The document traces the history and evolution of the publishing industry from the past to the present and discusses trends for the future. In the past, publishing required large capital investments, print runs, and warehouses. Books were distributed through bookstores, clubs, and other channels. The rise of ebooks and digital formats has significantly changed the industry, with electronic books now accounting for a major portion of sales. The future of publishing is predicted to be dominated by digital formats and new technologies like 3D printing and near-field communication, though uncertainties around piracy and consumer preferences remain.

1. Publishing Assignment - Deadline 28th March 2014
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Introduction
Past (Patience and Saadiyo)
INTRODUCTION
A publisher in the 1900’s would not be able to recognize the
publishing industry now more than 100 years later. The original
publishing industries required large capital investments, long print
runs, large warehousing facilities and careful printing volume
forecasting. In the past, publishing industries also takes favorable
demographics into account and its
contributions to sales of published books, magazines educational
text and so on.(Referenceforbusiness.com,2014). The demand for
specific literature and hardback books reflects strongly through
the bestseller lists, which publishers then send their written work
for review via email and fax.(Online library,2014)
In the 19th century, books were published with paper made by
hand resulting to more than 20 percent of the price of the book.
The book of the month and the literary guide was highly popular
resulting in millions of readers. After the 18th century, cloths

2. cases were being used for books instead of leather. Increased
means of communication lead to increase in book production and
thirst for personal development in the olden days lead to
increased readership. (Britannica, 2013)
''The fat years of printed word are over, says John Sutherland, he
academic and author of several books on the history of
publishing .Nowadays when books are very affordable, yet
readers are not motivated to buy them. The rise of e-books is part
of the reason readership has shifted from printed to digital
material. (Guardian, 2009).
STRUCTURE OF PUBLISHING INDUSTRIES IN THE PAST
Products within the book publishing industry were divided into six
major categories: adult trade, juvenile trade ,mass market,
professional, technical, and reference, university press, and
religious books. Then Volume which is the size of a book's print
run, is an important factor in achieving profitability. In the past
censorship was very crucial. Most writers formed
relationships with particular editors, who were often public
figures.(Referenceforbusiness.com,2014)
DISTRIBUTIONS
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3. In the past books were being distributed through magazine
channels to places where books has never been sold before,
newsstands, drug, chain, and variety store.
DEVELOPMENT OF LAW
The copyright law underwent considerable development in the
publishing industries. The United States first enacted copyright
legislation in 1790, France in 1793, and Germany in 1839. The
United states continued to protect its domestic printing industry
up to 1955 till when it joined the Universal copyright convention
Unesco in the year 1952.The customary term of protection is the
author’s lifetime plus 50 years. The copyright legislation serves as
a treaty between countries that recognize copyright. (Edward
Samuels, 2000)
THE FIRST LITERARY AGENT
Literary agents also known as publishing agents were very
common the past. Literary agent is an agent who represent a
writers and their written works to publishers. The first agents
began business in year 1875. The reason behind employing a
literary agent in the past was that authors who were unable
themselves to handle their business with publishers satisfactorily
employed a professional to bargain for them. (Britannica, 2013)
MARKETING AND SALES METHOD
The marketing and sales methods of the late 18th and 19th
century was implemented by a sales representative who merely
showed his samples and the publisher took small spaces in
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4. newspapers for the bare announcement of title and author of his
new books .
The target group was mainly middle class with fast-growing
incomes and retail bookstores in areas with high spread of
population. (Gale Group, 2014). Densely populated areas meant
increase in sales. These factors, combined with the development
of the railroad led to the successful development mail order
advertising and selling.
THE BOOK CLUB
Book club association was developed in the past, an association
of members who undertook to purchase, usually each month, a
book selected for them by a committee. The advantage of being
that the books in question was supplied at lower price than that at
which it could be bought in a bookshop. Book club membership
also created opportunity to socialise in the past.
Production
By the early 1950s the paperback revolution was well under way.
Growing from the prewar Penguins and spreading to many other
firms, paperbacks began to proliferate into well-printed,
inexpensive books on every conceivable subject, including a wide
range of first-class literature. In the old pre-internet days,
publishing books was like launching rockets. Most crashed to the
earth, some went into orbit. But the publisher’s efforts — most of
the time — were limited to the launch. Then the marketing team
could move on. This was not a way of doing business that was
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5. appealing to authors, but it was consistent with the realities of the
marketplace. The big book chains wouldn’t keep a title in stock if
its sales appeal wasn’t evident at the cash register within 90 days.
Without copies of a title in the stores, there was no point to the
publisher pushing it.
Editing
Every publishing house has manufacturing, marketing, and
accounts departments, but the heart of the business lies in the
editorial function. Besides the editor, there is also an editorial
department, which is responsible for the detailed preparation of
the typescript before it is printed. Facts, figures, and references
