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Publishing

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"Publisher" redirects here. For other uses, see Publisher (disambiguation).

Printer working an early Gutenberg letterpress from the 15th century. (1877 engraving)

Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free.[1] Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works, such as books, newspapers, and magazines. With the advent of digital information systems, the scope has expanded to include electronic publishing such as ebooks, academic journals, micropublishing, websites, blogs, video game publishing, and the like.

Publishing may produce private, club, commons or public goods and may be conducted as a commercial, public, social or community activity.[2] The commercial publishing industry ranges from large multinational conglomerates such as Bertelsmann, RELX, Pearson and Thomson Reuters[3] to thousands of small independents. It has various divisions such as: trade/retail publishing of fiction and non-fiction, educational publishing (k-12) and academic and scientific publishing.[4] Publishing is also undertaken by governments, civil society and private companies for administrative or compliance requirements, business, research, advocacy or public interest objectives.[5] This can include annual reports, research reports, market research, policy briefings and technical reports. Self-publishing has become very common.

"Publisher" can refer to a publishing company or organization, or to an individual who leads a publishing company, imprint, periodical or newspaper.

Publishing in law

Publication is important as a legal concept:

  1. As the process of giving formal notice to the world of a significant intention, for example, to marry or enter bankruptcy
  2. As the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation; that is, the alleged libel must have been published
  3. For copyright purposes, where there is a difference in the protection of published and unpublished works

History

Publishing became possible with the invention of writing, and became more practical upon the introduction of printing. Prior to printing, distributed works were copied manually, by scribes. Due to printing, publishing progressed hand-in-hand with the development of books.

The Chinese inventor Bi Sheng made movable type of earthenware circa 1045, but there are no known surviving examples of his work. The Korean civil servant Choe Yun-ui, who lived during the Goryeo Dynasty, invented the first metal moveable type in 1234-1250 AD [6]

Around 1450, in what is commonly regarded as an independent invention, Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type in Europe, along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mould. This invention gradually made books less expensive to produce and more widely available.

Early printed books, single sheets and images which were created before 1501 in Europe are known as incunables or incunabula. "A man born in 1453, the year of the fall of Constantinople, could look back from his fiftieth year on a lifetime in which about eight million books had been printed, more perhaps than all the scribes of Europe had produced since Constantine founded his city in A.D. 330."[7]

Eventually, printing enabled other forms of publishing besides books. The history of modern newspaper publishing started in Germany in 1609, with publishing of magazines following in 1663.

Missionaries brought printing presses to sub-Saharan Africa in the mid-18th century.[8]

Historically, publishing has been handled by publishers, although some authors self-published.[9] The establishment of the World Wide Web in 1989 soon propelled the website into a dominant medium of publishing. Wikis and Blogs soon developed, followed by online books, online newspapers, and online magazines.

Since its start, the World Wide Web has been facilitating the technological convergence of commercial and self-published content, as well as the convergence of publishing and producing into online production through the development of multimedia content.

A U.S. based study in 2016 that surveyed 34 publishers found that the publishing industry in the US in general is overwhelmingly represented by straight, able bodied, white females.[10] Salon described the situation as "lack of diversity behind the scenes in book world".[11] A survey in 2020 by the same group found there has been no statistical significant change in the lack of diversity since the 2016 survey four years earlier.[12] Lack of diversity in the American publishing industry has been an issue for years. Within the industry, there was the least amount of diversity in higher level editorial positions.[13]

See also: List of women printers and publishers before 1800
See also: History of printing in East Asia

The traditional process of publishing

Book publishers buy or commission copy from independent authors; newspaper publishers, by contrast, usually hire staff to produce copy, although they may also employ freelance journalists, called stringers. Magazines may employ either strategy or a mixture.

Traditional book publishers are selective about what they publish. They do not accept manuscripts direct from authors. Authors must first submit a query letter or proposal, either to a literary agent or direct to the publisher. depending on the publisher's submission guidelines.[14] If the publisher does accept unsolicited manuscripts, then the manuscript is placed in the slush pile, which publisher's readers sift through to identify manuscripts worthy of publication. The acquisitions editors review these and if they agree, send them to the editorial staff. Larger companies have more levels of assessment between submission and publication than smaller companies. Unsolicited submissions have a very low rate of acceptance, with some estimates as low as 3 out of every 10,000 being accepted.[15]

Stages of publishing

The publishing process includes creation, acquisition, copy editing, production, printing (and its electronic equivalents), marketing, and distribution.

Although listed as distinct stages, parts of these occur concurrently. As editing of text progresses, front cover design and initial layout takes place, and sales and marketing of the book begins.

