CHAPTER ESSENTIALS

• Books first developed due to innovations made by the Egyptians, Greeks, Chinese, and Romans. Egyptians created papyrus (scrolls made from plant reeds) in 2400 BCE. Gradually, people began writing on parchment (treated animal skin) because of its durability and cheaper cost; by the fourth century CE, Romans created the first protomodern book with the codex (sheets of parchment sewn together along one edge, then bound with thin pieces of wood and covered with leather) (p. 38).

• Books entered the entrepreneurial stage in the Middle Ages, at which time people explored new ways of writing. This led to the emergence of manuscript culture, whereby priests and monks advanced the art of bookmaking with illuminated manuscripts, which featured decorative, colorful illustrations on each page. At the same time, inventors experimented with printing techniques that sped up the hand-lettering process, such as block printing—in which printers applied sheets of paper to large blocks of inked wood into which they had hand-carved a page’s worth of characters and illustrations—and movable type (pp. 39–41).

• The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg between 1453 and 1456 allowed for the mass production of books, such as the Bible. (The first Gutenberg Bible was printed on a fine calfskin-based parchment called vellum.) This advancement marked books’ move to the mass medium stage, complete with the rise of the publishing industry two centuries later. By the 1830s, paperback books were introduced in the United States, and by the 1870s, dime novels (coined as pulp fiction—a reference to the cheap, machine-made pulp paper they were printed on) were made accessible to the masses. Meanwhile, in the 1880s, the introduction of linotype machines enabled printers to save time by setting type mechanically using a typewriter-style keyboard, and the introduction of offset lithography in the 1900s allowed publishers to print books from photographic plates rather than from metal casts—cutting costs and saving more time (pp. 41–43).

• Initially, publishing houses were small and focused on offering the works of prestigious authors, but over time—by the 1950s and 1960s—they were snapped up by major corporations with ties to international media conglomerates that took advantage of synergy, or the promotion and sale of different versions of a media product across the various subsidiaries of the conglomerate (pp. 43–45).

• Regardless of their size or the types of books they publish, all publishing houses are structured similarly: Acquisitions editors seek out authors, offer them contracts, and handle subsidiary rights (the selling of the rights to a book for use in other media); developmental editors help the author draft and revise a manuscript by providing feedback and soliciting reviewer advice; copy editors fix spelling, punctuation, and other grammar issues; design managers determine the look and feel of a book; and marketing departments identify consumer patterns and help determine business plans accordingly (pp. 45–46).

• Until recently, books of all kinds took only printed form. Some of the categories include trade books (hardbound and paperback books aimed at general readers and sold at commercial retail outlets); professional books (targeted at various occupational groups, not the general consumer market); textbooks (educational books divided into elementary through high school, college, and vocational categories); mass market paperbacks (sold on racks in drugstores, supermarkets, and airports, in addition to bookstores) and instant books (an innovation in mass market paperback publishing that involves putting out a topical book right after a major event occurs); religious books; reference books (including dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, almanacs, and volumes related to particular professions or trades); and university press books (nonprofit scholarly works for small groups of readers) (pp. 46–49).

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• With the rise of electronic and digital publishing, book formats have expanded beyond print to include audio books—known originally as “books on tape” (now available on CDs and as MP3 downloads), which became popular in the 1990s and early 2000s—and e-books—digital books read on a computer or electronic reading device. Publishers in the e-book market are continually looking for ways to improve on printed books (pp. 49–50).

• The book business makes money by selling books through brick-and-mortar stores, online stores, book clubs, and mail order, and also by selling TV and movie rights (pp. 50–53, 56).

• The book business spends money on essential activities, such as book production, distribution, and marketing (pp. 56–58).

• Books have played a vital role in democracy by spreading its very notion and disseminating ideas that have inspired people to drive change (pp. 58–59).

• Despite the crucial role of books, they face many challenges. For example, censorship prevents people from learning about alternative ideas or ways of living. Although censorship is illegal in the United States, citizens can sometimes force the removal of books from public or school libraries by filing a complaint—a book challenge—about subject matter they find objectionable. In addition, the decline of bookstores and libraries and the physical deterioration of books pose problems (pp. 59, 62–63).

1. Question 2.1

   Why was the printing press such an important and revolutionary invention?

2. Question 2.2

   Why did publishing houses develop?

3. Question 2.3

   What are the main ways in which digital technologies have changed the publishing industry?

4. Question 2.4

   What are the main sources of revenue in book publishing?

5. Question 2.5

   How do books play a vital role in our society?

• DESCRIBE the current state of movies by developing a list of the top twenty movies from the past year.

• ANALYZE your list by noting patterns: Which movies were based on books, and which movies inspired later books?

• INTERPRET what these patterns mean. For example, are only popular books made into movies? Do movies increase the sales of related books? Do popular movies launch new books?

• EVALUATE the synergy of books with movies. Do movies bring attention to books that might otherwise go unnoticed, or do movies completely overshadow books?

• ENGAGE with the community by contacting your local library or a bookstore. Since reading for pleasure strongly correlates with academic achievement, you could work with the library or bookstore to develop a promotion or reading series built around the influence of books on movies.