ABSTRACT

Contemporary Publishing and the Culture of Books is a comprehensive resource that builds bridges between the traditional focus and methodologies of literary studies and the actualities of modern and contemporary literature, including the realities of professional writing, the conventions and practicalities of the publishing world, and its connections between literary publishing and other media. Focusing on the relationship between modern literature and the publishing industry, the volume enables students and academics to extend the text-based framework of modules on contemporary writing into detailed expositions of the culture and industry which bring these texts into existence; it brings economic considerations into line alongside creative issues, and examines how employing marketing strategies are utilized to promote and sell books.

Sections cover:

  • The standard university-course specifications of contemporary writing, offering an extensive picture of the social, economic, and cultural contexts of these literary genres
  • The impact and status of non-literary writing, and how this compares with certain literary genres as an index to contemporary culture and a reflection of the state of the publishing industry
  • The practicalities and conventions of the publishing industry
  • Contextual aspects of literary culture and the book industry, visiting the broader spheres of publishing, promotion, bookselling, and literary culture

Carefully linked chapters allow readers to tie key elements of the publishing industry to the particular demands and features of contemporary literary genres and writing, offering a detailed guide to the ways in which the three core areas of culture, economics, and pragmatics intersect in the world of publishing.

Further to being a valuable resource for those studying English or Creative Writing, the volume is a key text for degrees in which Publishing is a component, and is relevant to those aspects of Media Studies that look at interactions between the media and literature/publishing.

chapter |21 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|12 pages

Types of Publishing Houses

chapter 4|19 pages

Sunk Treasure

Can the traditional public library service survive in contemporary Britain?

chapter 5|21 pages

How Can Shared-Reading Create A Community?

What The Kingston University Big Read and The University of Mississippi Common Reading Experience have in common, and learned from each other

chapter 6|16 pages

The Review and the Reviewer

chapter 7|19 pages

The Fish and the Stream

Publishing, genre, and life-writing’s crisis of form

chapter 9|15 pages

The Modern Literary Agent

chapter 10|21 pages

The Real New Publishing

How interconnected ‘outsiders’ are setting the trends

chapter 13|16 pages

Understanding Our Place

Publishing’s role in the reading ecosystem under neoliberal economics

chapter 14|25 pages

The Fourth Format

How audiobooks have become a standard format for general publishers alongside hardback, paperback, and e-book

chapter 15|41 pages

French Children’s Literature and Autism

A case for more children’s books on autism and for autistic children