THE CONTEMPORARY
PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
WEEK ONE: PUBLISHING IN 2024 AND HOW WE GOT HERE
FIANNUALA MORGAN
PUBL90003
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• Darnton’s Communications Circuit
• Darnton’s updated Communications Circuit
• Bourdieu’s Field of Cultural Production (Advanced)
Theoretical models for publishing
• Intended learning outcomes, generic skills
• Instructors
• Housekeeping…
About the subject
• Broad overview of international and national publishing industry
• First Nations publishers and the publishing industry
The Australian and international publishing industry
• Gives an overview of the global publishing industry and the issues impacting on
it, such as globalisation, emergence of new markets, media ‘convergence’,
fragmentation of audiences, rise of self-publishing, cultural issues impacting on
publishing, etc;
• Looks at different sectors of the industry and how they work, including the
blurring lines between media, and the roles available in each sector;
• Looks at practical aspects of what a publishing house is, how a ‘house’ works,
decision-making tasks, workflows, etc;
• Designed to foster critical and strategic thinking in the context of a fast-changing
media environment; both in terms of managing your own career and in terms of
contributing to corporate strategies;
• Branches out into other subjects in your degree.
About the subject
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Lecturer in Publishing and Communications with over a
decade experience working in the Information Services sector.
My current research is heavily data focused. I construct large
datasets from digitised/digital cultural collections to explore
Australian print history.
fmor@unimelb.edu.au
Send me your questions!
Drop-in hour 1-2pm Tuesday via Zoom from Week 2
Fiannuala Morgan
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• Astrid Edwards is the host of The Garret: Writers and Publishing podcast. and has
interviewed more than 250 Australian writers and publishers. She is a book
reviewer and literary judge, including for the 2023 Stella Prize. Astrid taught in the
Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University for the
last seven years and is now working on her PhD at the University of Melbourne.
astrid.edwards1@unimelb.edu.au
Astrid Edwards
• Harsha Vytla is a PhD candidate in Publishing Studies, at the School of
Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne. His research
investigates how contemporary fiction written across India’s major languages
is marketed by its English language-based publishers and literary prizes. It
specifically examines how these literary institutions are producing a
representation of ‘Indian Literature’ as a literary label in the marketplace –
where Indian English fiction and English translations of fiction from various
Indian languages are amalgamated – primarily if not exclusively, to cater to
the consumer needs of an emerging Anglophone middlebrow readership in
India. Harsha received his MA in English from Free University Berlin and BA in
English with a minor Sociology from Shiv Nadar University, Delhi.
vytlah@unimelb.edu.au
Harsha Vytla
LEC
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Each week will be delivered by a guest lecturer that works in or has specialist knowledge about the
Australian publishing industry
● Soren Huet, Nielsen BookScan (NOT RECORDED)
● Danielle Binks, literary agent, Jacinta di Mase Management
● Marisa Pintado, Editor, Hardie Grant Publishing
● Alice Richardson, Rights and Contracts Manager, Scribe Publishing
● Astrid Edwards
● Stephanie Bishop-Hall, Production Manager, Affirm Press
● Susannah Bowen, Campion Education
● Foong Ling Kong, Publisher, Melbourne University Press
● Davina Bell, author and editor, Allen & Unwin
● A/Prof Beth Driscoll & Harsha Vytla
Guest Lectures
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▪ Classes start in week one
▪ 80% attendance hurdle
▪ Canvas/LMS (all readings are here, and assessment submission)
▪ Readings
▪ Assessment
▪ Ask questions on the discussion boards
▪ Drop-In Sessions Tuesday ……
▪ If you need help please ask! (me)
Housekeeping
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•Tuesday 16:15 - 18:15
•Wednesday (Online Only) 13:15-15:15
•Wednesday 16:15 - 18:15
•Thursday 13:15 - 15:15
•Friday 15:15 - 17:15) (Blended Learning)
•Friday 14:15 - 18:15 (Blended Learning)
If you need help with your timetable you will need to use the timetable assistance form
Seminars
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Publishing
• Making content like literature, music, and software
available to the public.
Publishing Industry
• Comprises multinational corporations, retail
brands, and independents. Encompasses trade,
educational, and academic publishing.
Publisher
• An entity or individual leading the publishing
process.
Publishing House
• A company that publishes books
Commonly used
terms in the
Australian
Publishing Industry
Printing press developed at Gutenberg,
drawing on technologies already used in
China
Hello Printing Press
1600s-1800s
Book publishing run through small firms,
censorship and copyright issues
“A Gentleman’s Profession”
1960s-1990s
Mergers and acquisitions
create large multinational
companies
Conglomerates
1900-1950s
Corporatisation of the industry.
