books, the beginnings of mass media
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Books:The Birth of the Mass Media
– Referencing Mass Communication: Living in a Media WorldRalph E. Hanson
Memoir or Fiction
• Look inside – Amazon.com• The Smoking Gun:
muckrakers found that the book is filled with a million little lies. “Oprah Winfrey’s been had.”
Pictograph
Ideograph
Vocabulary• Pictograph• Ideograph• Phonography• Alphabets
• Papyrus• Parchment• Paper• Scriptoria
Development of Writing• Approx. 3500 BC: Writing originates in Egypt or
Mesopotamia• Earliest writing was pictographs and ideographs; symbols
that stand for ideas• Approx. 2000 BC: Phonography begins; symbols stand for
sounds• 1700 – 1500 BC: Alphabets developed; letters stand for
sounds
Development of Paper• 3100 BC: Egyptians develop papyrus, writing surface
made from papyrus reed.• Parchment – Writing surface from skin of goats and
sheep; much less fragile than papyrus.• 240- 105 BC: Paper developed by Chinese; moves to
Europe in mid-11th century.
Development of Books• Earliest books were papyrus scrolls• 400-800 AD: Religious books hand-copied by
monks in rooms called scriptoria.• 1200s: Licensed publishers distribute hand-
copied books such as The Canterbury Tales.
The Invention of Mass Culture• 1455: Gutenberg develops movable metal
type, makes printing feasible.• First mass-produced written word. The
printing press allowed text to be stored in multiple “perfect” copies.
William Caxton 1422 - 1491• Helped establish the rules for
English, standardizing word usage, grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• This was done by publishing books in English rather than Latin.
Books in the New World• 1539: First New World printing press in Mexico City.• 1640: Printing begins in North America with Whole
Booke of Psalmes. Book became early export for colonies.
• 1731: Benjamin Franklin establishes early circulating (subscription) libraries. Went on to become popular author.
Consequences of Gutenberg• Standardized books and language• Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation• Made possible transferring ideas beyond
community where they originated
Mass Produced Books• 1814: Steam-powered rotary press• 1830s–1840s: Popularity of serial novels• Civil War era: Popularity of paperback dime
novels• Growth of inexpensive books, magazines, and
newspapers fuels growth of mass literacy
The Book Business• Publishers• Authors• Booksellers
Publishers• Major commercial publishers• University and small presses• Vanity presses and self-publishing• Government Printing Office
Major Commercial Publishers• Just 20 companies publish nearly 80% of all
books today.• Globally: Pearson, Reed Elsevier, Thomson Reuters,
Wolters Kluwer, Bertelsmann Random House.• USA. McGraw Hill, Scholastic, John Wiley, Harper
Collins, Readers Digest.
University and Small Presses• May not be in the business for profit.• Sometimes breakaway successes.• EG. Prof at U of Chicago, Norman Maclean’s,
memoir “A River Runs through It” about growing up in Montana. Published by U of Chicago, made into a major motion picture.
Self Publishing• “Vanity Presses” are publishers that print
books with the author paying all costs of publication and discribution.
• Surprises happen eg James Redfield’s Celestine Prophesy.
Authors• Not everyone is a star.• Many books have limited promotion.
Book Writing Process
Booksellers• Wholesalers/distributors—Ingram Book Group• Major bookstore chains—Barnes & Noble is
largest bookseller• Independent booksellers—American
Bookseller’s Association• Mail-order book clubs
Textbook Business• Barnes & Noble has major campus bookstore division• GAO estimates on the average, a student spends
$900 a year on textbooks• Schools try variety of ways to lower costs• Schools experimenting with e-book readers• Authors/publishers make nothing on used books
“Literature” vs. Popular Books• Nathaniel Hawthorne vs.
the “scribblers” like Sarah Josepha Hale. Pg134.
• Hawthorne’s complaints about pop fiction are often echoed today.
Literature vs. Popular Books• Stephen King —“The
literary equivalent of a Big Mac and a large fries.”
• Vampires, wizards, and the NYT Best Seller list
Literature & Popular Intersecting• The Hobbit was written by
JR Tolkien to amuse his children.
• Has a lasting influence – movies, inspired Yes and Led Zeppelin, the game Everquest.
Books and Censorship• Book banning in the United States is generally local
and involves taking books out of libraries or off school reading lists.
• Globally, authors can have works banned, threats of violence and death.
• Salman Rushdie—The Satanic Verses• Sherry Jones—The Jewel of Medina
Books and the Long Tail• Amazon.com—Offering all books rather than a
selection of books• Tracks customers’ interests by recording what
they’ve already bought.• Started 1995. One reason for initial success is in
early days of Internet, people who owned computers were also likely to read books.
Electronic Publishing• “Audio e-books” have been popular for years.• Mostly, e-books now are books in form of a
text file that can be read on Kindle, iPad, Droid, etc.
• Print-On-Demand is e-publishing where the physical book is not printed until it is ordered.
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