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Loading... Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century (edition 2012)by John B. Thompson (Author)
Work InformationMerchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century by John B. Thompson
   None No current Talk conversations about this book. 1   jphamilton | Jul 1, 2013 | 
Following his 2005 survey of scholarly publishing, Books in the Digital Age, John B. Thompson turns his attention to trade book publishing in Great Britain and the United States. The readers most likely to benefit from Merchants of Culture will be authors who crave assurance of their importance and who want to understand agents. The final chapter, "Trouble in the Trade," exposes dangers even experienced authors overlook. Thompson also has good news for aspiring authors. . . . Thompson is prudent in his method, generous with generalization, and sympathetic to his subject. Publishing professionals will encounter much that is familiar and can skip merrily ahead, but Thompson's attention to different segments of the trade offers something new for everyone.
These are turbulent times in the world of book publishing. For nearly five centuries the methods and practices of book publishing remained largely unchanged, but at the dawn of the twenty-first century the industry finds itself faced with perhaps the greatest challenges since Gutenberg. A combination of economic pressures and technological change is forcing publishers to alter their practices and think hard about the future of the books in the digital age. In this book - the first major study of trade publishing for more than 30 years - Thompson situates the current challenges facing the industry in an historical context, analysing the transformation of trade publishing in the United States and Britain since the 1960s. He gives a detailed account of how the world of trade publishing really works, dissecting the roles of publishers, agents and booksellers and showing how their practices are shaped by a field that has a distinctive structure and dynamic. This new paperback edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to take account of the most recent developments, including the dramatic increase in ebook sales and its implications for the publishing industry and its future. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)070.5094109045Information Journalism And Publishing Journalism And Publishing Publishing Biography; History By Place Europe British Isles -- Ireland & ScotlandLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.94)
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Wikipedia in English
1
Much of what's between these covers is not pretty, and doesn't seem hopeful much of the time, but people are certain to always read books. It's just that many people will give up the full pleasure of reading a quality printed volume—because they're cheap, impatient, not that interested, whatever—for the chance to spend even more time with an electronic device. Myself, I'm happiest with ink and paper, covers and bookmarks, and a book's smell and the tactile sensation of turning the pages. Hell, I want to walk away from my computer as I write this—there are always plenty of books waiting for me in my world.
This is the second edition of this title, having been revised in 2012. Things are changing at an alarming rate for many, veterans and newbies, in the business, but with change there always comes opportunity. Well, as I'm quoting fortune cookies now, I'll stop myself ... for now.
Just know that if you want to gain vast knowledge about publishing and bookselling, this is a great place to start. (