Abstract
Drawing on empirical studies and statistical analyses of how digitization has restructured the American publishing industry during the last decade, Christoph Bläsi considers the book’s current position in media culture from the perspective of book studies. He surveys the latest research on the development of print book production, on the market competition between printed books and e-books, and on the differences between screen and print reading. Noting that communication practices and circuits of book value creation have changed in the wake of digitization, Bläsi also highlights the significant function that print books possess in the contemporary media ecology—both as part of transmedia storytelling franchises and as a unique media format that a rising number of small publishers, independent bookstores, and readers cherish.
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Notes
- 1.
Albert N. Greco, The Book Publishing Industry, 3rd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2014), xi–xii.
- 2.
John B. Thompson, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century, 2nd ed. (New York: Plume, 2012), 398. For similar observations cf. Miha Kovač, “‘Never Mind the Web. Here Comes the Book’: Continuity and Discontinuity in the Fate of Reading,” LOGOS: Journal of the World Book Community 19, no. 3 (2008): 151–58; Angus Phillips, Turning the Page: The Evolution of the Book (London: Routledge, 2014); Adriaan van der Weel, Changing Our Textual Minds: Towards a Digital Order of Knowledge (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2011).
- 3.
David C. Kidd and Emanuele Castano, “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind,” Science 342, no. 6156 (2013): 377–80.
- 4.
Jonathan Stolper, “Market Overview: USA,” Keynote at Frankfurt Book Fair Business Club/The Markets: Global Publishing Summit, Frankfurt Book Fair, October 13, 2015.
- 5.
Marisa Bluestone, “U.S. Publishing Industry’s Annual Survey Reveals $28 Billion in Revenue in 2014,” Association of American Publishers, 2015, accessed January 3, 2017, http://publishers.org/news/us-publishing-industry%E2%80%99s-annual-survey-reveals-28-billion-revenue-2014
- 6.
Jordan Weissmann, “The Decline of the American Book Lover: And Why the Downturn Might Be Over,” The Atlantic, January 21, 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-decline-of-the-american-book-lover/283222/
- 7.
Weissmann, “The Decline.”
- 8.
Weissmann, “The Decline.”
- 9.
Janello has called this structure the value network of the book industry. See Christoph Janello, Wertschöpfung im digitalisierten Buchmarkt (Wiesbaden: Gabler, 2010).
- 10.
Robert Darnton, “What Is the History of Books?” Daedalus 111, no. 3 (1982): 68.
- 11.
Helge Rønning, et al., Books – At What price? Report on Policy Instruments in the Publishing Industry in Europe, Submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2012.
- 12.
Rønning et al., Books, 20–21.
- 13.
Nicholas G. Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains (New York: Norton, 2011), 104.
- 14.
Anne Mangen, Bente R. Walgermo, and Kolbjørn Brønnick, “Reading Linear Texts on Paper Versus Computer Screen: Effects on Reading Comprehension,” International Journal of Educational Research 58 (2013): 61.
- 15.
To give you the full picture here: there are dissenting studies, holding either that there is no difference in the depth of comprehension (e.g. Caroline Connell, Lauren Bayliss, and Whitney Farmer, “Effects of eBook Readers and Tablet Computers on Reading Comprehension,” International Journal of Instructional Media 39, no. 2 (2012): 131–41) or—in one case—indeed that the comprehension when reading on screens is even “less problematic” than when reading on paper (Franziska Kretzschmar, Dominique Pleimling, Jana Hosemann, Stephan Füssel, Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, and Matthias Schlesewsky, “Subjective Impressions Do not Mirror Online Reading Effort: Concurrent EEG-Eyetracking Evidence from the Reading of Books and Digital Media,” PloS one 8 no.2 (2013): 1–11).
- 16.
The following section is based on Christoph Bläsi, “The New Circumstances of Content Innovation in the Digital Book Value Creation Network: Precarious Guarantee of More of the Same?,” in Precarious Alliances: Cultures of Participation in Print and Other Media, ed. Martin Butler, Albrecht Hausmann, and Anton Kirchhofer (Bielefeld: transcript, 2016) 77–98.
- 17.
“Shortlist 2011. Wunsiedel. Ein Theaterroman,” Deutscher Buchpreis 2017, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Stiftung, accessed March 1, 2017, http://www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/archiv/autor/11-buselmeier/
- 18.
“Midnight Serenade,” BookRix, accessed March 1, 2017, https://www.bookrix.de/_ebook-liz-ehrlich-midnight-serenade/
- 19.
Cf. Christoph Bläsi, “The Book – Civilizing Forerunner and Media Convergence Latecomer: Phenomena, Challenges and a Suitable Research Infrastructure,” Media Convergence – Approaches and Experiences: Aftermath of the “Media Convergence – Konwergencja Mediów – Medienkonvergenz” Conference, Jesuit University “Ignatianum,” Cracow, Poland, 17–18 March 2011, ed. Renata Szczepaniak (Frankfurt a.M.: Lang 2013), 55–68. On media convergence see also Thorsten Quandt, “Medieninnovationen und Konvergenz. Formen, Faktoren und Felder des Medienwandels” (unpublished manuscript, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 2008). According to Quandt’s view, media convergence is marked by any combination of technological convergence, organizatorial convergence, production convergence, content convergence, and usage/audience convergence.