The publisher may subcontract various aspects of this process to specialist companies and/or freelancers.[16][17]

Binding

Main article: Bibliopegy

In the case of books, binding follows upon the printing process. It involves folding the printed sheets, "securing them together, affixing boards or sides to it, and covering the whole with leather or other materials".[18]

Types of publishers

Eslite Bookstore in Taiwan.

There are four major types of publishers in book publishing:

  • Commercial publishers are more rigid and selective as to which books they publish. If accepted, authors pay no costs to publish in exchange for selling rights to their work. They receive in-house editing, design, printing, marketing and distribution services, and are paid royalties on sales.[19]
  • Self-publishers: Authors use self-publishing houses to publish their books and retain full rights to their works. Self-publishing houses are more open than traditional publishing houses, allowing emerging and established authors to publish their work. A number of modern or self-publishing houses offer enhanced services (e.g. editing, design) and authors may choose which one to use. Authors shoulder pre-publishing expenses and in return retain all the rights to their works, keep total control, and are paid royalties on sales.[20]
  • Vanity presses portray themselves as traditional publishers but are, in fact, just a self-publishing service. Unlike genuine self-publishing services, the author is often obliged to use some or all of their additional services, and the press will often take rights to the work as part of their contract.[21]
  • Hybrid publishers operate with a different revenue model than traditional publishing, while keeping the rest of the practices of publishing the same. There have been attempts to bridge this gap using hybrid models. No one model has been fully proven at this stage.[22]

Derided in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica as "a purely commercial affair" that cared more about profits than about literary quality,[23] publishing is like any business, with a need for the expenses not to exceed the income. Publishing is now a major industry with the largest companies Reed Elsevier and Pearson PLC having global publishing operations.

Some businesses maximize their profit margins through vertical integration; book publishing is not one of them. Although newspaper and magazine companies still often own printing presses and binderies, book publishers rarely do. Similarly, the trade usually sells the finished products through a distributor who stores and distributes the publisher's wares for a percentage fee or sells on a sale or return basis.

The advent of the Internet has provided the electronic way of book distribution without the need of physical printing, physical delivery and storage of books. This, therefore, poses an interesting question that challenges publishers, distributors, and retailers. The question pertains to the role and importance the publishing houses have in the overall publishing process. It is a common practice that the author, the original creator of the work, signs the contract awarding him or her only around 10% of the proceeds of the book.[24] Such contract leaves 90% of the book proceeds to the publishing houses, distribution companies, marketers, and retailers. One example (rearranged) of the distribution of proceeds from the sale of a book was given as follows:[25]

  • 45% to the retailer
  • 10% to the wholesaler
  • 10.125% to the publisher for printing (this is usually subcontracted out)
  • 7.15% to the publisher for marketing
  • 12.7% to the publisher for pre-production
  • 15% to the author (royalties)

Within the electronic book path, the publishing house's role remains almost identical. The process of preparing a book for e-book publication is exactly the same as print publication, with only minor variations in the process to account for the different mediums of publishing. While some costs, such as the discount given to retailers (normally around 45%)[25] are eliminated, additional costs connected to ebooks apply (especially in the conversion process), raising the production costs to a similar level.[citation needed]

Print on demand is rapidly becoming an established alternative to traditional publishing (see main article).

Book clubs are almost entirely direct-to-retail, and niche publishers pursue a mixed strategy to sell through all available outlets — their output is insignificant to the major booksellers, so lost revenue poses no threat to the traditional symbiotic relationships between the four activities of printing, publishing, distribution, and retail.

Industry sub-divisions

Newspaper publishing

Main article: Newspaper

Newspapers are regularly scheduled publications that present recent news, typically on a type of inexpensive paper called newsprint. Most newspapers are primarily sold to subscribers, through retail newsstands or are distributed as advertising-supported free newspapers. About one-third of publishers in the United States are newspaper publishers.[26]

Periodical publishing

Main article: Periodical publication

Nominally, periodical publishing involves publications that appear in a new edition on a regular schedule. Newspapers and magazines are both periodicals, but within the industry, the periodical publishing is frequently considered a separate branch that includes magazines and even academic journals, but not newspapers.[26] About one-third of publishers in the United States publish periodicals (not including newspapers).[26] The library and information science communities often refer to periodicals as serials.

Book publishing

See also: History of books
"Book publishing company" redirects here. For the publisher named Book Publishing Company, see The Farm (Tennessee).
Facade of Otava's publishing office in Helsinki, Finland

The global book publishing industry accounts for over $100 billion of annual revenue, or about 15% of the total media industry.[27]

For-profit publishers of books that serve the general public are often referred to as "trade publishers." Book publishers represent less than a sixth of the publishers in the United States.[26] Most books are published by a small number of very large book publishers, but thousands of smaller book publishers exist. Many small- and medium-sized book publishers specialize in a specific area. Additionally, thousands of authors have created publishing companies and self-published their own works. Within the book publishing, the publisher of record for a book is the entity in whose name the book's ISBN is registered. The publisher of record may or may not be the actual publisher.

