ABSTRACT
The aim of a book publisher is to publish and sell at a profi t. Even not-for-profi t publishers will want to at least break even, covering their costs, unless they receive a subsidy from their parent organization. A publisher might previously have crosssubsidized less popular titles from the profi ts of its top sellers, but that approach has largely been abandoned. Of course a book may acquire value as a collectable object or a great literary work to be admired and studied by future generations, but this chapter will concentrate on the creation of monetary value by publishers as commercial enterprises.