- 20.
Media contact phenomena is seen here as a broader term than media convergence in the sense that media convergence is seen as a phenomenon that presupposes digitization, where the concept of media contact phenomena does not and includes also phenomena of not technologically triggered intertextuality, for example the migration of motifs through different texts and media.
- 21.
That books can also be catalysts for ideas for other cultures—also in the same medium, the book—I do not mention explicitly here, because for example for the relation between Germany and the US this is a rather unidirectional phenomenon: in 2013, 196 German book licenses were sold to the US (to China: 998!), whereas 2828 books were translated from English. See Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen (Frankfurt a.M.: Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, 2014). This might be more than a blemish: “Laurence Venuti has been highly critical of the trade imbalance in translations, which he believes has serious cultural ramifications. Not only does the imbalance support the expansion of American and British culture, it also promotes a monolingual culture in those countries” (Phillips , Turning, 109).
- 22.
Linda Hutcheon and Siobhan O’Flynn, A Theory of Adaptation, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 2013), 4.
- 23.
“Video games based on novels,” Wikipedia, accessed October 28, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_games_based_on_novels
- 24.
Julian Friedmann, Claire Morrison, Lucy Thomas, and Sophie Holmes, “Cross-Industry Effects and Benefits: The Commercial Marketing Chain Between the Film and the Publishing Industry,” Presentation at London Book Fair, March 21, 2010. Among other considerations concerning the relation between, particularly the conjoint marketing of books and movies, Friedmann et al. have taken a look at the most successful movies (in movie theatres) in the UK in 2009. They found out that among the top 20 box office films of that year were 7 based on books, among them the ranks 1 (Slumdog Millionaire) and 3 (Marley and Me).
- 25.
“List of Novels Based on Video Games,” Wikipedia, accessed October 28, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_novels_based_on_video_games
- 26.
“Novels based on films,” Wikipedia, accessed October 28, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Novels_based_on_films
- 27.
Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (New York: New York University Press, 2008), 98.
- 28.
Hutcheon and O’Flynn, Theory, xvi.
- 29.
See Josefine J. Krumpschmid, “In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best: Transmedia Storytelling und das Medium Buch” (student thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 2013).
- 30.
See Marisara Stecher, “Das Buch in transmedialen Franchises: Transmedia als Chance für Verlage,” (student thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, 2013).
- 31.
Bernardo quoted in Krumpschmid, “Ideal Form,” 37.
- 32.
According to Bernardo as quoted in Krumpschmid, “Ideal Form,” 32.
- 33.
Krumpschmid, “Ideal Form,” 34.
- 34.
Krumpschmid, “Ideal Form,” 33.
- 35.
Krumpschmid, “Ideal Form,” 35.
- 36.
Stecher, “Das Buch,” 27, based on a conversation with Nuno Bernardo.
- 37.
Stecher, “Das Buch,” 27.
- 38.
Cf. Melanie Ramdarshan Bold, “An Accidental Profession: Small Press Publishing in the Pacific Northwest,” Publishing Research Quarterly 32, no. 2 (2016): 84–102.
- 39.
Bold, “Accidental,” 87.
- 40.
Bold, “Accidental,” 99.
- 41.
Bold, “Accidental,” 99–100.
- 42.
Bold, “Accidental,” 91.
- 43.
Bold, “Accidental,” 97.
- 44.
Bold, “Accidental,” 97.
- 45.
“Number of independent bookstores in the United States from 2009 to 2016,” Statista, accessed April 18, 2017, https://www.statista.com/statistics/282808/number-of-independent-bookstores-in-the-us/
- 46.
Theory of mind is a psychological concept for the human capacity to comprehend that other people hold beliefs and desires and that these may differ from one’s own beliefs and desires.
- 47.
Kidd and Castano, “Reading Fiction,” 377–80.
Bibliography
Bläsi, Christoph. 2013. The Book – Civilizing Forerunner and Media Convergence Latecomer: Phenomena, Challenges and a Suitable Research Infrastructure. In Media Convergence – Approaches and Experiences: Aftermath of the “Media Convergence – Konwergencja Mediów – Medienkonvergenz” Conference, Jesuit University “Ignatianum,” Cracow, Poland, 17–18 March 2011, ed. Renata Szczepaniak, 55–68. Frankfurt a.M.: Lang.
———. 2016. The New Circumstances of Content Innovation in the Digital Book Value Creation Network: Precarious Guarantee of More of the Same? In Precarious Alliances: Cultures of Participation in Print and Other Media, ed. Martin Butler, Albrecht Hausmann, and Anton Kirchhofer, 77–98. Bielefeld: transcript.
