Books

Part V

The Audience for Books

Two-thirds of books are purchased by people over 40 years of age. Readers under 25 account for only four percent of book sales. Book reading is also strongly related to income and education level.

Although it is assumed that education and income will continue to be related to book sales, whether age will continue is debatable -- especially with the decline we seen in reading among today's younger people. This is especially evident in newspaper and newsmagazine readership.

The increasing costs of books is also a factor. With the cost of a hardback books now averaging $25 - $35, and paperbacks going for $7 to $9, many people -- especially older people on fixed incomes -- are finding them a luxury they can no longer afford. (Many of these people remember when paperback books were 25-cents each.)

Talking Books and CD-ROMs

People who must spend many hours commuting to and from work often pass the time by listening books on tape. Recorded books are also popular with people with limited eyesight. Today, talking books are one of the most popular items at libraries.

Another popular outlet for the content of books is the CD-ROM. Along with textbooks and popular book titles, reference works such as dictionaries or encyclopedias can be put on a single disk and read on a computer.

One major advantage of the CD-ROM this is that the computer’s powerful search and cross-referencing capabilities can be used to quickly locate information. Film clips, animation and audio segments are also possible.

Careers

With only about 75,000 workers nationwide, book publishing is actually a rather small industry. Competition for jobs, especially in the editorial side, is great.

Plus, many jobs are "farmed out" by publishers to fee lance people who work out of their homes as sales representatives, proofreaders, indexers, artists, and photographers.

The work of photographers (who used to get several hundred dollars for a photo assignment) is being replaced by large stock photo agencies that have huge catalogs of ready-to-use photos.

Typesetters (the people who type up the pages for printing) are often located in foreign countries where labor is cheap. The Internet ties things together in each case.

As a free lance worker you may have the luxury of setting your own hours, working out of your home, and not having to commute to work; but, at the same time you generally can't depend on a regular monthly income, or company-sponsored medical and retirement benefits.

Like most of the mass media fields, the book publishing industry is highly competitive. But, those who are talented, dedicated, and persistent can find jobs. In the the field of book publishing this talent consists of a love for books and literature, and an understanding of public tastes and marketing.

A few writers become millionaires and multi-millionaires when one of their books hits, and remains on, the best-sellers list.

This was the case with Dan Brown and his book, The Da Vinci Code, which we mentioned earlier. Despite Twlight (or possibly largely because of) the controversy it caused), it represents one of the major publishing success stories of recent times. Brown's book sparked several books and TV shows which both supported and attacked his book and research. Regardless of where people stood on the controversy, it got people talking about Bible history.

As 2008 drew to a close the Harry Potter books and Twilight (followed by successful movies in each case) were the most financially successful books.

Historical Chronology

and Internet Links

2500 BC	Sumerian clay tablets
600 BC	Papyrus Egyptian scrolls
540 BC	First public library in Athens
5th Century	Great Library of Alexandria destroyed
9th Century	Chinese invent printing
1456	Gutenberg Bible printed with movable type
16th Century	Books spread Protestant Reformation; censorship invoked
1640	Bay Psalm Book published by Puritans
19th Century	Rise of American novelists and publishing houses
1852	Uncle Tom's Cabin published; helps spark Civil War
1873	Comstock founds Society for Suppression of Vice, and initiates expanded censorship
1920s	Authors cash in on "banned in Boston" label to promote sales
1957	Supreme Court liberalizes definition of "obscenity" in Roth v. United States
1973	Supreme Court narrows definition of "obscenity" in Miller v. California
1980s	CD-ROMs of books start
1980s-1990s	Consolidation of many book publishing firms into media conglomerates; many workers laid off
1997	Internet used to promote and sell books
2000	Authors and publishers experiment with putting books on the Internet
2006	Electronic books are launched with Amazon's first generation Kindle

Relevant Internet links:

Amazon.com	Library of Congress
Dell Publishing	Harper Collins
McGraw-Hill	Random House

Note Interactive Test link below. In the next module we'll look at newspapers.