are checked, and inelegancies of style are polished where
necessary. The paperback publisher makes an offer to buy the
paperback rights from the publisher of the hardcover edition, and
the paperback royalties are shared between the author and the
hardcover publisher.
During the Golden Age, publishers and editors viewed their work
as intellectual work, they viewed authors as artists, and they were
willing to focus on the long-term social and financial benefits of
publishing valuable works, at least occasionally, rather than
obsessing over the instant gratification of a best-seller.
According to Gene Taft, Vice President and Director of Publicity
for Public Affairs Books, “the industry used to be run by bookish
people who liked to read. But there are not enough book people
who are good business people. Now, with the large
conglomerates having taken over so many houses, a different
kind of executive is involved in the industry”(Hill and Power 2005,
54).
Editors who discuss literary issues with authors, who help them
develop their characters and resolve plot holes, were among the
“inefficiencies” that were greatly eliminated during the Age of
Acquisitions.
Promotion and distribution
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6. Newspaper and periodical advertising is the publisher’s principal
means of reaching the public, and standards here have also risen
considerably since World War II. Broadcasting and television
services, too, can sometimes be interested in books and their
authors, and the resultant publicity may then be extremely
effective. For many books, a prospectus may be issued, both for
the use of booksellers and for direct mailing by the publisher. The
paperbacks were being found not only in bookshops but also in
drugstores, street kiosks, and newsstands in railway stations,
airports, and hotel lobbies.
Trends
The 1920s was the beginning of the Modern Age in American
literature. In this decade, a new generation of American literary
giants came to prominence. Their work was often too bold to be
printed by the established New York publishers that still felt the
censorial effects of Comstock and his campaigns. This new
generation of writers required a new generation of publishers that
would dare to champion new, modern American literature. In 1939
the firms reintroduced mass-market paperback books with its
Pocket Book imprint. Paperbacks received further attention in the
early 1950s from Doubleday.
The 1920s also saw the establishment of book clubs as a new
way to market books. The Book-Of-The- Month-Club was the first,
started in 1926, and was followed by the Literary Guild in 1927.
By the 1970s, approximately 150 book clubs were in business,
generating almost $250 million in sales, or 8 percent of the
industry's revenue at that time. Beginning the 1960s, a major
trend in publishing was the merging of houses, as well as the
consolidation of retail sales outlets. One of the first mergers to
occur was Random House's purchase of Alfred A. Knopf in 1960.
In 1965 RCA acquired Random House for $40 million and added
it to RCA's roster of media companies, which included NBC Radio
and Television. By the 1990s, though, book clubs were struggling
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7. to survive because of competition from national bookstore chains
and Internet booksellers.
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF US HISTORY (2006) Publishing
Industry Available at http://www.answers.com/topic/publishing-industry
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(Accessed 6-3-2014)
Present (Amy and Robert)
Industry Structure
According to Michael Porter, industries are affected by a five
fundamental ‘forces’ known more commonly as Porters Five
Forces. The forces are known as; the bargaining power of buyers,
the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of new entrants, the
threat of substitute products or services and rivalry amongst
existing firms. (Renko and Sustic et al., 2011) These forces can
have a major effect upon the publishing industry and their profits.
For example, if an industry has many companies selling more or
less the same product, competition between the companies will
be intense and the profit will be low. Related to the current
publishing industry, there are many small publishers across the
world that are competing for a market share. However, due to the
competitive nature of the industry, it is extremely difficult to get the
publicity and sales without the help of larger companies, who are
already established within this concentrated market.
For the modern day author, it is very important to have a
community surrounding your work. Through social media, authors

8. can interact with one another and their fan base, whilst also
promoting their work. (Petronzio, 2012)
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Current Trends
The biggest trend within the publishing industry are currently
eBooks, which are electronic versions of books. They are
becoming increasingly more common with the consumer because
they have access to thousands of books from one device. Jeff
Bezos, CEO of Amazon, says that the owners of eReaders are
purchasing more books now than ever before due to the simplicity
of purchasing eBooks (Pressman, 2014). Amazon, who own the
brand Kindle, have 90% of the e-reader market share within the
UK (BBC, 2013) and have one of the largest selection of eBooks
for their consumers, which relates to why they have such a large
market share. In 2008, eBook sales accounted for 1.1% of the US
market, however in 2012, that figure rose to nearly 30%
(Campbell, 2013). This shows that there has been a huge growth
in demand for the product, within the past five years and that the
publishing industry has moved with the technological age that the
western world is currently going through.
The cost of eBooks have caused a lot of controversy within
the industry, due to their high prices when compared to hardback
copies of the same book. According to consumers, the prices of
eBooks should be significantly less than hardback copies as there
are no printing or distribution costs incurred to the company.
(Bentley, 2012) In some cases, it has been seen to be more
expensive to purchase an eBook than the printed counterpart.
(Hannah, 2013) Consumers also do not get the same experience

