Book Publishing I INTRODUCTION Book Publishing, manufacture, publication, and distribution of books.

Book Publishing I INTRODUCTION Book Publishing, manufacture, publication, and distribution of books. The process involves the selection of a manuscript, the editing of it, the designing of the book's final appearance, the actual manufacture into book form, the distribution of the book to booksellers, and the book's ultimate purchase by readers. The origins of the book trade can be traced to engraved clay and stone tablets of the ancient Assyrian and Babylonian kingdoms, but most authorities consider the scrolls of antiquity that were made of papyrus to be the true forerunners of the book. As early as 600 BC, scribes were known to have copied poems, speeches, and orations onto these scrolls and to have sold them at high prices. The book publishing industry has changed dramatically over the centuries. Early technological innovations led to developments such as movable type, mass production, and the manufacture of paperback books. The 20th century brought the invention of audiobooks, the computerization of the book production process, the growth of the Internet as a pathway for booksellers to reach readers, and continuing improvements in the quality of computerized electronic books. II PUBLISHING INDUSTRY Publishers and booksellers categorize books in various ways. The type of book that generally gains the most attention is the trade book, which is typically a work of general fiction or general nonfiction. Trade books tend to appeal to a wide audience. Other books fall into more specialized categories such as education, business, science, technology, and reference. The type of trade book that a publishing house chooses to publish often creates the public image of the house. Popular trade books sometimes financially support a company's other publishing ventures, but departments such as textbook, reference, religion, and medicine often make profits on their own. Many publishers are devoted almost entirely to one of these specialties. Similarly, paperback lines may be issued by a division of a general publisher, or they may be produced by houses specializing in paperbacks. A Editorial and Production Process Lindisfarne Gospels The Lindisfarne Gospels (about 698-721) are illuminated books produced by monks on an island off the coast of Northumberland, England. The gospels are noted for their pages decorated with complex interlacing designs intertwined with fantastic creatures. The initial letters of each gospel were especially embellished. This page shows the decorated initials of the Gospel According to Saint Matthew, which in Latin begins Liber generationis ("The book of the generation"). The Lindisfarne Gospels are now part of the collection of the British Library, London. Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York No matter what kind of book is being produced, the editorial process is basically the same. The production process has become increasingly sophisticated over the years, as publishers have taken advantage of technological innovations. In the case of general trade books, a publishing house will plan to issue a yearly list of titles ranging in number from fewer than ten in the smallest firms to several hundred in the largest. A few books are bought from the thousands of unsolicited manuscripts that the major houses receive annually, but most come from either outlines or manuscripts submitted by literary agents. A large number of books also originate within the house, as editors generate ideas and find authors to write the books. Authors receive royalties (payments) at percentage rates varying with the number of books sold--the more copies sold, the higher the percentage of profit the author usually receives. After the manuscript is accepted for publication and received, an editor takes charge of the project. Editors usually work with several books at once, and in many publishing houses they are responsible for every stage of book production. Editing practices vary considerably. Editors may work with authors by suggesting changes in a manuscript, or they may do line-by-line editing, going over the changes with the authors later. The book also undergoes a specialized editorial pass called copy editing. Copy editors correct grammar and spelling and also query authors on possible errors of fact or meaning, peculiar constructions, or other internal difficulties. Copy editors often do careful research as they work, consulting reference sources to be sure the author's facts are accurate. The next step in production is design, which may be done within the firm or by freelance designers. The designer plans the book's format--page size, number of lines on a page, size and style of type, arrangement of pictures, and similar matters. Many talented designers have worked in the publishing business, and some houses are noted for superior design work. In the manufacturing stage, the book is set in type and then bound. In the 1970s the use of computers to aid in the typesetting process became more and more common (see Typesetting Equipment). In the decades that followed, the printing and binding process became increasingly automated (Printing Techniques). A major development in the late 20th century was print on demand. By using powerful computers, some companies store digitized versions of books. When needed, they use advanced printers and binding techniques to run off as many books as required. Printing only as many books as needed allows companies to save money, and being able to store books digitally means that books can be printed whenever necessary, keeping them in print indefinitely. B Marketing and Distribution Once the book has been made, it