Book Publishing & Marketing
In order for a book to end up in the hands of readers, its content passes through the hands of many people. The book publishing industry is enormous and multifaceted, employing thousands of people in careers as diverse as writers, printers, distributors, marketers, advertisers, editors, binders and manufacturers. Over the past 50 years, computer technology has revolutionized the book publishing industry, and with the advent of On Demand publishing, the industry is set to be transformed still further over the coming decades.
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Facts About the Publishing Industry
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The U.S. publishing industry publishes between 250,000 and 300,000 new titles and editions every year. Annual sales in the U.S. are in the neighborhood of 25 billion dollars a year. The six largest publishing conglomerates in the United States are Random House, Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck, Time Warner and Simon & Schuster. In addition to these six giants, there are 70,000 or 80,000 smaller publishers in the U.S., putting out anywhere from 10 to several thousand titles per year.
Elements of the Publishing Industry
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There are many steps that a book must go through when it is commercially published. The writer, usually with the involvement of at least one editor, writes the book. It is then delivered to an agent who negotiates with publishers on behalf of the author. The publishers arrange to have the book printed, bound, distributed and advertised through the involvement of wholesale book jobbers, printing houses and retail booksellers. Retail giants such as Waldenbooks have the power to make or break a title through its placement and promotion in their stores.
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ISBN
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ISBN stands for International Standard Book Number. It is the most important number in the publishing industry. An ISBN is the number just above the bar code on any commercially marketed book. Each ISBN is unique, and allows the book to be identified quickly and easily by marketers, retailers and libraries. One of the first steps in the marketing of a book is the assignation of an ISBN.
On Demand Publishing
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On Demand publishing is a new development in the publishing world. Technology has advanced to the point where it is now economically viable to print a single copy of a book for a single customer. With traditional printing techniques, a book would be printed in a first edition of at minimum several hundred copies, followed by further editions if demand warranted them. This would often result in delays and/or wasted books if an edition failed to sell. While popular titles will continue to be printed in large numbers, On Demand publishing could make small runs a thing of the past, as obscure or low-demand books are printed singly as they are needed.
Ebooks
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Ebooks are electronic books that exist only in digital form. They are read on computer screens or using new technologies such as Kindle, an electronic ebook reader. Many predictions have been made about ebooks making paper books a thing of the past, but this doesn't appear to be happening, largely due to public resistance to the idea of reading entire books on a computer, and attachment to the physical form of the book.
Self Publishing
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An alternative to the publishing industry that some authors undertake is to publish their work themselves. Self publishing, while an interesting adventure for those who are curious about the process, has historically been notoriously unprofitable. Book marketing is a complex business, and those with no experience in it are often at a loss to sell their books effectively. With the advent of Internet technologies and the rapid decentralizing of marketing of all forms, this situation may change radically over the coming years.
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References
- Photo Credit books 1 image by MLProject from Fotolia.com
