Books: The Durable Medium Chapter Outline  History  Industry  Controversies

 Early Forms  Earliest paper evolved around 3000 BC.  Papyrus to parchment, made from dried animal skins.  Greeks & Asian cultures made early books

 The Printing Revolution  This Person came up with moveable metal type.  Printing changed the world ▪ From oral culture to literature culture. ▪ Led to many changes

 The Book In America  1530’s - Spanish established first press in the Americas. ▪ In Mexico City.  Early colonial publishers escaped repression in England,  Parchment gives way to early paper

 Many colonial printers ran bookstores. ▪ vertical integration. ▪ What is vertical integration?  Print shops/bookstores ▪ Became meeting places & educational centers.  The Library Company of Philadelphia

 Universal Education  Massachusetts – ▪ Passed law requiring every child be taught to read  Universal education ▪ Became law in the U.S. in 1820s.  McGuffey’s Readers, ▪ 1 st published in 1836

 Books and Slavery  Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass,  Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ▪ Published in st national best seller.  The Book-of-the-Month Club was formed in 1926,

 Paperback Books  Mass-market paperbacks introduced by Pocket Books in 1939  Male-oriented mysteries, Westerns, and thrillers  Harlequin, marketed romance novels grew in the 1960s,  Trade paperback - heavier cover and better quality paper.

 New Forms of the Book  Audiobooks – Started for people with vision problems,  E-books – Digital files, usually downloaded from Internet. ▪ E-books have the potential to change the medium. ▪ Hypertext fiction ▪ Anyone remember the type of books with this feature?

 Types of Books  Trade books – account for largest share of books sold. ▪ Fiction and nonfiction that are sold to the general public.  Educational books – textbooks for schools ▪ Elementary, secondary, college, and vocational.

 Reference books – used to look up facts and information.  Professional books information for specific occupations  The specialty classification ▪ Religious books, high school and college yearbooks,

 The Players  Less than 200 full-time professional authors of books. ▪ Most authors teach, work for newspapers/magazines, or are celebrities.  Authors write under contract or on spec;

 The Bookseller  Barnes & Noble ▪ Accounts for more than 25 percent of book sales.  Megastores have about 100k titles, ▪ Many perks & hard to find content  Independent bookstores ▪ Not part of a larger company. ▪ Indy Bookstore Indy Bookstore ▪ Any advantages to independent bookstores? What?

 Amazon.com is the leading online bookstore  Developed “Bookmatcher”  Recommends books based on customer’s other preferences.  There are many other online booksellers ▪ What other sites have you gone to for books?  Book Clubs ▪ What are some book clubs you are familiar with

 The Reader – Determine what’s published.  Bibliophiles ▪ Consume 50 or more books a year.  Casual readers ▪ Enjoy reading, but only a few books a year.  Required readers ▪ Only read for work or studies.  Illiterates ▪ Never learned how to read.  Aliterates ▪ Those who can read but don’t.

 Book Censorship – Banned Book link Banned Book link  The First Amendment ▪ Restricts government interference with free speech, ▪ Any act of government censorship tends to be a serious issue.  Censorship by schools & libraries has been controversial. ▪ Any books that were banned by your school? Why?

 Challenging a book, provides publicity that stimulates sales. ▪ What books were publicized and sold well?  Book censorship around the world ▪ Usually far stricter than in the U.S.  Censorship can protect children from ▪ Pornography, obscenity, and writers who advocate violence. ▪ Do you agree with this? Why, Why Not

 The Blockbuster Syndrome  Publishing blockbusters ▪ Controls the economics of the industry.  Big payfor potential blockbusters ▪ Little money for more literary works.  Midlist authors ▪ Write books with literary merit but are not obvious blockbusters.

 The Blockbuster Syndrome  The quest for blockbusters ▪ Has led to “books by crooks.” ▪ Such as “A Millions Little Pieces”  Another problem of the phenomenon is ▪ Decline in quality & accuracy in works of nonfiction.  Also, a number of books turn out to be hoaxes or plagiarized works.