is ready for distribution. Traditionally, trade books have been sold primarily by salespeople calling on bookstores across the country and taking orders for forthcoming books. The two major selling seasons are spring and fall. Large publishers have their own salespeople, who are briefed by editors at sales conferences before they go on the road. Smaller publishers are represented by salespeople who may handle the titles of several houses at the same time. Books are usually moved from publisher to bookseller through wholesale distributors. In the mid- and late 20th century the large chain stores and book clubs came to dominate trade selling and were able to command large discounts from the publishers, while many independent bookstores struggled against adverse economic circumstances. In the 1990s companies began to use the Internet as a tool for selling books. Through their Web sites, Internet booksellers allow buyers to choose from an enormous selection of books. Once the order is placed, the bookseller obtains the book and sends it to the buyer. Amazon.com, which started business in 1995, was the first major online bookseller, but others soon sprang up, and established booksellers also developed Web sites. C Legal and Business Aspects of Publishing Once their books are on the market, authors and publishers can encounter some legal problems. For example, in the United States, books have been subject to forms of political censorship. A case in point was the attempt of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to suppress or change books written by its former agents. Textbooks, which may be criticized on political, religious, and sexual grounds, sometimes come under attack as well. Books are also sometimes challenged in court on grounds of invasion of privacy and defamation of character. A significant development in the book trade in the mid- and late 20th century was the growing incidence of mergers, particularly the acquisition of publishing houses by large companies with other media businesses. The book business had traditionally been run by families, with control passing from one generation to the next. But the tremendous growth of publishing led to the need for new capital, which was acquired through public stock issues and mergers. Later merger activity included the acquisition of several major American publishers by foreign-owned companies, and the pattern that began taking shape was one of a superstructure of immense, international media conglomerates, surrounded by smaller, more specialized publishing houses. III HISTORY Section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead The papyrus scroll is the progenitor of the modern book. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was a text containing prayers, spells, and hymns, the knowledge of which was to be used by the dead to guide and protect the soul on the hazardous journey through the afterlife. Beginning in the 18th Dynasty, the Book of the Dead was inscribed on papyrus. This section of one such book, from the early 19th Dynasty, shows the final judgment of the deceased (in this case Hu-Nefer, the royal scribe) before Osiris, the god of the dead. Hieroglyphs as well as illustrations portray the ritual of weighing the deceased's heart before he can be awarded eternal life. The ancient Egyptians believed that the mystical scroll could secure the benevolence of Osiris for the dead person, and so they often placed it near the mummified body in the tomb. Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York In Ancient Greece, the first regular sales of literary work probably were carried on by students of the philosopher Plato, who sold or rented transcripts of his lectures. By 400 BC Athens was the literary capital of Greece and the center for the production and selling of scrolls and papyri. The first Athenian booksellers prepared their own scrolls, but later entrepreneurs employed staffs of copyists and not only sold and rented manuscripts but also held readings in their shops for paying audiences. About 250 BC, Alexandria, Egypt, became one of the great book marts of the world. The first publishing and bookselling there occurred in connection with the Library of Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I. By training numbers of skilled scribes and exploiting the distributing facilities afforded by the commercial connections of their capital, Alexandrian publishers retained control of the greater part of world book production for more than two centuries. In Ancient Rome the first publishers were wealthy men with literary taste who could afford the valuable slaves who served as scribes. By the end of the 1st century AD the book trade in Rome and other large cities of the empire was flourishing. After the capital of the Roman Empire was moved to Constantinople (present-day ?stanbul, Turkey) in A AD 330, however, literary activities in Rome rapidly declined. Middle Ages Traveling booksellers were common figures in Europe in the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century), but in the early Middle Ages bookmaking was largely a monopoly of the scriptoria, or writing rooms, of monasteries. For some centuries books written in the monasteries were produced for the exclusive use of the monks or their pupils. Therefore, for centuries the knowledge of reading and writing remained confined to the clerics. Later, under the influence of certain princes who owed their early education to monastery schools, the libraries of kings and nobles acquired manuscripts of the world's literature. Later in the Middle Ages, bookselling was stimulated by the rise of universities, particularly the University of Paris in France and the University of Bologna in