Chapter Six
Books
• The process of writing a book is very complex,
and every year in the United States, publishers
produce about 55,000 individual titles. This
number includes revised editions of previously
published books, but most of the titles are new.
•
The publishing industry always has been
tugged by “the culture and commerce of
publishing”—the desire to preserve the
country’s intellectual ideas versus the desire
to make money. But, a publisher who doesn’t
make a profit cannot continue to publish books.
How American Book Publishing
Grew
• When Americans first started publishing books,
one person often did all the work.
• The first books in the United States were
imports, brought by the new settlers or ordered
from England after the settlers arrived.
• In 1638, the colonists set up America’s first
printing press at Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and in 1640 they printed America’s first book:
The Bay Psalm Book.
• As the only book it became an instant bestseller.
There were only 3,500 families in the colonies at
the time, and the book’s first printing of 1,750
sold out.
A copy of The Bay Psalm Book.
• By 1680, there
were 17
booksellers, and
most of the books
came from
England. By far,
the most popular
books of the time
were romance
novels.
• In 1731, Ben Franklin
decided that Philadelphia
needed a library. He
asked 50 people (called
subscribers) to pay 40
schillings each to a
Library Company.
• The company imported
84 books, which
circulated among the
subscribers. This
became America’s first
library.
• A typical author sought a
patron to pay for the
book’s printing and then
sold the book at the print
shop where it was
published.
Looking for a Wider Audience
• To expand readership, early publishers sold
political pamphlets, novels, poetry and humor.
• Political Pamphlets: The big seller of the
1700s was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense,
which argued for independence from Great
Britain.
• From January to March 1776, colonial presses
published 100,000 copies of the pamphlet—one
copy for every 25 people in the colonies.
Throughout the Revolutionary War, Thomas
Paine was America’s best-read author.
• Novels and Poetry: Political pamphlets became less
important after the new nation was established, and
printers turned their attention to other reading, especially
fiction.
• Historians credit Pamela by Samuel Richardson in
1744, as the first novel published in the United
States, although it was a British import that first
appeared in England in 1740.
• Because there were no copyright laws, printers freely
reprinted British novels like Pamela and sold them. It
was cheaper than publishing American authors who
could demand royalties.
• Like other media
industries, book
publishing has always
faced moral criticism.
• Novels did not start out
with a good reputation.
• Critics said that the novel
“pollutes the
imagination.”
• Women wrote one-third of
all of the early American
novels, and women also
bought most of them.
• Especially popular after the Civil War were dime
novels, America’s earliest paperbacks.
• Dime novels featured serial characters whose
stories continued from one novel to the next.
• Poetry generally has been the most difficult to
sell, and it is extremely difficult for poets to get
published.
• Humor: Humor became popular with the works of Mark
Twain. Twain became the first one-man publishing
enterprise. One reason his books sold so well was that
he was the first American author to recognize the
importance of advance publicity, promoting a book
before it is published.
• Twain would advertise his upcoming stories to the public,
so they knew what to expect from his works and more
importantly, when to expect it.
• Like most books, Twain’s novels were sold door-todoor. More than ¾ of the popular books sold in America
before 1900 were sold doo-to-door.
• Sales agents took advance orders before the books
were published so that the publisher could estimate how
many books to print.
• In addition, three events in the 19th century ensured that
the book publishing industry would prosper in the 20th
century: passage of the International Copyright Law,
formation of publishing houses, and establishment of
compulsory education.
International Copyright Law of
1891
• Before 1891, publishers were legally required to pay
royalties to American authors, but not to foreign authors.
This hurt American authors, because books by American
authors cost more to publish.
• After the International Copyright Law of 1891, all
authors—foreign and American—had to give permission
to publish their works.
• For the first time, American authors cost publishing
houses the same amount as foreign authors.
• This motivated publishers to look for more American
writers. After 1894, American writers published more
novels in the United States than foreign writers did.
Publishing Houses
• The idea of a publishing house began in
the late 18th century. These companies
housed all aspects of publishing under one
roof: They sought out authors, reviewed
and edited copies, printed and then sold
the books. Publishing Houses controlled
all aspects of the printing industry.
Compulsory Education
• By 1900, 31 states had passed compulsory
education laws. This was important to book
publishing because schools need textbooks and
education creates more people who can read.
• Widespread public education meant that schools
broadened their choices, and textbook
publishing flourished. Expanded public support
for education also meant more money for
libraries.
Books Banned: The Censorship
of the Publishing Industry
• Many societies have banned certain books. Books
are banned for a variety of reasons. For example,
one reason is to protect the public from their
contents.
