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Books and the Power of Print

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

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Books and the Power of Print

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  1. Books and the Power of Print Chapter 10

  2. “In 50 years today’s children will not remember who survived Survivor…but they will remember Harry [Potter].”—Anna Quindlen, Newsweek, July 2000

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. Figure 10.1

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. Figure 10.2

  12. 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

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. What Bertelsmann Owns – 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 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)

  17. Figure 10.3

  18. 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

  19. 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

  20. 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.

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