Italy. The universities supervised the preparation of textbooks and literary works and also prescribed the rates at which the books were to be sold or leased. The booksellers, known as stationarii, usually were university officials or graduates. The stationarii of the University of Paris supplied not only the university but nearly all the scholars of Europe. The stationarii at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in England began their work some years later than those in Paris or Bologna. Without the restrictions that hampered the freedom of the French and Italian scribes, their business flourished. B Development of the Publishing Industry Hypnerotomachia Poliphili The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili (The Strife of Love in a Dream), a work attributed to Dominican monk Francesco de Colonna, was first published in Venice, Italy, in 1499 by Aldus Manutius. Its text and its beautiful woodcut illustrations influenced Renaissance art and architecture. This illustration shows the book's protagonist, Poliphilus, asleep under a tree. The Pierpont Morgan Library/Art Resource, NY Modern publishing and bookselling in Europe began in the mid-15th century, when people began printing with movable type. The first professional printers often served as editors of the works they produced and then sold them directly to readers; they employed agents at universities to sell their books there. Anton Koberger, who in 1470 became the first printer to establish a business in Nürnberg, had 16 shops, as well as book agents in almost every city in the Christian world. German printers Peter Schöffer and Johann Fust, a partner of Johannes Gutenberg, offered their books at prices far below those charged for manuscripts. The publisher with the greatest influence on the literature and civilization of this period was Aldus Manutius of Venice, Italy. The high scholarly ideals and unselfish labors of Manutius and his immediate successors, as well as the imagination, ingenuity, and persistence of Gutenberg and Fust, led to the distribution of Greek poetry and philosophy in Europe in the late 15th century. In the organization of his printing and publishing business Manutius overcame many obstacles, such as the necessity of training Italian typesetters to set Greek texts and the delivery of books from Venice to different points of the European continent. The Game and Playe of the Chesse William Caxton, the first printer to produce works in English, worked at early printing presses in Bruges, Flanders (now Brugge, Belgium), and Cologne, Germany, before establishing a printing press in London, England, in 1476. This illustration is from one of the first books printed in the English language, The Game and Playe of the Chesse, Claxton's English version of a popular French work. This book was printed in about 1475 during Claxton's stay in Bruges. Getty Images/Hulton Getty / Tony Stone Images Other outstanding publisher-booksellers of this period included William Caxton, who set up a printing business in Westminster, England, in 1476 and was the first to introduce books printed in the English language. Caxton published many of his own translations of Latin, French, and Dutch works. German printer Johann Froben founded a publishing establishment in Basel, Switzerland, that became noted for the artistic taste and scrupulous accuracy of the books it produced. A publishing enterprise of minor commercial importance that enormously influenced public opinion in Europe was instituted in the German town of Wittenberg in Saxony (Sachsen), in 1517, at the instigation of German religious reformers Martin Luther and Melanchthon. The pamphlets from this press, reprinted in other places by printers sympathetic to Luther, secured an extremely wide circulation. For a time during the 16th and 17th centuries, the principal bookselling centers were a number of cities in the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands), but by the 18th century publishing companies had been established in the major cities of Europe. Some of them lasted into the 21st century. C Book Trade in Colonial North America Printing in the English colonies in North America dates from 1639, when Stephen Day printed the Freeman's Oath and an Almanack at Cambridge, Massachusetts. The famous Bay Psalm Book appeared the following year. Day's press turned out one title a year for the next 21 years. The Cambridge Press, as it was later called, was the principal press in the colonies until 1674, when a press started in Boston, Massachusetts. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had a press by 1685 and New York City had one by 1693. The first press to produce a book in Canada was established in Québec City in 1764. In many of these early presses, printers were both publishers and booksellers. Books were their first products, then newspapers, and later magazines. All three were prepared in the printshop itself, and the front of the establishment was used to sell the works that came off the press, along with various household items. This colonial pattern was repeated everywhere, as printing moved across the continent with the tide of settlement. Presses were moved westward on wagons and on rafts and small boats. Wherever the printer settled, the shop was set up to print and sell its products. Often these shops were family affairs, and many women became printers and worked alongside their husbands, sometimes carrying on alone when they were widowed. Before the American Revolution (1775-1783), printers and the books, pamphlets, and broadsides they produced became important in the organization of the growing protest against British rule. Printshops were the focal points of dissent, and the material