• The threats that are cited to justify the bans may be
abstract (e.g., "obscenity") or more concrete (e.g.,
"public safety").
• For example, various scriptures have been banned
(and sometimes burned) at several points in history.
The Bible, the Qur'an, and other religious scriptures
have all been subjected to censorship and have
been banned by various governments.
• Books that present
criminal matters have
also been subjected to
censorship, usually on
the grounds that they
either incite or assist in
committing crimes.
• Small-press titles that
have become infamous
by being banned include
The Anarchist Cookbook
• In the United States,
many books have been
challenged by a variety of
groups and agencies in
order to prevent a
particular work from
being read by the
general public.
• In recent years, it has
become more common
for those challenging the
availability of a book to do
so on a local level,
targeting public libraries
and school libraries.
• In fact, many communities have
a formal process where a citizen
can challenge the public
availability of a work.
• Note that challenging the
availability of a book does not
automatically denote that is has
been removed from library
shelves in even one
community.
Grove Press Tests Censorship
• One of the first publishers to test the limits of censorship
was Grove Press.
• In 1961, the company published Tropic of Cancer by
Henry Miller (originally published in Paris). The book
had been banned from the United States as obscene.
• The legal fees to defend Miller’s book against charges of
pornography cost Grove more than $250,000, but
eventually the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the book in
1964.
• The publisher again challenged in 1965, when it issued
the controversial The Autobiography of Malcolm X. The
book became a bestseller.
Notice the warning on the bottom:
“Not to be imported into Great Britain or
U.S.A.”
Book Publishing at Work
• Not only must books be written, but they must be
printed, promoted and sold.
• This whole process usually takes at least 18 months
from the time a project is signed by an editor until
the book is published.
• Publishers acquire books in many ways. Some
authors submit an unsolicited manuscript to a
publishing house, hoping the publisher will be
interested.
• Others use an agent to submit manuscripts
(unpublished works) to publishing houses, since
many companies refuse to read unsolicited
materials.
• Publishers pay authors a royalty for their work.
A royalty is an amount the publisher pays an
author.
• A royalty amount is based on an established
percentage of the book’s price and may run
anywhere from 6 to 15 percent of the cover
price.
• Some authors receive an advance, which is an
amount the publisher pays the author before the
book is published.
• Agents who represent authors collect fees
(typically 10 to 15 percent) from the author’s
royalties.
How Do Books Get Published?
• The author proposes a book to a
publishing house (company), usually with
an outline and some sample chapters.
• Departments at the publishing house
called acquisitions, production, design,
manufacturing, marketing and
fulfillment all participate in the publishing
process.
Acquisitions Editor
• The acquisitions editor looks for potential
authors and projects and works out an
agreement with the author.
• The acquisitions editor’s most important role is
to be the liaison among the author, publishing
company and the book’s audience.
• Acquisitions editors also represent the company
and negotiate sales of subsidiary rights, which
are the rights to market a book for other uses—
to make a movie, or to print a character from the
book on T-shirts.
Production Editor
• The production editor manages all the
steps that turn a manuscript into a book.
• After the manuscript comes in, the
production editor sets up a schedule to
make sure all of the work gets done on
time.
Designer
• The designer decides what a book will
look like, inside and out.
• The designer chooses the typeface for the
book and determines how the pictures,
boxes, heads, etc. will look and where to
use color. The designer also creates the
front cover.
Manufacturing
+ Marketing
• The manufacturing department buys the
typesetting, paper and printing for the book. The
book is usually sent outside the company to be
manufactured.
• Marketing, often the most expensive part of
creating a book, is handled by several different
departments.
• Advertising designs ads for the book. Promotion
sends the book to reviewers.
• Sales representatives visit bookstores and
college campuses to potential buyers about the
book.
Fulfillment
• Fulfillment makes sure the books get to
the bookstore on time. This department
watches inventory so that if the publisher’s
stock gets low, more books can be printed.
• Twenty thousand American companies
call themselves book publishers today,
with fiction accounting for about half of all
books sold.
Changes in Consumption
• To deal with the sagging market of book
publishing in the wake of new media, book
publishers are producing and providing some
new ways for people to consume books.
• Audio books, first introduced in the 1980s, have
been a growing sales category for book
publishers. Book publishers produce classics
and popular new titles on CDs for people who
are more willing to listen to a book than to read
it.
• The introduction of e-books, or electronic
books, a way for publishers to expand the
market for their products.
• E-books are electronic versions of hardback or
paperback books that someone can download
and then read on a computer or handheld
device.
• The Kindle (from Amazon) and the Nook (from
Barnes and Noble) are two examples of devices
made for e-books.