Abstract
A summary of the fiscal relationship between text, readers, publishers, bookshops, and legislation, this chapter argues that it is the economics of the consumer market that will shape the academic book of the future. Suggesting that demand for text intersects across a global marketplace, this chapter predicts a future in which the distinctions between physical and digital text, and Open Access and commercial publication, are so blurred as to be indistinguishable. Case studies from past, current, and future fiscal strategy illuminate the economics of reading, publishing and bookselling online and on the high street, and are used to consider a future where a marketplace governed by personal choice rather than publisher provision will determine textual form.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Notes
C. Cerejo (2013) ‘Navigating through the Pressure to Publish’, Editage Insights, http://www.editage.com/insights/navigating-through-the-pressure-to-publish, accessed 4 September 2015.
Publishers Communications Group (2015) Library Budget Predictions for 2015, http://www.pcgplus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Library-BudgetPredictions-for-2015.pdf, accessed 7 August 2015.
É. Archambault, D. Amyot, P. Deschamps, A. Nicol, F. Provencher, L. Rebout and G. Roberge (2014) Proportion of Open Access Papers Published in Peer-Reviewed Journals at the European and World Levels 1996–2013, http://science-metrix.com/files/science-metrix/publications/d_1.8_sm_ec_dg-rtd_ proportion_oa_1996–2013_v11p.pdf, accessed 7 August 2015.
J. Priem, D. Taraborelli, P. Groth and C. Neylon (2010) Altmetrics: A Manifesto, http://altmetrics.org/manifesto, accessed 4 September 2015.
LIBER (2015) The Hague Declaration on Knowledge Discovery in the Digital Age, http://thehaguedeclaration.com, accessed 7 August 2015
D. Lederman (2012) ‘Fleeing rom “Free” ’, Inside Higher Ed, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/11/05/flat-worlds-shift-gears-and-what-itmeans-open-textbook-publishing, accessed 7 August 2015.
E. Drabble (16 December 2014) ‘Teens Prefer the Printed Page to ebooks’, Guardian, http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/dec/16/ teens-ebooks-ereaders-survey, accessed 7 August 2015.
I. Lapowsky (2015) ‘What Schools Must Learn from LA’s iPad Debacle’, Wired, http://www.wired.com/2015/05/los-angeles-edtech/, accessed 7 August 2015.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
This chapter is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
Copyright information
© 2016 Jaki Hawker
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hawker, J. (2016). Selling Words: An Economic History of Bookselling. In: Lyons, R.E., Rayner, S.J. (eds) The Academic Book of the Future. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137595775_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137595775_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-59576-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-59577-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)