that was printed both inspired and consolidated the revolutionaries. D Modern North American Publishing Modern publishing began in North America just before 1800, when Mathew Carey, a young printer from Dublin, Ireland, came to Philadelphia and founded the first general publishing house, modeled on a style that already existed in England. During the first half of the 19th century a number of great American publishing firms were established, such as Harper & Brothers (1817), John Wiley & Sons (1828), Little, Brown & Company (1837), Charles Scribner's Sons (1846), and Houghton Mifflin Company (1849). Major Canadian firms included the Ryerson Press (1829) and John Lovell and Son (1835). During this period the book trade was revolutionized by the invention in France of the cylinder press. Printing technology had scarcely changed since Gutenberg's day, but the cylinder press made it possible to print large numbers of books and magazines quickly and to reach a mass market. Paperbacks appeared in the United States in the 1840s, first as supplements to newspapers, but later as small-sized books. They were so popular by the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865) that they had to be shipped in bales to the soldiers' camps. By the mid-1890s, however, the paperback boom had ended, owing to excessive competition as well as to the passage of the Copyright Act of 1891, which halted pirating of the English titles that made up an important part of many North American publishers' lists. Booksellers began to concentrate on hardback editions, and by the end of the 19th century hundreds of publishers were issuing and distributing books in most parts of the world. In the United States, the publishing center was New York City, but smaller centers were established in Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. In Canada, publishing was centered around Montréal, Québec, and Toronto, Ontario. The chief trends of the 19th century were the development of specialization in publishing and the separation of publishing from bookselling, which eventually became largely the province of wholesale dealers and individual or corporate retailers. At the end of the century the American Booksellers Association and the American Publishers Association (later the Association of American Publishers) were organized. E 20th-Century Developments The publishing industry grew in size and scope during the 20th century. In the 1920s, the Literary Guild and the Book-of-the-Month Club were founded. These ventures developed into major commercial distributors, selling books by mail on a subscription basis and on a national scale. These major book clubs were the prototypes of many smaller organizations, some formed by publishing houses as outlets for their own books. Paperbacks were virtually reborn after World War II (1939-1945). Mass promotion and various technical achievements made possible broad distribution and low retail prices. In publishing generally, the literary agent gradually assumed new importance with the escalation of the value of subsidiary rights of an author's work. Both traditional agents and lawyers acting as agents negotiated contracts for paperback or serialization rights, as well as for television, film, and dramatic rights, sometimes involving millions of dollars for their author-clients. Another new business element in the publishing industry was the packager. Packagers do the editorial work involved with individual titles and series of books, and then contract with regular trade, text, or reference houses to have the books produced and distributed. By the 1980s book publishing had become a thriving international industry. Many countries were publishing and reading more than ever, especially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. Many underdeveloped countries also established their own publishing industries. F Technological Advances E-Book The concept of the paperless e-book became a reality in the late 1990s with the marketing of several devices. These machines allow users to download texts from the Internet and read them on a portable, handheld display. The RCA REB1100 model e-book shown here is about the size of a paperback. It lasts 20 to 40 hours between battery charges, holds a minimum of 8,000 pages of text, and includes an internal modem for downloading books. Thomson Multimedia In the late 20th century publishers began producing books in new formats, and technological advances had a huge impact on the book publishing industry. Audiobooks, which had been produced and marketed since the 1950s, exploded in growth in the 1990s. Audiobooks offer readers the option of listening to a book that has been narrated and recorded onto a cassette or compact disc. They are especially valued by people who are blind or have low vision. Another new form for books was CD-ROM. Many saw CD-ROM as the perfect means of publishing books, especially reference works, because searching databases could be made so easy for readers, and because writers and editors could incorporate images, sounds, and videos into their products. But many publishers struggled with changing technical standards and a widespread reluctance by users to read off a computer screen for long periods of time. In the late 1990s several companies introduced electronic books, or e-books. These computerized devices display the text of books on a small screen designed to make reading easy. Booksellers and publishers sell e-books over the Internet in the form of computer files. A reader makes a purchase, then downloads the text to a personal computer or a personal digital assistant (PDA), or directly to a specially designed e-book device. 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