School of Information Sciences
University of TennesseeIS 561: Contemporary Book Publishing
Fall 2007
6.30 - 9.10
Tuesday
Via Centra or
Room COM 321B
455 Communications Building [865.974.7918]
Email: wrobins1@utk.edu
Robinson web site
Hours: 10.00 - 11.30 Monday - Tuesday
Before and after class [briefly]
By email.
Other times by appointment.
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a documented disability or if you have emergency information to share, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 2227 Dunford Hall, 37996-4020, phone 865-974-6087 {v/tty} or ods@utk.edu. This will ensure that you are properly registered for services. It is also important to discuss your situation with the teacher.
This course introduces contemporary book publishing in the United States. The broad nature of the subject means that the course cannot be comprehensive, but will focus on several important functional areas. The major focus of the course will be on the process of creating and selling a book through the book trade [book stores]. Some attention will be given to different types of publishers.
The following is a reasonably firm schedule of topics to be covered in the course. The nature of the topic, the amount of class discussion, and the discovery of new material may result in changes. We may not be able to cover all of the topics listed below. The limited time frame means that some important book publishing aspects will not be covered in class.
Because this is a desktop to desktop distance education class, there will be no final examination.
Lecture notes in some detail are available for each of the topics in the course. You will find them on my website [see contact information above], but not on Blackboard. Please note that most lectures do contain links to sites that illuminate or add depth to whatever is being discussed. You may wish to consider downloading the lecture notes and reading them on your computer so that you can take advantage of the links.
The PowerPoint slides are an overview/summary of the content found in the lecture notes.
Claudia Suzanne's This Business of Books: A Complete Overview of the Industry from Concept Through Sales is a quick, easy read and will give you a good sense of major problems and trends in contemporary book publishing. Please read the whole book as soon as possible. It should prove useful throughout the course. Our second text is Bookmaking: Editing, Design, Production by Marshal Lee [third edition]. This is a classic and essential for those seriously interested in book design and manufacturing. Those less interested in the details may find The Non-Designer's Design Book [2nd ed.] by Robin Williams to be a good introduction to the basics.
Pat Walsh's 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might is clear and helpful for those who wish to have a book published.
How to Be Your Own Literary Agent: The Business of Getting a Book Published by Richard Curtis, would be a good overview alternative. William Germano's Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars, and Anyone Else Serious about Serious Books will tell you how to get your work published if you are more interested in academic non-fiction.
If you are interested in the more technical aspects of preparing content for print, consider Getting It Printed: How to Work With Printers and Graphic Imaging Services to Assure Quality, Stay on Schedule, and Control Costs [4th ed.] by Eric Kenly and Mark Beach. It should be available in most larger public libraries.
For an unusually interesting anecdotal look at authorship topics, John Hamilton's Casanova Was a Book Lover is recommended.
For those interested in the business aspects of book publishing, the Baker Library at Harvard has an excellent set of guides to publishing & printing. Well worth a visit.
For those interested in the history of the book, A Companion to the History of the Book edited By Simon Eliot and Jonathan Rose is a good [but expensive choice] if held in a nearby library. A less expensive trade paper edition should be issued in the next few months. It would be a good choice for your local academic library.
The Fall semester begins on Wednesday 22 August. Classes end on 4 December.
28 August
Course Introduction
Some Characteristics of U.S. Book Publishing
Read lecture notes: Introduction and external environment.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: To what degree is a new book unique so there can be no competition?
4 September
Business Perspectives
***PERSONAL ESSAY: What the book means to me is due at midnight Knoxville time.
Read lecture notes: business perspectives.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Does "synergy" make sense so that publishers should become "content managers" rather than book publishers?
11 September
Concentration/Mergers/acquisitions Lecture
Read lecture notes: Concentration in book publishing.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: As a publisher, how rational is it to wait for authors to supply the content needed for your business?
18 September
Authors
Read lecture notes: authors.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Is information technology likely to minimize the need for the editor?
25 September
Editing and editors lecture
Read lecture notes: editing books
***1st course paper is due at midnight Knoxville time.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Can an author be successful without an agent? Why?
2 October
Literary agents
Read lecture notes: literary agents.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Which aspect of book design is most important in selling books? In reading books? Are librarians typical book buyers? Why?
9 October
Book parts and book design
Read lecture notes book design and book parts.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Some book manufacturers now call themselves "multi-channel content distributors." What does that mean? Is this a new role or simply a new name for a traditional one?
16 October
Book manufacture
Read lecture notes: book manufacturing.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: How might a book publisher "grow the market"?
23 October
Selling books: Book sales, advertising, and publicity
Read lecture notes: selling books.
DISCUSSION QUESTION:What side lines would you include in your book store? Why?
30 October
Retail outlets
Read lecture notes: retail book selling.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Discuss the assets and liabilities of being published by a small press?
How might university presses survive?
6 November
Small publishers
Read lecture notes: small publisher books.
University publishing
Read lecture notes: university press books.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Increasingly, children's books are purchased by children rather than adults. What difference does that make?
Tennessee has passed a law requiring publicly funded universities and colleges to reduce the cost of textbooks. How might they do that?
13 November
Children's publishing
Read lecture notes: children's books.
Textbook publishing
Read lecture notes: textbooks.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: When would you buy an e-book? How often do you re-read books? What difference does that make?
