Returns remain a problem for the book publishing industry, although changes to the book-selling landscape brought about by Internet retail, e-books and new distribution models seem destined to make the issue loom less large than it did when mega-bookstores ruled
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Features
Digital book printing overall is experiencing double-digital growth. The recession, although unwelcome in all quarters, has provided a boost to digital book manufacturing as publishers take a harder look at their processes and cut back on inventory and waste. Since...
Editor's Note
One sentiment that I hear quite often these days from book industry folks is that "it's an exciting time to be in publishing." And I have to agree. It's an especially exciting time for me to be taking over as...
Columns
Once upon a time, there was the hardcover book, which was generally the only book format for about 500 years. Then, the mass-market paperback format was pioneered by German publisher Albatross Books in 1931. British publisher Allen Lane launched Penguin...
Short-run digital printing is unquestionably a technology whose time has arrived. Its quality and capabilities are improving steadily, and inline/near-line binding solutions promise to make an already capable technology even more so. Many digital printers' equipment and skills have improved...
As a number of small, independent publishing houses struggled to survive over the last year-and-a-half, Nashville, Tenn.-based Turner Publishing, an independent publisher of specialty and trade titles, found itself presented with an opportunity: It could invest in its future by...
Departments
62.4 million Estimated number of avid book readers—those who read five or more hours per week—ages 18 years or older in the United States, or about 28 percent of the 18-plus U.S. population. Avid readers purchase 10-plus books per year;...
It's difficult to imagine that the International Digital Publishing Forum's (IDPF) Digital Book 2010 could ever be compared to Woodstock; but, in fact, this year's sold-out event had a few sessions that were so crowded that dozens of people sat...
Global research and advisory firm mediaIDEAS forecasted in a recent study that the U.S. market in 2010 for paid e-reader content will be approximately $460.6 million—consisting primarily of e-books sold to a user base of more than 8 million....
As a number of small, independent publishing houses struggled to survive over the last year-and-a-half, Nashville, Tenn.-based Turner Publishing, an independent publisher of specialty and trade titles, found itself presented with an opportunity: It could invest in its future by...
Complex systems, such as digital publishing platforms, are composed of a number of components that work together. Software architects often think of these components as being arranged in layers, or "tiers," like a layer cake....