9. with the electronic versions as they do with the paperbacks. For
example, consumers prefer the smell and feel of a new book,
which they cannot get from their eReaders.
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Technology
Two things have driven the explosion of activity on the internet in
the last couple of years: it allows existing activities to be carried
out at lower cost; and it creates new business opportunities. The
publishing industry has not ignored these opportunities, the vast
technological development and advances from the early 19th
century to the fast paced production techniques of today have
contributed to the industries surge into the 21st century. The
need to maintain turnover and profit has meant that publishers are
being forced to seek revenue outside the traditional areas
(Hibbert,1999). The main source of revenue currently being
developed is electronic commerce. This prediction made in 1999-
over 10 years ago- demonstrates the development of the
publishing industry.
Electronic Commerce
There are currently three transmission technologies which are
and will continue to be of importance to the publishing industry:
· digital interactive TV (DITV)
· advanced telecoms such as ISDN and ADSL
· interactive mobile services.
Adding more information about these transmission technologies
Companies who withhold from developing their technologies, “If

10. publishers (and authors) continue to take a wary stance, they will
significantly hold back the development of digital books, creating
a real risk that major international retailers will not actively target
the Dutch market” (Poort et al, 2012, p. 86).
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Future (Dani)
Industry
The future of publishing and more specifically book
publishing is full of uncertainties. One of the biggest uncertainties
lies in the digitalization of books and whether they will face the
same issues as the music industry – book piracy, alienating
people that are not tech-savvy, and whether people who read
once in a while will want to buy an eReader or will they only be
purchased by a small group of consumers that read a lot.
(Ballhaus, 2010)
Statistics show that 900/1000 people surveyed in The
Netherlands have not bought a single paper book in the last year.
(Ballhaus, 2014) However, when the same question was asked
for eBooks, the number goes down to 400 people. This indicates
a trend of preference for eBooks over physical books. The future
of book publishing is clearly progressing to the digital world.

11. Ekene Patience Nesiagho 504701
Technology
In the past, if you wanted to purchase and read a book you
had but one option – go to the store and purchase a physical
book. Nowadays, you have Amazon and the internet where you
can purchase physical and digital books and pay electronically.
However, that’s been so for a while now. What is the future of
book publishing? Near field communications or NFC for short.
(Machaalani, 2013) With NFCs you can go to any store, browse
through their selection, and hold your phone or tablet over any
product to purchase it online and have it delivered to your
doorsteps the very next day.
This solution solves the major shortcoming of pure online
shopping – instant gratification.
Nowadays almost everybody has a printer in their home.
However, that’s a 2D printer, and the future of printing is in 3D.
(Lumb, 2013) Perhaps one day we’ll be able to purchase a book
online and, shall we chose a physical copy, print it in our homes
on our 3D printers. Perhaps even order the book online and have
the printer fabricate it while you are still at work. Your own instant
factory!
Publishing Trends In 2014
- Traditional publisher know next to nothing about the
consumer. Their primary focus up till now has been to work with
the authors, market and distribute books. In contrast, Amazon
knows everything about the consumer and even goes as far as to
inform their customer-base when a new book comes out by their
favorite author. Traditional publishers must learn to build a bond
with the modern consumer or parish and give way to new

12. technology like eReaders, eBooks and mobile devices. (Morgan,
2012)
- The video game industry is predicted to hit $70.1 billion by
2015 even though consumers shift away from retail packaged
games in favor of direct digital distribution platforms like Steam
and subscription based gaming and even though the game
industry is embracing the freemium business model. The growth
is due to the combined growth of PC, Console, Mobile gaming, as
well as, online gaming, faster online communication and more
powerful servers. (Takahashi, 2010)
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Conclusion