In 2013, Penguin (owned by Pearson) and Random House (owned by Bertelsmann) merged, narrowing the industry to a handful of big publishers as it adapted to digital media.[28] The merger created the largest consumer book publisher in the world, with a global market share of more than 25 percent.[29] Approximately 60%[30] of English-language books are produced through the "Big Five" publishing houses: Penguin Random House (Bertelsmann), Hachette (Lagardère), HarperCollins (News Corp), Simon & Schuster (Bertelsmann) and Macmillan (Holtzbrinck). Leadstart, Shristi Publisher, Rupa Publications, and Jaico Publishing House are major publishers in India. (See also: List of English-language book publishing companies.)

In November 2020, ViacomCBS agreed to sell Simon & Schuster, the third largest book publisher in the United States, to Penguin Random House in a deal that will create the first megapublisher.[28]

Directory publishing

Directory publishing is a specialized genre within the publishing industry. These publishers produce mailing lists, telephone books, and other types of directories.[26] With the advent of the Internet, many of these directories are now online.

Tie-in publishing

Main article: Tie-in

Technically, radio, television, cinemas, VCDs and DVDs, music systems, games, computer hardware and mobile telephony publish information to their audiences. Indeed, the marketing of a major film often includes a novelization, a graphic novel or comic version, the soundtrack album, a game, model, toys and endless promotional publications.

Some of the major publishers have entire divisions devoted to a single franchise, e.g. Ballantine Del Rey Lucasbooks has the exclusive rights to Star Wars in the United States; Random House UK (Bertelsmann)/Century LucasBooks holds the same rights in the United Kingdom. The game industry self-publishes through BL Publishing/Black Library (Warhammer) and Wizards of the Coast (Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, etc.). The BBC has its publishing division that does very well with long-running series such as Doctor Who. These multimedia works are cross-marketed aggressively and sales frequently outperform the average stand-alone published work, making them a focus of corporate interest.[31]

Recent developments

Accessible publishing uses the digitization of books to mark up books into XML and then produces multiple formats from this to sell to consumers, often targeting those with difficulty reading. Formats include a variety larger print sizes, specialized print formats for dyslexia,[32] eye tracking problems and macular degeneration, as well as Braille, DAISY, audiobooks and e-books.[33]

Green publishing means adapting the publishing process to minimise environmental impact. One example of this is the concept of on-demand printing, using digital or print-on-demand technology. This cuts down the need to ship books since they are manufactured close to the customer on a just-in-time basis.[34]

A further development is the growth of on-line publishing where no physical books are produced. The ebook is created by the author and uploaded to a website from where it can be downloaded and read by anyone.

An increasing number of authors are using niche marketing online to sell more books by engaging with their readers online.[35]

Standardization

Refer to the ISO divisions of ICS 01.140.40 and 35.240.30 for further information.[36][37]

World Intellectual Property Organization, Geneva
Main article: Publication

Publication is the distribution of copies or content to the public.[38][39] The Berne Convention requires that this can only be done with the consent of the copyright holder, which is initially always the author.[38] In the Universal Copyright Convention, "publication" is defined in article VI as "the reproduction in tangible form and the general distribution to the public of copies of a work from which it can be read or otherwise visually perceived."[39]

Privishing

Privishing (private publishing, but not to be confused with self-publishing) is a modern term for publishing a book but printing so few copies or with such lack of marketing, advertising or sales support that it effectively does not reach the public.[40] The book, while nominally published, is almost impossible to obtain through normal channels such as bookshops, often cannot be ordered specially, and has a notable lack of support from its publisher, including refusal to reprint the title. A book that is privished may be referred to as "killed". Depending on the motivation, privishing may constitute breach of contract, censorship,[41] or good business practice (e.g., not printing more books than the publisher believes will sell in a reasonable length of time).

