Book Wars

John B. Thompson 지음

Polity 2021년 03월 04일 출간

작품소개

책소개

This book tells the story of the turbulent decades when the book publishing industry collided with the great technological revolution of our time. From the surge of ebooks to the self-publishing explosion and the growing popularity of audiobooks, Book Wars provides a comprehensive and fine-grained account of technological disruption in one of our most important and successful creative industries. Like other sectors, publishing has been thrown into disarray by the digital revolution. The foundation on which this industry had been based for 500 years the packaging and sale of words and images in the form of printed books was called into question by a technological revolution that enabled symbolic content to be stored, manipulated and transmitted quickly and cheaply. Publishers and retailers found themselves facing a proliferation of new players who were offering new products and services and challenging some of their most deeply held principles and beliefs. The old industry was suddenly thrust into the limelight as bitter conflicts erupted between publishers and new entrants, including powerful new tech giants who saw the world in very different ways. The book wars had begun. While ebooks were at the heart of many of these conflicts, Thompson argues that the most fundamental consequences lie elsewhere. The print-on-paper book has proven to be a remarkably resilient cultural form, but the digital revolution has transformed the industry in other ways, spawning new players which now wield unprecedented power and giving rise to an array of new publishing forms. Most important of all, it has transformed the broader information and communication environment, creating new challenges and new opportunities for publishers as they seek to redefine their role in the digital age. This unrivalled account of the book publishing industry as it faces its greatest challenge since Gutenberg will be essential reading for anyone interested in books and

목차

Table of contents:Preface Introduction 1 The Faltering Rise of the Ebook 2 Reinventing the Book 3 The Backlist Wars 4 Google Trouble 5 Amazon’s Ascent 6 Struggles for Visibility 7 The Self-publishing Explosion 8 Crowdfunding Books 9 Bookflix 10 The New Orality 11 Storytelling in Social Media 12 Old Media, New Media Conclusion: Worlds in Flux Appendix 1: Sales data from a large US trade publisher Appendix 2: Note on Research Methods Index

출판사 서평

“Book Wars is as comprehensive, wide-ranging and deeply considered an appraisal of the book publishing world as one can imagine and a sober consideration of what the digital age has meant to a print-centred business. This masterful work should be the foundation for all future thinking about book publishing, and much future thinking about how new technologies change and don’t change societies.”Michael Schudson, Columbia University “Thompson weaves together a remarkable account of how and why one of the oldest forms of media has persisted through the challenges posed by digital disruption. Extraordinary in its breadth and depth, Book Wars unpacks the complex implications of digital production and distribution and draws crucial lessons that are relevant well beyond the world of books, providing a valuable lens for examining the profound changes that internet communication has brought to nearly every sector of the economy, and especially media industries.”Amanda Lotz, Queensland University of Technology “John Thompson was there when the digital-driven changes were in full swing, and he uses his bird’s-eye view and thoroughly researched analysis to give the reader the story behind the stories. And it’s a great read too.”John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishers USA“An astute deep dive into the current publishing predicament ─ how we got here and what lies ahead. For anyone who wants to understand the key challenges facing our industry today, this book is highly instructive.”Jonathan Galassi, President, Farrar Straus & Giroux

작가정보

저자(글) John B. Thompson

John B. Thompson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. His previous books include Merchants of Culture.