13. Ekene Patience Nesiagho 504701
Appendices
References
Past

14. 1.High beam businesses. The Gale Group(2014) Books:
Publishing or publishing and printing (Online) Available at:
http://business.highbeam.com/industry-reports/wood/books-publishing-
publishing-printing (Accessed 27 February 2014)
2. Unwin, P. (2013) The history of publishing (Online) Available at:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482597/history-of-publishing/
28634/Book-piracy (Accessed 26 February 2014)
3..Asadoorian M. N., Colby college (2007) Where did all these
books come from? The publishing industry and the American
intellectual life (Online) Available at:
http://digitalcommons.colby.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1281
&context=honorstheses (Accessed 26 February 2014)
4.The Guardian (2009) You can’t be serious (Online) Available
at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/16/publishing-industry-
decline-libraries ( Accessed 29 February 2014)
5. Osnos,P.(2011) How Book Publishing Has Changed Since
1984
(Online)Availableat:
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/04/how-book-
publishing-has-changed-since-1984/237184/ (Accessed 28
February 2014)
6. Reference For business (2014) SIC 2731 Book Publishing-
Description, Market Prospects, Industry History. (Online)
Available at:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/industries/Printing-
Publishing-Allied/Book-Publishing.html (Accessed 11 March
2014)
7. Samuels, E.(2000) International copyright relations. (Online)
Available at:
http://www.edwardsamuels.com/illustratedstory/isc10.htm
(Accessed 11 March 2014)
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15. 8. History of publishing. The Literary Agent (Online) Available at:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/343481/literary-agent
(Accessed 7 March 2017)
ENCYCLOPIDIA BRITANNICA (2013) history of publishing
Available at
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/482597/history-of-publishing
Ekene Patience Nesiagho 504701
(Accessed 1-3-2014)
THE IDEA LOGICAL COMPANY (2012) Business models are
changing Available at
http://www.idealog.com (Accessed 6-3-2014)
GALE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF US HISTORY (2006) Publishing
Industry Available at
http://www.answers.com/topic/publishing-industry (Accessed
6-3-2014)
Present
BBC News. 2013. Kobo flattens Aura e-reader to help challenge
Kindle. [online] Available at:

16. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23854590 [Accessed: 1 Mar
2014].
Bentley, P. 2012. How a third of bestselling ebooks cost MORE
than the same title in hardback. [online] Available at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2211022/How-bestselling-
ebooks-cost-MORE-title-hardback.html [Accessed: 2
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Mar 2014].
Campbell, D. 2013. 10 Trends Driving The Future Of Book
Publishing - Digital Thinking. [online] Available at:
http://www.dugcampbell.com/10-trends-driving-the-future-of-book-publishing/
[Accessed: 27 Feb 2014].
Hannah, F. 2014. They should be cheaper, but e-books now cost
you MORE. [online] Available at:
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/they-should-be-cheaper-but-e-books-
now-cost-you-more-113959477.html [Accessed: 2 Mar
2014].
Petronzio, M. 2012. 10 Inspiring Social Networks for Writers.
[online] Available at: http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/social-networks-
writers/ [Accessed: 5 Mar 2014].
Pressman, A. 2014. The book industry isn't dying, it's thriving with
an ebook assist. [online] Available at:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/the-exchange/the-book-industry-

17. isn-t-dying--it-s-thriving-with-an-ebook-assist-191025547.html
[Accessed: 2 Mar 2014].
Renko, N., Sustic, I. and Butigan, R. 2011. Designing Marketing
Strategy Using the Five Competitive Forces Model by Michael E.
Porter - Case of Small Bakery in Croatia. International Journal of
Management Cases, 13 (3), p. 383.
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Future
Ballhaus, W (2010). Turning the Page The Future of eBooks.
London: PricewaterhouseCoopers. p1-34.
Machaalani, E. (2013). The Future Of E-Commerce For Small
Businesses. Available:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ciocentral/2013/03/13/the-future-of-e-commerce-
for-small-businesses/. Last accessed 04-Mart 2014.
Lumb, D. (2013). The Top Nine Consumer 3-D Printers For Every
Budget. Available: http://www.fastcolabs.com/3016490/9-
consumer-3-d-printers-for-every-budget. Last accessed 04 Mart
2014.

18. Morgan, N. (2012). What Is the Future of Publishing?. Available:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmorgan/2012/07/12/what-is-the-future-
Ekene Patience Nesiagho 504701
of-publishing/. Last accessed 04 Mart 2014.
Takahashi, D. (2010). Video game industry to hit $70 billion by
2015, but growth will slow. Available:
http://venturebeat.com/2010/05/25/video-game-industry-to-hit-70-
billion-by-2015-but-growth-will-slow/. Last accessed 04 Mart
2014.
LINK https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i-
QsnaUF8I62G0TujE7i7ms68xeWwe90TSb4APircBs/edit#