Publishing: A Competitive Industry?


Printing was first developed, according to some, in China around the year 500. Paper also came from China, and made it way to Europe, but printing wasn't created or brought there until the 1400s. Since then, numerous published have opened shop, where today they get requests from authors, and are then able to decide to print a book and get a percentage of the profits (depending on the agreement with the author), or have them move on to the next publisher.

Harry Potter, one of the most successful series of books in the last couple of decades, was initially rejected by 12 publishers who didn't think it had a good chance. Bloomsbury, an independent British publishers, finally agreed to publish the book and subsequent series, (and later Scholastic in the United States).

This idea of each publisher being able to accept or reject author's proposals, and (if accepted) the ability to offer different amounts of money, different payment schemes, creates great competition between companies. However, there are still some aspects (albeit not as pertinent as other entertainment industries) of monoculture. Random House has (in 2009) almost a 20% market share, with quite a few subsidiaries giving them many different names. According to the image below, ten publishers have almsot three quarters of the market share.

One key aspects that makes this less of an issue than in the rest of the entertainment industry is how unique each book must be. If a publisher takes a chance on a book that ends up extremely successful, another publisher can't re-create the same idea and profit from it. While they all publish books, the contents of each book is unique and separate between publishers.

Image result for publisher market share



Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/24/jk-rowling-tells-fans-twitter-loads-rejections-before-harry-potter-success
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.biz/ourpublishers/

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 31, 2019 at 6:05 PM

    It is quite interesting to see some examples of markets that most likely won't have a monopoly, as the example of Harry Potter shows that it is very difficult to predict exactly what products will be the most popular in the publishing market. The stat of Harry Potter being pushed 12 times before being published emphasizes just how ordinary the novel was, before becoming a top seller. The publishing industry in this aspect shares some similarities with the gaming industry, as Minecraft was an indie game(created without financial support) that started from no expectations, and worked its way to the very top. In the gaming industry, indie games are trending upwards, as recent games like Stardew Valley, Rimworld, and Terraria are three games that have peaked at the Top 10 on Steam's popularity list at one point, with an expected median >40 hours of playtime per game.

    https://venturebeat.com/2018/03/19/indie-game-trends-on-steam-know-your-market-and-have-some-style/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousApril 2, 2019 at 8:16 AM

      It's interesting as well to see a similar trend among games which are primarily, nowadays, internet-based in some way (whether to download the game, play online, etc). I think since the gaming industry relies on the internet so much, it makes it easier for indie games to get around, but at the same time provides a huge platform for gaming giants to advertise and take a larger share of the market. Since it seems the most popular games revolve around some original idea, in the same way that books do, it makes sense that there are some similarities between the industries.

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