Week 4: The Book Industry

Question 1

Why was Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 1440 a milestone?

Answer 1

because it allowed for more copies of a particular book to be created than was possible when copies were written by hand.

Question 2

What are 3 important facts to remember about the emergence of the modern book?

Answer 2

1) The modern book did not arrive suddenly as a result of one inventor’s grand change.
2) The book as a medium of communication developed as a result of social and legal responses to the technology during different periods.

the growth of book publishing in the US during 19th century was the spread of literacy. Americans took advantage of the then- existing lack of laws on copyright.

3) The book as a medium of communication existed long before a united book industry.

The invention of the steam-powered press, technology to create inexpensive wood-based paper and growing population of literate citizens encouraged new approaches to publishing.

Question 3

What are the main distinct kinds of books today?

Answer 3

1. Professional / education books
2. Consumer books

Both can be printed or exist as audio books

Question 4

Pedagogy

Answer 4

the use of features such as learning objectives, chapter recaps and questions for discussion.

Question 5

Digital basal material:

Answer 5

the basic teaching tools for children in early grades

Question 6

K-12 books and materials

Answer 6

books and materials created for students from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

Question 7

Higher-education books and materials:

Answer 7

books and materials that focus on teaching students in college and post-college learning.

Question 8

Professional books

Answer 8

books that help people who are working keep up-to-date in their areas as well as rise to the next level of professional knowledge.

Question 9

Consumer books:

Answer 9

books that are aimed at the general public
The publishers of this type of books target readers in their private lives, outside their roles as students and highly trained workers.

Question 10

What 7 categories do Industry insiders divide the consumer books into?

Answer 10

1) Trade books: general-interest titles, including both fiction and nonfiction book, that are typically sold to consumers through retail bookstores (both traditional and web-based) and to libraries.
2) Mass market paperbacks: smaller, pocket-size paperback books; many types of books come in this format, but romance novels and science fiction tales are among most common.
3) Religious books: trade books that contain specifically religious content; they are sold in general bookstores as well as in special religious book-shops
4) Scholarly books: titles published by scholarly societies, commercial publishers and university presses involved in primary research in academic, corporate, or governmental settings; main outlets include libraries. There is currently a decrease in book-buying budgets because of the rising costs of electronic databases and journals.

5) and 6) Book clubs and mail-order books
Scholarly vs. Trade books
Book clubs: organizations through which individuals who have joined can select books from the club’s catalogue and purchase them through the mail or via the club’s website, often at a discounted price.
Mail-order books: books that are advertised on TV or in promotional mailings that can be ordered directly from the publisher and are shipped to the consumer’s home.

7) Subscription reference books: dictionaries, atlases and sets of encyclopaedias that are marketed by their publishers to consumers on a door-to-door or direct-mail basis. It is a separate category from mail-order because the distribution typically involves one large package deal – several volumes at a time – with a deferred payment schedule.

Question 11

What is book Composition?

Answer 11

the work involved in inserting into a manuscript the codes and conventions that tell the page-making program or the printing press how the material should look on a page

Question 12

Book publishing is not only about writing, editing or printing. What else is it about?

Answer 12

It is also about finding, preparing, marketing, distributing and exhibiting titles in ways the will get particular audiences to notice them and buy them.

Question 13

Who is an Acquisitions editor in the book industry?

When considering a print, acquisition editors must take into consideration which two things?

Answer 13

a person who recruits and signs new authors and titles for the company’s list of books.

acquisition editors must take into consideration two things:
1) The topics of the books need to match the personality of their imprint

2) The need to find authors who can write about those topics and whose books can make
profits for the firm

These strategies require the editor to be familiar with the sales goals of the firm, with the intended audience and with the way in which books are marketed to that audience.

Question 14

What are royalties in book publishing?

Answer 14

shares of a book’s income that are paid to its author, usually based on the number of copies sold

Question 15

Who is a Literary agent within book publishing?

Answer 15

a person who, on the behalf of a client, markets the client’s manuscripts to editors, publishers, or other buyers, based on knowledge of the target market and specific content of the manuscript.

Question 16

Which 3 strategies do book publishers use to reduce the risk of failure during the production process?

Answer 16

1) Conducting prepublication research
Prepublication research: research conducted in order to gauge a title’s chances of success with its likely audience.

2) Making use of track records
Track record: the previous successes or failures of a product, person, or organization. Editors like to sign authors with track records because doing so lowers the risk of failure.

3) Offering authors advances on royalties
Advance on royalties: a payment of money before the book is published that is based on what the publisher anticipates the author will earn from royalties on the book.

Because most current and backlist titles aren’t selling as well as they once did, potential blockbuster books “are more important” than ever, the competition over them is fierce, and so the advances offered are quite huge.

Question 17

The distribution process:

Answer 17

a wholesaler purchases copies of a book from a publisher at a discount and then resells them to a retailer (the exhibitor) at a somewhat higher price. In the book industry, copies of a book that don’t sell can originally be returned to the publisher for credit toward other titles. As a result of the return policy, publishers must be realistic regarding the print run of a book.

Question 18

Print run:

Answer 18

the number of copies of a book that are printed.

Question 19

Which 3 indicators are used to assess a book’s popularity?

Answer 19

1) The size of the print run: this signals to wholesalers how popular a publisher expects a book to be. Looking at the publishing imprint also helps. Wholesalers associate certain imprints with certain levels of marketing power as well as certain types of books.
2) The content of reviews: review media are also vehicles for estimating the popularity of a forthcoming title. Review media are periodicals, suck as Kirkus and Choice, which receive early versions of books from their publishers.
3) The scope of the marketing plan: the publisher’s marketing plan serves as a hint about the title’s future. The marketing plan describes the specific ways in which the publisher will get the word out about the title to its target audience. The belief in book publishing is that a vigorous and well-put-together book tour can spike the sales of a title substantially.

Question 20

Book tour

Answer 20

a series of appearances that an author makes in various cities in order to promote a title and stimulate sales.

Question 21

Brick-and-mortar book stores

Answer 21

stores that have physical presence in the offline world.

Question 22

3 Consequences of the digital turn in books:

Answer 22

1) E-books are popular, but print versions still lead the market.
2) Amazon has made it possible to self-publish at low costs.
3) Potential increase in disengaged households, where people do not read books.

Question 23

Why do new editions of college books get produced?

Answer 23

1) A new edition includes facts and ideas that have come to light or have been incorporated into the course as it is usually taught since the earlier edition went to press.
2) There is also a strong marketing motive: textbook publishers know that many students sell their texts after they use them and that the books then go on sale in the used-book market. The result is that publishing revenues from an edition plummet after the first year because students purchase used copies.

Since the digital revolution, many students rent digital books for the semester instead of paying substantially more to own them.

Question 24

Presold title

Answer 24

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. For example, a book by Oprah or one highlighted on her cable channel is presold to the fans of her channel.

Question 25

Plagiarism:

Answer 25

using part of another person’s work without citing or otherwise crediting the original author.
Sometimes such an act is clearly illegal, as when an author lifts sentences and paragraphs from copyrighted material. Plagiarism is not illegal when the author uses material that has not been protected by copyright; however, it remains a serious breach of ethics.