According to the article "Self-Published Titles Topped 764,000 in 2009 as Traditional Output Dipped", self published titles caused the total book titles published to increase by 87% to over a million titles from 2008 to 2009.
It's never been so easy to be a published author. But how would copyright libraries such as the Library of Congress and the Bodleian Library cope with such unforeseen explosion of book titles?
[see Bowker's statistics (pdf)]
Here appear occasional jottings of my random musings. Profound or jejune, they reveal the contours of my mental universe, with world history, intellectual history, civilizations, philosophy, religion, society, knowledge, and books as some major themes. Since May 2011, this blog has been exclusively focused on Singapore. All my other reflections are now posted in "Notes from Noosphere" (see link under "Miscellany" on the right margin).
Showing posts with label book industry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book industry. Show all posts
Friday, November 12, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Sunday, October 10, 2010
792 new book titles daily in 2008
I have always been energized by good books. I am not at all persuaded that all that is worth reading has been written by the classical (Greco-Roman) writers, as is the contention of fervent classicists. It is not even true that it suffices, for one's liberal education, to stop one's reading at 1930, or 1950.
The contemporary society is responding to entirely unprecedented challenges, due to the globalizing influence of technology. Therefore its responses are not anticipated by the ancients. It is fascinating to observe and understand our world at this very instant. And this requires that we read contemporary writers.
It is therefore reassuring that, by all accounts, the book industry is thriving, despite the Internet.
The information and knowledge explosion continues with increasing pace. According to Bowker's latest statistics (for 2008), there were 289729 new titles and editions published (in Angloshere, not worldwide, I suppose) in 2008. This works out to one title every 1.82 minutes, and 791.6 titles every day. Of course such publishing activity overwhelms one. But as an indicator of a literate and curious society, it is gratifying.
This is a summary of the 2008 book statistics for some categories that interest me:
Category New titles minutes/title titles/day
Total 289729 1.82 791.6
1.Fiction 53058 9.93 145.0
2.Literature 10843 48.61 29.6
3.Language 6181 85.27 16.9
4.History 13477 39.11 36.8
5.Philosophy, Psychology 12605 41.81 34.4
6.Religion 18296 28.81 50.0
7.Biography 11375 46.33 31.1
8.Travel 5101 103.32 13.9
Sum of 4,5,7 (core interests) 37457 14.07 102.3
In contrast, Whitaker's Cumulative Book List shows that in 1977, 36322 new titles and editions were published in the UK, This is equivalent to 99.5 new titles every day, a deluge even then.
The contemporary society is responding to entirely unprecedented challenges, due to the globalizing influence of technology. Therefore its responses are not anticipated by the ancients. It is fascinating to observe and understand our world at this very instant. And this requires that we read contemporary writers.
It is therefore reassuring that, by all accounts, the book industry is thriving, despite the Internet.
The information and knowledge explosion continues with increasing pace. According to Bowker's latest statistics (for 2008), there were 289729 new titles and editions published (in Angloshere, not worldwide, I suppose) in 2008. This works out to one title every 1.82 minutes, and 791.6 titles every day. Of course such publishing activity overwhelms one. But as an indicator of a literate and curious society, it is gratifying.
This is a summary of the 2008 book statistics for some categories that interest me:
Category New titles minutes/title titles/day
Total 289729 1.82 791.6
1.Fiction 53058 9.93 145.0
2.Literature 10843 48.61 29.6
3.Language 6181 85.27 16.9
4.History 13477 39.11 36.8
5.Philosophy, Psychology 12605 41.81 34.4
6.Religion 18296 28.81 50.0
7.Biography 11375 46.33 31.1
8.Travel 5101 103.32 13.9
Sum of 4,5,7 (core interests) 37457 14.07 102.3
In contrast, Whitaker's Cumulative Book List shows that in 1977, 36322 new titles and editions were published in the UK, This is equivalent to 99.5 new titles every day, a deluge even then.
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