Bluestone, Marisa. 2015. U.S. Publishing Industry’s Annual Survey Reveals $28 Billion in Revenue in 2014. Association of American Publishers. http://publishers.org/news/us-publishing-industry%E2%80%99s-annual-survey-reveals-28-billion-revenue-2014. Accessed 3 Jan 2017.
BookRix. Midnight Serenade. https://www.bookrix.de/_ebook-liz-ehrlich-midnight-serenade/. Accessed 1 Mar 2017.
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. 2014. Buch und Buchhandel in Zahlen. Frankfurt a.M.: Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels.
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Stiftung. 2017. Shortlist 2011. Wunsiedel. Ein Theaterroman. Deutscher Buchpreis 2017. http://www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/archiv/autor/11-buselmeier/. Accessed 1 Mar 2017.
Carr, Nicholas G. 2011. The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains. New York: Norton.
Connell, Caroline, Lauren Bayliss, and Whitney Farmer. 2012. Effects of eBook Readers and Tablet Computers on Reading Comprehension. International Journal of Instructional Media 39 (2): 131–141.
Darnton, Robert. 1982. What Is the History of Books? Daedalus 111 (3): 65–83.
Friedmann, Julian, Claire Morrison, Lucy Thomas, and Sophie Holmes. 2010. Cross-Industry Effects and Benefits: The Commercial Marketing Chain Between the Film and the Publishing Industry. Presentation at London Book Fair, March 21.
Greco, Albert N. 2014. The Book Publishing Industry. 3rd ed. New York: Routledge.
Hutcheon, Linda, and Siobhan O’Flynn. 2013. A Theory of Adaptation. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Janello, Christoph. 2010. Wertschöpfung im digitalisierten Buchmarkt. Wiesbaden: Gabler.
Jenkins, Henry. 2008. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
Kidd, David C., and Emanuele Castano. 2013. Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind. Science 342 (6156): 377–380.
Kovač, Miha. 2008. ‘Never Mind the Web. Here Comes the Book’: Continuity and Discontinuity in the Fate of Reading. LOGOS: Journal of the World Book Community 19 (3): 151–158.
Kretzschmar, Franziska, Dominique Pleimling, Jana Hosemann, Stephan Füssel, Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky, and Matthias Schlesewsky. 2013. Subjective Impressions Do Not Mirror Online Reading Effort: Concurrent EEG-Eyetracking Evidence from the Reading of Books and Digital Media. PLoS One 8 (2): 1–11.
Krumpschmid, Josefine J. 2013. In the Ideal form of Transmedia Storytelling, Each Medium Does What It Does Best: Transmedia Storytelling und das Medium Buch. Student thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
Mangen, Anne, Bente R. Walgermo, and Kolbjørn Brønnick. 2013. Reading Linear Texts on Paper Versus Computer Screen: Effects on Reading Comprehension. International Journal of Educational Research 58: 61–68.
Phillips, Angus. 2014. Turning the Page: The Evolution of the Book. London: Routledge.
Quandt, Thorsten. 2008. Medieninnovationen und Konvergenz. Formen, Faktoren und Felder des Medienwandels. Unpublished Manuscript, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
Ramdarshan, Bold. 2016. Melanie. “An Accidental Profession: Small Press Publishing in the Pacific Northwest.”. Publishing Research Quarterly 32 (2): 84–102.
Rønning, Helge, et al. 2012. Books – At What Price? Report on Policy Instruments in the Publishing Industry in Europe. Submitted to the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Statista. Number of Independent Bookstores in the United States from 2009 to 2016. https://www.statista.com/statistics/282808/number-of-independent-bookstores-in-the-us/. Accessed 18 Apr 2017.
Stecher, Marisara. 2013. Das Buch in transmedialen Franchises: Transmedia als Chance für Verlage. Student Thesis, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
Stolper, Jonathan. 2015. Market Overview: USA. Keynote at Frankfurt Book Fair Business Club/The Markets: Global Publishing Summit, Frankfurt Book Fair, October 13.
Thompson, John B. 2012. Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. New York: Plume.
van der Weel, Adriaan. 2011. Changing Our Textual Minds: Towards a Digital Order of Knowledge. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Weissmann, Jordan. 2014. The Decline of the American Book Lover: And Why the Downturn Might Be Over. The Atlantic, January 21. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/01/the-decline-of-the-american-book-lover/283222/
Wikipedia. List of Novels Based on Video Games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_novels_based_on_video_games. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
———. Novels Based on Films. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Novels_based_on_films. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
———. Video Games Based on Novels. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_games_based_on_novels. Accessed 28 Oct 2015.
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Bläsi, C. (2019). The Book Between Media Convergence, Media Specificity, and Diverse Reading Communities in Present-Day US Culture. In: Schaefer, H., Starre, A. (eds) The Printed Book in Contemporary American Culture. New Directions in Book History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22545-2_6
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