J201 Introduction to mass communication Books What s the best book to read How would you measure or decide Measuring the value of books Sales by form and genre hardback fiction Sales by audience segment religion kids Future orders and excitement Library ownership o rcheck ins and check outs Critical ratings Popular polling Social networks and social similarity Books as a form of mass communication mass media of the publishing industry mass audience of readers and their social contexts mass communication social processes and purposes Books as mass media Books and a mass audience Books and mass communication division of labor in the publishing industry authors publishers wholesalers distributors retailers authors lots and lots and lots of authors royalties of 10 15 on price to retailer but retailer price is discounted 40 50 from cover price example publisher sells 20 book to retailer for 10 author getting 10 royalty earns 1 per book publishers about 25 000 US publishers only 3 300 of these publish more than two titles per year low barrier to entry in publishing distributors and wholesalers about 1 000 US distributors wholesalers large scale intermediaries middlemen between the 25 000 publishers and the 26 000 booksellers not to mention libraries distributors only pay for books when sold wholesalers pay for books up front retailers about 26 000 booksellers in US about half are affiliated with large chains and about half are independent booksellers the independent booksellers only represent 15 of total book sale revenues retailers have about a 30 return rate selling the book most books have a life span of only a few years fully 75 of all books published never make a profit economies of scale trade books less profitable than textbooks a typical 25 trade paperback about 2 50 goes to the author called a 20 royalty on wholesale price of 12 50 about 12 50 goes to the bookstore less costs about 10 goes to the publisher less costs publisher nets about 1 25 profit per book 5 of retail a typical 100 college textbook about 11 goes to the author 14 royalty on wholesale price of 76 about 24 goes to the bookstore less costs about 65 goes to the publisher less costs publisher nets about 7 per book 7 of retail are books on the way out over 25 billion in US publisher revenue US publishing statistics total of 2 5 billion books printed each year represents about 100 000 unique titles 50 new generates over 25 billion in revenues US publishing concentration remember some 26 000 publishers only 5 publishers account for 80 of all NYT bestsellers remember over 25 billion in revenue only 20 publishers account for 40 of that revenue 10 billion most top publishers part of larger media firms US publishing concentration does it matter efficient system inflated price lack of diversity absence of social critique porous wall between editorial and advertising media used to maintain concentration of power investments in new technology any state supported alternatives consuming books in the library 9 200 public libraries in the US not counting branches 11 of these libraries serve 72 of the population urban half of all libraries are open less than 40 hours per week 7 items circulated per capita 5 visits per capita combined revenue of about 9 billion 1 billion spent on materials 6 billion spent on staff NCES 2004 data
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