20 November
Digital Publishing
Read lecture notes: digital books.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: Cover art plays an especially important role in both mass and trade paper sales. What sort of cover art attracts you? Why?
Class time will focus on important topics revealed in the lecture notes available on my web site. Questions and comments on the lecture topics are solicited and class participation is assumed. You may be called upon to discuss topics and issues in the lecture notes. We will begin each class meeting after the first one with responses to the discussion question seen above. Do be ready to respond.
Class attendance is not required. However, attendance and class participation will be considered in the final evaluation of student work. Failure to attend class and participate in discussions could result in a lower final grade.
The teacher will post a note on UTKSIS-L if he is unable to meet with the class. He will also attempt to inform the School secretary who will post a note on the class room door. If this happens, a reasonable effort will be made to schedule a make-up meeting at a reasonably convenient time. Attendance at such a meeting is voluntary.
Weather:The University, because of its residential nature, rarely closes even when the weather is awful. The School does not have a dangerous weather policy but leaves these decisions to individual faculty members. If the University is open, but road conditions are dangerous where you live or you are anxious about future road conditions, stay at home. The teacher will not come to the University to meet with the class if roads are dangerous where he lives.
When you successfully complete this course, you should be able to:
All written work must be word processed. RTF files are preferred, but DOC files are fine. Other formats may not be readable.
Knoxville student work should be neatly stapled in the upper left
corner and submitted without additional covers. Your name and mail box
number should be on the first page. Distance education students, and
Knoxville students, if they wish, should deposit their work in the
BlackBoard DropBox. All work is late after midnight on the due date [Knoxville time].
Late work will be accepted within one week of the due date. Late work will receive a grade penalty so that satisfactory to superior work will earn a B unless an arrangement has been made with the teacher before the due date. With an appropriate reason stated before the due date, students may be allowed additional time without penalty. Illness and family problems are appropriate reasons.
In addition to assignment specifics, all written work will be evaluated in terms of these criteria:
The following convention is used in evaluating student work:
Please note that a competent, professional response receives a grade of B. In order to earn a grade higher than B, additional analysis, comment and the use of a greater variety of sources must be visible. Normally that extra effort would be seen in helpful evaluative comments and in comparisons.
1. Write a personal essay on the impact of the hard copy book in your life. This should be an anecdotal, human interest story that explores the importance of the book at different times in your life and the associations books have for you. Think of being published in Reader's Digest. The essay is worth 5 points.
I am looking for:
2. Write three essays on a topic of your choice. A list of essay topics is available on the teacher's website. You may also write essays responding to the discussion questions at the end of each lecture note. While each essay contains particular specifications, it also provides you with an opportunity to identify and discuss current trends and problems in book publishing. Each essay must be solidly based on the appropriate literature and should contain a list of references. Essays need to be long enough to represent a substantial effort. Each essay is worth 20 points.
I am looking for:
3. Complete a reasonably detailed critique of the design and manufacturing quality of a cloth trade book [includes a variety of types of books, including coffee table books]. The paper provides an opportunity to demonstrate critical awareness of what constitutes a pleasing and effective physical book. Emphasis should be on evaluation and NOT just description. Examine the several parts indicated on the separate book evaluation handout. Conclude the critique with a summary evaluation paragraph. This paper is worth 40 points. Please turn in your book with your paper if you are a Knoxville site student.
I am looking for:
Besides the texts mentioned above and my lecture notes, you may wish to sample other materials. Huenefeld's The Huenefeld Guide to Book Publishing [Z 471 .H84 1993] is a technical introduction to book publishing, in some detail, to prospective publishers. Solid, but does not reflect current digital and web 2.0 trends. International Book Publishing {Z 282.5 I58 1995] provides a variety of well written articles reflecting global publishing at the end of the 20th Century.
There are many useful sites devoted to book publishing on the WWW. These change from day to day. The following sites have been useful. Note that URLs may change unexpectedly.
Amazon.com Inc. The leading Internet bookstore..
Barnes and Noble. The second leading Internet bookstore.
American Booksellers Association. The trade association, especially for independent bookstores.
Bookwire. The leading Internet site for book news and also the most comprehensive listing of publisher sites. This site is done by the same people who prepare Publishers Weekly. It is the BEST site for information about contemporary U.S. Book publishing.
Maud Newton is a New York writer and lawyer whose blog provides interesting news and comment on the book business.
Books A to Z. Some useful book publishing information at this site but not nearly as comprehensive as Bookwire.
Publishing Central is another useful site.
Journal of Electronic Publishing is issued by the University of Michigan Press.
Book Business is a periodical devoted to book and multi-media publishing. Some articles are available on their website.
Planet eBook is a reasonably comprehensive site.
PubLink.net calls itself "the source for book information."
Publishers' Catalogs is a reasonably comprehensive list of U.S. publishers.
Publishers Weekly is THE trade magazine for U.S. book publishing.
This is an introductory survey course intended to present basic information about book publishing. The course is not comprehensive. Rather, you should leave the course with the feeling that your foot is in the door, and that you know enough to continue your education on your own. Obviously, one short course cannot give you the background or competencies necessary for a professional lifetime spent working with books.
***Please see the teacher if you have special needs, objectives or problems.
Last major revision: July 2007.
