Book Publishing & The Law: Key Concepts

Book Publishing & The Law: Concepts of Book, Publish and Publishing

• Print media began with books, considered the most important mass medium.
• Books are covered in hardback, paperback, or cloth.
• The first known book was "The Book of the Dead," written in Egypt between 1580 and 1350 B.C.
• A book is widely regarded as an invaluable repository of thought and knowledge, collating information in a small space and a durable form.
• A book, per Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary, is a collection of sheets bound together or made into a roll, either printed, written on, or blank, and also defined as a large scale literary composition.
• A book is the only readily available means of storing information and retrieving it at will.
• Despite advancements like video cassettes, microfilms, audio cassettes, and Netflix, the dominance of the book as a means of storing and retrieving information is undeniable.
• A book is an important channel of print media and is first in position among newspapers and magazines.
• Humanity's reverence for books derives from their performance as a mass medium and survival in its long history.
• Books carry an important part of society's development.
• Books have survived major reforms among peoples and nations.
• Books enable the remembering of a catchy word, phrase, or fleeting image.
• Bitner concludes that a book can be looked up again and again without tiring of its acquaintance.
• A publisher issues and distributes books or newspapers
• Book publishing is the activity in which printed matters are selected, prepared, produced, and marketed.
• Book publishing dates back to ancient times and has grown into a complex industry disseminating cultural materials.
• Publishing includes editorials, technical and financial activities for newspapers, magazines, books, periodicals, and other publications, applying the same principles to all.
• The term "publish" has a broad meaning.
• "Publish" can mean making any written document public or the formal publication of materials like books, magazines, and journals.
• Published items include music, maps, timetables, calendars, almanacs, guidebooks, postcards, government white papers, and lists of public officers, appointments, pamphlets, booklets, party programs, manifestos, athletes, arrested criminals, auto crash casualties, and newly ordained religious ministers.
• Publishing is defined as the skeleton production and circulation of written matters and can be seen as the business of issuing books, music, photographs, maps, and other printed materials for sale.
• Publishing includes seeking out or accepting manuscripts, producing works in print, promoting and marketing them, negotiating contracts with authors and library agents, editing manuscripts, and designing physical items like typography.
• Publishing also includes producing the finished product (printing, binding, etc.), marketing the work, and arranging for distribution through market channels.

Classification of Books

• Books have been classified in different ways, some into two broad categories, others into three.
• Sandman et al. (1976) classified books into two categories: General Books and Educational Books.
• Educational Books include primary and secondary textbooks, college textbooks, university press textbooks, standardized textbooks, medical textbooks, technical and scientific textbooks, and business and professional textbooks.
• General books include trade books, mass-market books (paperbacks), mail-order books, and book club books.
• Students are the main audience for textbooks.
• Libraries are where university press books are mostly circulated.
• Specialists are the audience for reference books such as technical, scientific, professional, medical, and business books.
• Uyo classified books into three main types, with professional books often written by leading experts and specialists.
• Educational books occupy a prominent position among all book categories, contributing immensely to the book as the most revered mass medium.
• Print has been described as the keeper of records, great literature, and all accomplishments.
• Print is the medium that dictates the fortunes and failures of men and women daily.
• Teachers who publish books flourish, while students who read the right books go to the head of the class, meet the right people, and go to the right colleges.
• In the face of global growth in formal education and literacy, the impact of general books is mostly considered.
• General books can reach a mass and diversified audience.
• Novels and books that offer a lot of entertainment and information to their readers or audience are known.
• Trade books are fiction, especially novels in paperback, non-fiction, poetry, biography, religion, humor, and books on driving, cooking, swimming, etc., also called "how-to-do-it books".
• Both general and educational books have a wide audience.
• Educational books have been published more than any other kind of book, although general books seem to command today's mass audience.