Books and the Power of Print Chapter 10

“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.

Figure 10.1

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

Figure 10.2

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 Owns Books Random House – Bantam Dell Publishing Group – 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

Figure 10.3

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.