Paperbacks invented.
Corporates
2000s
Rise of the tech companies
Age of Amazon?
1500s
A BRIEF
HISTORY OF
PUBLISHING
Darnton’s
Communications
Circuit
Bourdieu’s Field of
Cultural Production
Wilkins, Driscoll
and Fletcher’s
Genre Worlds
Wilkins, Kim, Beth Driscoll, and Lisa Fletcher. 2022. “Chapter 1: A Theory of Genre
Worlds.” In Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture. Page
and Screen. Massachusetts, United States: University of Massachusetts Press
● Theoretical models can help us analyse and critique the dynamics of the
publishing industry
● We will return to these throughout the subject to help us interrogate the
industry, thinking not only of what is, but what could/should be.
Thinking critically about publishing…
Ray Murray, Padmini, and Claire Squires. “The Digital Publishing Communications
Circuit.” Book 2.0 3, no. 1 (June 1, 2013): 3–23.
• Based on 18th century French publishing
industry
• illustrates the cyclical, interconnected process
through which a book travels from its inception
to its consumption and impact
• highlights the exchange of ideas, information,
and feedback among authors, publishers,
printers, distributors, booksellers, readers, and
even back to authors again, reflecting the
dynamic interactions that shape the creation,
distribution, and reception of written works
Darnton’s Communication Circuit
Robert Darnton’s Communication Circuit. From “What Is the History of Books?,” Daedalus 111, no. 3
(1982): 65–83.
This updated circuit retains a familiar structure but
introduces new elements and relationships
• A notable addition is the literary agent
• the traditional binder is now replaced by
digital devices
• A more active definition of the reader who
participates in borrowing, reviewing,
generating content, crowdfunding, and
subscribing
The Digital Communication Circuit
Ray Murray, Padmini, and Claire Squires. “The Digital Publishing
Communications Circuit.” Book 2.0 3, no. 1 (June 1, 2013): 3–23.
The value of this model is that it provides us a way
of understanding the ‘status’ of books in society,
that is, are they seen as literary (high art) or as
commercial fiction (popular art)?
• Introduces the idea of different forms of
capital, including: cultural, economic and
political
• Gives us a lens for interrogating how a book
may be marketed and received by the
public
The Field of Cultural Production
Pierre Bourdieu, The Field of Cultural Production, Columbia University Press, 1993
• Adapted from from Howard S. Becker's theory
of art worlds
• “the genre-worlds model recognises that
popular fiction’s most compelling characteristics
are its connected social, industrial, and textual
practices” (1)
• “Genre fiction books are not merely texts; they
are also nodes of social and industrial activity”
(1)
Genre Worlds
Wilkins, Kim, Beth Driscoll, and Lisa Fletcher. 2022. Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-
Century Book Culture. Page and Screen. Massachusetts, United States: University of Massachusetts
Press.
Darnton’s
Communications
Circuit
Bourdieu’s Field of
Cultural Production
Wilkins, Driscoll
and Fletcher’s
Genre Worlds
Wilkins, Kim, Beth Driscoll, and Lisa Fletcher. 2022. “Chapter 1: A Theory of Genre
Worlds.” In Genre Worlds: Popular Fiction and Twenty-First-Century Book Culture. Page
and Screen. Massachusetts, United States: University of Massachusetts Press
● The process of publishing is not linear, and this process has changed significantly over time
● The status of a published text is informed by public perceptions of what is and what is not literary
● Understand the different industrial processes, and communities associated with different kinds of
publications (genre fiction)
What do these different models tell us?
Ray Murray, Padmini, and Claire Squires. “The Digital Publishing Communications
Circuit.” Book 2.0 3, no. 1 (June 1, 2013): 3–23.
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Who is Publishing:
● Publishers and CEOs
● Editors
● Sales and Marketing Professionals
● Publicists
● Agents
● Production
● Printers
● Author Service Providers and Digital
Publishing Platform staff
● Booksellers
● Authors
● Readers
● Libraries
● Who else?
What is Publishing:
Formats:
● Books (print, ebook, audio)
● Magazines/Journals/Periodicals
● Online content (longform, serial, podcasts)
Market Sectors:
● Academic
● Educational
● Children’s
● Trade
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5 companies dominate 70-80 per cent of
trade market, of which one is locally owned
• Penguin Random House
• Hachette Livre
• Harper Collins
• Pan Macmillan
• Allen & Unwin (Aust owned)
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5 companies dominate 70-80 per cent of
trade market, of which one is locally owned
• Penguin Random House
• Hachette Livre
• Harper Collins
• Pan Macmillan
• Allen & Unwin (Aust owned)
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Each multinational publishing house is home
to many imprints.
