n Communication
130

Professor Joseph Turow

n The exam

Thursday, October 16

Through week 5b

n Aim of this class:

Considerations re print history

The book industry

n The history of the United States has been characterized by a limiting of government power over mass media and an increase in private power over them.

Examples:

Court rulings that make suppression of literature extremely difficult

Movement of press from government to private sponsorship.

¡ in newspapers

¡ in magazines

Rise of the advertising industry

n 4. Developments in one mass media industry inevitably affect activities in other mass media industries.

Examples:

Magazines affected by the rise of television.

Newspapers affected by the rise of television.

n The Book Industry

Two questions:

What are the essential features of a book that have drawn readers over the centuries?

What are the essential elements of today’s book industry that would encourage or discourage bold new movements into the digital age?

Book publishing in US

Nearly a $40 billion industry

Traditional segments

Different production, distribution, exhibition gauntlets

Trade

Educational and Training

Professional and reference

College texts

El-hi

Academic

Trade books most visible

Majors—Random House, Penguin Harper Collins, Simon and Schuster

Mid-size- Henry Holt / Owl Books

Small presses--over 12,000

Overhere Press

Cuneiform Press

Pushcart Prize

Trade sales

60% lose money; 36% break even; 4% turn a good profit.

The Hobbit (1937) – 40 mil copies

In 2004, 131 fiction and 132 nonfiction titles sold over 100,000 copies

Da Vinci Code (2004) 4.3 million

Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004) 3.3 million

The Purpose Driven Life 7.3 million

South Beach Diet 3 million

4 Case Studies