Book Wars - by John B Thompson (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><p>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, <i>Book Wars </i>provides a comprehensive and fine-grained account of technological disruption in one of our most important and successful creative industries.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 their future.</p><p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br><p>"An expert diagnosis of publishers and publishing, robustly illustrated with charts, graphs, tables, statistics and case studies... For anyone bewildered by the transformation of the book world, Mr. Thompson offers a pointed, thorough and business-literate survey."<br /><i><b>The Wall Street Journal</b></i><br /><br />"<i>Book Wars</i> 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."<br /><b>Michael Schudson, Columbia University</b></p> <p>"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, <i>Book Wars</i> 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."<br /><b>Amanda Lotz, Queensland University of Technology</b></p> <p>"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."<br /><b>John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishers USA</b><br /><br />"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."<br /><b>Jonathan Galassi, President, Farrar Straus & Giroux<br /></b></p> <p>"Thrilling reports from the trade-publishing front lines by a leading (as it were) war correspondent....I once (rather pompously) wrote that we need a 'contemporary history of the book'. Well, now we have it, for trade presses at least. I just didn't expect it to be so interesting."<br /><b><i>Times Higher</i> Education<br /><br /></b>"magisterial"<br /><i><b>The Independent</b></i><b><br /><br /></b>"insightful and intelligent"<b><i><br /><i>Publisher's Weekly<br /></i></i></b></p> <p>"excellent... Every skirmish, every battle, every standoff is covered objectively with supporting data and entertainingly with the case studies I would have chosen."<br /><b>Richard Charkin, <i>Publishing Perspectives<br /><br /></i></b>"An important book for anyone interested in publishing."<br /><b><i>The Toronto Star<br /><br /></i></b>"John B. Thompson's <i>Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing</i> is certain to become this year's must-read for anyone serious about the publishing industry."<br /><b>Thad McIlroy, <i>The Future of Publishing</i></b><i><br /></i></p> <p>"an extremely authoritative account of the revolution which at one time looked like it was going to destroy the fusty old world of book publishing, but has actually ended up reinvigorating it in ways that no one predicted... for anybody wanting to get into publishing this should be compulsory reading. If you are about to go for a job interview anywhere in the industry, read this book first!"<br /><b><i>Authors Electric</i></b><br /><br />"Exceptionally well written, organized and presented... <i>Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing</i> is an extraordinary study and one that is especially and unreservedly recommended for anyone with an interest in how and why the publishing industry works as it does today." <br /><i><b>Midwest Book Review<br /></b></i></p> <p>"If you're a serious professional author like me, this book is a must-read because it gives historical perspective. Younger and less experienced writers often lack historical perspective and there aren't many books on the history of the publishing industry, so Thompson's book is required reading."<br /><b>M. L. Ron, <i>Indie Author Confidential Vol. 5<br /></i></b></p> <p>"Thompson's work is authoritative and will be of tremendous value to future readers and researchers in understanding how a 500-year-old culture of print was able to absorb and adapt. I'm aware of no other title that provides such a useful account of how publishing professionals have fought to ensure stabilization and reliable delivery of content."<br /><b><i>The Scholarly</i> Kitchen<br /></b></p> <p>"magisterial... Thompson has provided an invaluable reference and resource for researchers into the complex and rapidly changing field of book publishing. Elegantly written, thoroughly researched, and remarkably comprehensive, <i>Book Wars</i> tells a fascinating story of how publishers large and small are adapting to the transformational effects of the digital revolution."<br /><b><i>Publishing Research Quarterly<br /></i></b></p> <p>"Thompson's <i>Book Wars</i> has been the book-about-book-publishing event of 2021...no one else has Thompson's ability to marshal the facts into comprehensive and illuminating accounts of publishing in all its splendor."<br /><b><i>Publishers Weekly<br /><br /></i></b>"Nobody arrives better equipped than Thompson to map how the publishing ecosystem has persisted and morphed in the digital environment... it's invaluable to have such thorough documentation of the digital publishing multiverse."<b><i> <br />The Los Angeles Review of Books<br /><br /></i></b>"Thompson sets out to detail the recent history of the digital revolution of books and succeeds in not only providing such a history, but also showing a clear warning sign of how the digital revolution impacts every industry and individual differently... fascinating."<br /><b><i>Real Change<br /><br /></i></b>"fascinating and salutary"<br /><i><b>The Critic<br /><br /></b></i>"Thompson is an eloquent and lucid writer who has a real talent for telescoping smoothly from individual cases to a bird's-eye view of the industry of trade publishing... I do not imagine there are many other scholars working today who could provide such a magisterial account of the past two decades of the digital revolution in Anglo-American trade book publishing."<i><b><br /></b></i><b>Robert Brown</b><i><b>, Journal of Scholarly Publishing <br /><br /></b></i>"this is a deeply informative book that can be read cover to cover and then put on a nearby shelf as a reference, not only to the grand themes of the digital revolution in books, but to a plethora of companies and organizations that have contributed to every aspect of that revolution, from Smashwords to Booksmart to Blurb to Unbound to Inkshares to so many more."<i><b><br /></b></i><b>Alex Holzman</b><i><b>, Journal of Scholarly Publishing</b></i><b><i><br /></i></b></p><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>John B. Thompson</b> is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge. His previous books include <i>Merchants of Culture</i>.
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