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5 companies dominate 70-80 per cent of
trade market, of which one is locally owned
• Penguin Random House
• Hachette Livre
• Harper Collins
• Pan Macmillan
• Allen & Unwin (Aust owned)
Each multinational publishing house is home
to many imprints.
Closely followed by a ‘second tier’ of
15-20 small-med size companies,
mostly locally owned
• Black Inc (Vic)
• Five Mile Press (Vic)
• Hardie-Grant (Vic)
• Lonely Planet (Vic)
• MUP (Vic)
• Scribe (Vic)
• Simon & Schuster (NSW)
• Text (Vic)
• UQP (Qld)
• Walker Books (NSW)
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The retail trade
• Three main shopfront retail channels, each of
which hold around a third of the market:
• Discount department stores (Target, Big
W, K Mart)
• Chain bookstores (Dymocks)
• Independently owned bookshops
(Readings, Gleebooks, etc)
• Three main online sellers (one locally owned)
• Amazon, Book Depository, Booktopia.
• Approx $250 million pa of print book
retail sales go to Amazon and Book
Depository, $100 million to Booktopia
• Also e-book retailers: Amazon, Kobo, iBooks,
etc.
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The retail trade
• Three main shopfront retail channels, each of
which hold around a third of the market:
• Discount department stores (Target, Big
W, K Mart)
• Chain bookstores (Dymocks)
• Independently owned bookshops
(Readings, Gleebooks, etc)
• Three main online sellers (one locally owned)
• Amazon, Book Depository, Booktopia.
• Approx $250 million pa of print book
retail sales go to Amazon and Book
Depository, $100 million to Booktopia
• Also e-book retailers: Amazon, Kobo, iBooks,
etc.
Amazon and Book Depository
• Amazon 15-30 per cent of local retail
sales. Now has Australian warehouses.
• Book depository built on back of subsidised
postage.
• Booktopia one of fastest growing
businesses in Australia.
• E-books 15-20 per cent of market by
volume (slightly more in UK, more again in
US), and up to 50 per cent of sales in
genres such as fantasy, science fiction and
romance. Less
by revenue.
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• Respect
• Self-determination
• Communication
• Consulation and consent
• Interpretation
• Cultural integrity and authenticity
• Secrecy and confidentiality
• Attribution
• Benefit sharing
• Continuing cultures
• recognition and protection
- Janke, Terri. "Protocols for using first nations cultural and intellectual property in the arts." (2020).
Protocols
• Cultural Rigour
- Leane, J 2023, 'Cultural Rigour: First Nations Critical Culture' C Menzies Pike (Editor) Sydney Review of Books
Cultural Rigour
Industry Evaluation Paper
Word Length: 2000 words
Weighting: 35%
Due: Monday April 15th 11.59pm
Objective:
To evaluate (assess and critically analyse) how a sector or company in the
publishing industry is responding to a current trend, challenge or opportunity
in the contemporary publishing industry?
This assignment requires you to focus on one of the following:
1.A particular sector of the book, magazine or online publishing industry (for
example, wedding magazines; men’s leisure magazines; children’s book
publishing; romance fiction publishing; secondary education publishing; food
blogs; online magazines; etc.)
2.Or, a particular company in the book, magazine or online publishing
industries.
Assessment One
Topics:
The objective of this assignment is to assess and critically analyse current
trends, challenges, and/or opportunities within your chosen sector or
company.
You may choose to focus on one of the following topics
• The impact of technological change on a particular company or sector.
• A recent controversy affecting a company or sector.
• The commercial prospects of the company or sector.
Structure:
1. Introduction: Present your topic, the chosen sector or company, and the
paper's thesis.
2. Context: Provide background on how historical events have shaped the
current state of your topic.
3. Analysis: Examine the sector or company's response to the chosen trend,
challenge, or opportunity. You should develop an argument and express
an informed view of the topic to hand.
4. Conclusion: Sum up your findings
Weighting: 10%
Due: Sign up in groups this week
Overview
At the beginning of the course, students will collaborate to
form small groups and select one of the upcoming weeks
(Week 2 through Week 12) for their assignment. Each group
will be responsible for preparing and delivering a concise
presentation, not exceeding 10 minutes, that encapsulates the
key points from the lecture and assigned readings of their
chosen week. Students will only be expected to cover the
mandatory readings for each week (not the recommended
readings).
Objectives
•To synthesise and articulate the main concepts and insights
from the lecture and readings.
•To foster class engagement and discussion through thought-
provoking content and presentation style.
In-Class Presentation