School of Information Sciences
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The essay provides an opportunity to explore an aspect of
contemporary book publishing in some depth. The essay should combine
your own reflection and analysis with use of the appropriate literature. Personal comment is appropriate and expected. Sources used need not be footnoted, but a list of references mustappear
at the end of your paper. Material taken directly from a source
should be in quotes and the author's name should be mentioned in text.
The paper should be word processed [RTF preferred, DOC fine].
Ordinarily, your essay response
should be about eight to twelve pages in length. No covers please, but
include your full name as a header plus page number on each page.
Please include the essay topic description at the beginning
of your response.
1. You are an underpaid young librarian. A distant but rich relative has suddenly passed away and left you with $100,000. Being a bookish sort, you feel that you might like to invest the money in book publishing stock. Unhappily, your spouse would rather have the money in a CD account at the bank or savings and loan. Given the choice of placing your money in a CD account or investing it in publishing stock, make an investment decision and justify it using available evidence on risk and opportunity for financial gain. Select a particular publicly listed publisher to justify your decision. Specific examples will strengthen your response which should also reflect an awareness of the economics of publishing and its likely growth potential. Consider those factors likely to make publishing more or less profitable in the future. It may be helpful to look at Value Line [REF HG 4501 .V26 pt.1] or other stock report resources shelved nearby. There are also many useful resources available on the WWW to learn more about those publishers that are publicly listed.
2. As a thoughtful but not affluent author, consider the assets and liabilities associated with library purchase and circulation of your work under the present system. What advantages would authors and society receive if public lending right legislation became law in the United States as it has in other nations? Disadvantages? Volume 29, no. 4 of Library Trends is devoted to this topic, but don't limit yourself to this one, dated source. This is an important topic that has received little attention in the U.S.
3. You are a new author and your first book has been self-published.
You have decided to create an author or book title web site to
stimulate interest in your book and your work. Evaluate WWW pages by
three to five similar authors and indicate do's and don'ts. It would
also be helpful to identify and discuss a particularly good examples of elements that make a difference
with some discussion of why they are effective.
4. Print space advertising is supposed to sell books. Select an issue of the New York Times Book Review.
Limit yourself to ads of at least one half page. What appeal elements
appear in the advertisement--why should you buy and read this book?
What sort of illustrations appear in the ads--author's picture, picture
of the jacket, or a scene from the book itself? To what degree are
endorsements by public figures or authorities used to sell the book?
Select an advertisement which you feel is particularly effective and
indicate why in some detail. Select an advertisement which is
particularly ineffective and indicate why. Include photocopies or
images of these two advertisements with your paper if you have access
to a scanner.
5. Visit a local chain super bookstore [Borders and Barnes &
Noble are the two local examples]. Describe and evaluate what you
found in some detail. Consider questions such as the following:
6. Select either academic or trade publishing. Review with some care at least four issues of Scholarly Publishing [Z286.S37S33] or of Publishers Weekly [Zl2l9.P98]. Based on your reading and reflection, describe, comment upon, and analyze major trends, problems, and concerns which seem to be particularly important. It would be useful, after a suitable introduction, to begin with a list of particulars, and then to comment on these in turn. Conclude with summary, integrative remarks.
7. Go to any bookstore which stocks children's books [if you have
done an essay evaluating a local bookstore, go to a different store for this essay].
Describe and analyze what you find. Consider such variables as the
division of stock by age group, cloth versus paper books, traditional
quality books versus series books, gimmick books, TV or movie tie-in
books, related sidelines, location in the store, ease of use by
children, etc. Describe and analyze what you find. Based on this
sample, how would you characterize the publishing of books for children
and young adults?
8. Visit a used book store [either bricks and mortar or a virtual
one on the web. Comment on the experience. How does such a store
compare with a "regular" bookstore? There used to be a negative
connotation associated with buying "used" books. Is that still the
case? How easy might it be to sell books to a used bookstore?
9. Select your undergraduate major or minor. Go to a store which sells textbooks such as the local college book store. Describe and analyze what you found. You might consider such variables as price, size, new versus used, publisher, special features, paper versus cloth, use of color and graphics to make the work more interesting and attractive, date of publication, etc. Conclude with summary comments on the state of the art.
10. Go to at least two different places where mass market paperbacks may be purchased [not bookstores] and examine the books offered for sale and their location. Describe and analyze what you find. Consider location of racks, size of books, publishers, series, prices, subjects, authors, cover design and copy, etc.
11. Talk to at least two people other than yourself who have belonged to mail order book clubs and discuss why they joined and continue to belong or why they quit, their problems and enthusiasms.
12. Write a descriptive and reflective essay on interesting aspects
of book publishing in a country of your choice [U.S. is excluded]. Some
comparison with U.S. publishing would be effective and interesting.
13. Write a descriptive and reflective essay on interesting aspects
of regional or local book publishing in the part of the U.S. where you live.