See also

Notes and references

Footnotes

  1. ^ "PUBLISHING | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  2. ^ Hess, Charlotte; Ostrom, Elinor, eds. (2011). Understanding knowledge as a commons : from theory to practice. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-51603-7. OCLC 709863190.
  3. ^ "GLOBAL 50. The world ranking of the publishing industry 2019". Issuu. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  4. ^ "The Global Publishing Industry in 2016". www.wipo.int. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  5. ^ Börjesson, Lisa (2016). "Research outside academia? - An analysis of resources in extra-academic report writing: Research Outside Academia? - An Analysis of Resources in Extra-Academic Report Writing". Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 53 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1002/pra2.2016.14505301036. S2CID 7212603.
  6. ^ Newman, Sophia (19 June 2019). "So, Gutenberg Didn't Actually Invent Printing As We Know It". lithub.com. Literary Hub. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  7. ^ Clapham, Michael, "Printing" in A History of Technology, Vol 2. From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, edd. Charles Singer et al. (Oxford 1957), p. 377. Cited from Elizabeth L. Eisenstein, The Printing Press as an Agent of Change (Cambridge University, 1980).
  8. ^ Gazemba, Stanley (13 December 2019). "African Publishing Minefields and the Woes of the African Writer". The Elephant. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  9. ^ "Notable Moments in Self-Publishing History: A Timeline". Poets & Writers. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  10. ^ Flood, Alison (27 January 2016). "Publishing industry is overwhelmingly white and female, US study finds". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  11. ^ "White women of publishing: New survey shows a lack of diversity behind the scenes in book world". Salon. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
  12. ^ Flood, Alison (30 January 2020). "US publishing remains 'as white today as it was four years ago'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  13. ^ ITALIE, HILLEL (11 February 2020). "Missteps lead publishing industry to review diversity effort". Associated Press. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  14. ^ "Submitting your work - Allen & Unwin - Australia". www.allenandunwin.com. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  15. ^ Tara K. Harper (2004). "On Publishers and Getting Published". Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  16. ^ "Jobs and Careers – Help". Random House, Inc. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  17. ^ "Jobs with Penguin". Penguin Books Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
  18. ^ Hannett, John (2010) [1836]. Bibliopegia: Or the Art of Bookbinding, in All Its Branches. Cambridge Library Collection: Printing and Publishing History (2 ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-108-02144-9. Retrieved 19 February 2013. Binding is the art of folding the sheets of a book, securing them together, affixing boards or sides thereto, and covering the whole with leather or other materials
  19. ^ Steven, Daniel. "Self-publishing – In traditional royalty publishing". publishlawyer.com. Daniel N. Steven, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  20. ^ Steven, Daniel. "What is self-publishing". publishlawyer.com. Daniel N. Steven, LLC. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Self-publishing vs vanity publishing. Confused?". www.writersandartists.co.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  22. ^ Klems, Brian A. (11 August 2016). "What is Hybrid Publishing? Here Are 4 Things All Writers Should Know". Writer's Digest. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  23. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Publishing" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  24. ^ "Sample Publishing Contract". Indexbooks.net. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  25. ^ a b "Book Cost Analysis – Cost of Physical Book Publishing - Kindle Review – Kindle Phone Review, Kindle Fire HD Review". Kindle Review.
  26. ^ a b c d e Bureau of Labor Statistics (17 December 2009). "Career Guide to Industries, 2010–11 Edition: Publishing, Except Software". U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 28 May 2010.
  27. ^ Wischenbart, Rüdiger (2012). Publishing Statistics (PDF). IPA Global.
  28. ^ a b Alter, Alexandra; Lee, Edmund (25 November 2020). "Penguin Random House to Buy Simon & Schuster". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  29. ^ Pfanner, Eric; Chozick, Amy (29 October 2012). "Random House and Penguin Merger Creates Global Giant". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  30. ^ Losowsky, Andrew (20 February 2013). "Indie Bookstores File Lawsuit Against Amazon". Huffington Post.
  31. ^ Shelagh Vainker in Anne Farrer (ed.), "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", 1990, British Museum publications, ISBN 0-7141-1447-2.
  32. ^ Dwight Garner (20 May 2008). "Making Reading Easier – Paper Cuts Blog". NYTimes.com.
  33. ^ "Overview of the Technology- Awards, Cost Savings". Radhowyouwant.com. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  34. ^ Kanter, James (2 December 2008). "Reading Green On Demand". Green blogs, New York Times. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  35. ^ Rinzler, Alan (29 July 2010). "The Magic of Niche Marketing for Authors". Forbes. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  36. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "01.140.40: Publishing". Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  37. ^ International Organization for Standardization. "35.240.30: IT applications in information, documentation and publishing". Retrieved 14 July 2008.
  38. ^ a b WIPO. "Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works". Wipo.int. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  39. ^ a b "Microsoft Word – The Universal Copyright Convention _Geneva Text—September" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  40. ^ Winkler, David (11 July 2002). "Journalists Thrown 'Into the Buzzsaw'". CommonDreams.org. Archived from the original on 4 August 2007.
  41. ^ Sue Curry Jansen; Brian Martin (July 2003). "Making censorship backfire". Counterpoise. 7.
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