increasing the audience for books.
Book-of-the-Month Club
America’s first series of paperbacks
pocket books in 1939
introduced pocket books
robert de graff
expands the audience for books by publishing serious fiction by and about African Americans.
new american library (1848)
Publishing houses consolidate, concentrating power in a few large corporations. Book marketing changes with the growth of retail bookstore chains.
1960s - 1970s
Publishers begin producing audiobooks of popular titles.
1980s
becomes an internet book retailer in 1990s
amazon.com
Publishers launch e-books, electronic versions of paper books
2000
Chain book retailer Borders files for bankruptcy and eventually shuts all its stores.
2011
introduces the Kindle digital tablet and Apple introduces the iPad, making digital book content available instantly.
amazon
Most books are sold through
internet retailers
The first books in the United States were —–, brought by the new settlers or ordered from England after the settlers arrived.
imports
the colonists set up a press at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and in 1640 they printed America’s first book: The Bay Psalm Book.
1638
he asked 50 subscribers to pay 40 shillings each to a library company. The company imported 84 books, which circulated among the subscribers. This circulating library was America’s first (today available online at librarycompany.org).
benjamin franklin
A rare copy of The Bay Psalm Book
The Whole Book of Psalms
As the only book available in 1640, — became an instant bestseller.
The Bay Psalm Book
to expand readership, early publishers sold
political pamphlets, novels, poetry, and humor.
three events of the 19th century ensured that the book publishing industry would prosper in the 20th century:
the passage of the International Copyright Law,
the creation of publishing houses, and the
establishment of compulsory education.
argued for the colonies’ independence from Great Britain.
thomas paine’s common sense
colonial presses published 100,000 copies of Paine’s persuasive political argument—one copy for every 25 people in the colonies—a true bestseller.
january to march 1776
Throughout the Revolutionary War, —- was America’s best-read author.
thomas Paine
Political pamphlets became much less important once the new nation was established, and printers turned their attention to other popular reading, especially ____
fiction.
Historians credit —- with selling Pamela by Samuel Richardson in 1744,
benjamin Franklin
wrote one-third of all early American novels, and they also bought most of them.
women
the first novel published in the United States, although it was a British import that first appeared in England in 1740
Pamela (samuel richardson)
didn’t start out with a good reputation
novels
Especially popular after the Civil War and before the year 1900,
dime novels
America’s earliest paperbacks.
dime novels
often featured serial characters, like many of today’s mystery and romance novels. The stories and characters continued from one novel to the next.
dime novels
made famous by his short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,”
mark twain
generally has been difficult to sell, and it is correspondingly difficult for it to get published.
poetry
“the great era of poetry…. It was more widely read in those years than it has been since.”
mid-1800s, james d hart
has been a durable category in book publishing since the days of humorist Mark Twain
humor
became a one-man publishing enterprise.
mark twain
Twain’s novels were sold
door to door.
he was the first American author to recognize the importance of advance publicity.
mark twain
took advance orders before the books were printed so the publisher could estimate how many to publish.
sales agents
publishers were legally required to pay royalties to American authors but not to foreign authors. This hurt American authors because books by American authors cost more to publish.
before 1891
After the —–, all authors—foreign and American—had to give permission for their works to be published.
International Copyright Law of 1891
These pioneering companies housed all aspects of publishing under one roof: They sought out authors, reviewed and edited copy, then printed, promoted, and sold their books.
publishing houses
This was important to book publishing because schools buy textbooks, and education encourages children to read.
compulsory education laws
By 1900, —— states had passed compulsory education laws.
31
The first quarter of the 20th century enabled still more publishing houses, such as — to meet the public’s needs.
Simon & Schuster and McGraw-Hill,