Are there any book publishers in your community? What are they like? What is different about this publisher?
14. Prepare an essay on the relationships between publisher and librarian. Consider areas of likely agreement as well as those where conflict might exist.
15. Browse thoughtfully in recent columns and articles about retail book selling in Publishers Weekly.
Which trends and problems/solutions seem important to you. How would
you characterize the state of independent and chain book sellers? If
you wish, you may focus just on the independents. Describe and
analyze what you find in regard to major trends, problems, and concerns
of contemporary booksellers.
16. Thoughtfully review the coverage of graphic novels in recent issues of Publishers Weekly. How would you characterize this "hot" book publishing phenomenon? You may use other sources as well.
17. Religious publishing is an important and growing segment of
contemporary publishing. After a brief characterization of contemporary religious
publishing, discuss trends, problems and concerns. You may narrow this
essay by focusing on a particular type of religious publishing.
18. As a reference librarian in a community where several patrons are interested in becoming published authors, you have been asked to prepare a short annotated list of the best how to do it sites for would-be authors. The annotations should be descriptive and evaluative.
19. A person in your community has written an autobiographical novel which has been rejected by established publishers. This person has come to you and asked you if the work might be published by what may be a vanity press. How do you identify a vanity press? Write a report on vanity presses which summarizes their assets and liabilities.
20. You have prepared a book length manuscript on......... . Prepare a list of publishers who might be interested in this ms and indicate how you identified them. Prepare a persuasive query letter to be mailed to the first publisher on your list to see if it would be interested in learning more about your work. Although not always available locally, there are good books devoted to query letters at larger public libraries as well as several WWW sites that provide useful information.
21. Create a somewhat detailed marketing plan for a book of your choice. Larger public libraries may have books on how to market your book, but there is helpful comment on the web, especially for self-published authors.
22. Review the last two months of a best seller list of your choice. Describe and evaluate what you found. What do best sellers tell us about contemporary book publishing? To what degree are the most popular books works of little quality?
23. Using appropriate biographical sources, investigate the
background of at least five authors who write a particular type of
literature. What sort of people write in this field? What skills and
experiences do they have? Common patterns? The purpose of this essay is
to consider the variables involved in becoming a successful author.
24. You have been asked to give a presentation on digital book publishing or ebooks (not automated book publishing) at a local downtown civic club. Include some mention of assets and liabilities for publishers as well as users.
25. As an academic librarian known to be familiar with contemporary publishing, you have been asked to speak on poetry book publishing before a community book reading club. The club members have heard that major trade publishers issue few new works of poetry and want you to talk about which publishers publish poetry today and what sort of poetry they publish. You will examine reviews of new books of poetry in poetry magazines as well as in standard library sources to identify and categorize poetry publishers for your presentation on the state of contemporary poetry book publishing in the United States.
26. You have been told that audio books are the wave of the future. Visit your favorite bookstore and review the audio books available for adults. Characterize these items in a thoughtful way. For example, which publishers seem to dominate those titles sold here? How expensive are these books? What type of books and which authors seem to be most popular? How are the books packaged and what information is available on the package? Close with a summary of what you found as well as your thoughts about the popularity and appropriateness of talking books.
27. Visit a religious bookstore of your choice. Describe and evaluate what you found in some detail. Consider: service, sidelines, nature of book stock, display and atmosphere. How similar or different is this from one of the national trade chain bookstores?
28. To what degree are traditional print book publishers visible on
the WWW? Which publishers may be found on the WWW? What information is
presented at their WWW sites? How effective and useful are they? Select
three publishers in a field of interest and characterize the elements
and the effectiveness of their sites.
29. Much attention has been given to digital books, including those
in various ebook formats. How easy is it to find ebooks by familiar
authors and publishers on the web? Characterize product availability?
How likely is it that you might become an ebook reader?
30. The web provides a variety of opportunities for new authors to have their work published. Visit FanFiction.Net and Godawful Fan Fiction. What is fan fiction? Opportunities? Problems?
31. Bertelsmann is the largest book publisher in the world. It is
also a good example of a leading multinational, multi-format publishing
house. It is now the largest U.S. publisher. What can you learn about
its current operations, especially in North America? You might look at
the English language version of their home page using your favorite WWW
search engine.
32. Harlequin is the largest and, until recently, the most
successful of the mass market publishers. What can you learn about its
current operations?
33. You have written the great American guide to living the better life. You have decided to create your own publishing house and to self-publish. What would this involve? You have the ms in MS Word format and a laser printer. How much would it cost to have 500 copies (125 pages of text, 5 full page tables, no illustrations or need for color) manufactured locally? How much if you went to one of the publishing on demand firms visible on the web? Create a reasonable budget for your project. Does this seem like a reasonable thing for an author to do?
30. A subject of your choice after discussion with the teacher.
