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houses included Doubleday & McClure Company (1897), the McGraw-Hill Book
Essay
1. Why was the printing press such an important and revolutionary development?
ANSWER:
German inventor Johannes Gutenberg was responsible for the next great leap forward
in printing. Between 1453 and 1456, Gutenberg used the principles of movable type
to develop a mechanical printing press, which he adapted from the design of wine
presses. Gutenberg’s staff of printers produced the first so-called modern books,
including two hundred copies of a Latin Bible, twenty-one copies of which still exist.
The Gutenberg Bible (as it’s now known) required six presses, many printers, and
several months to produce. It was printed on a fine calfskin-based parchment called
vellum. The pages were hand-decorated, and the use of woodcuts made illustrations
possible. Gutenberg and his printing assistants had not only found a way to make
books a mass medium but also formed the prototype for all mass production.
2. What was the first novel printed in colonial America? What impact did its author’s work have
on society at the time?
ANSWER:
In colonial America, English locksmith Stephen Daye set up a print shop in the late
1630s in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1640, Daye and his son Matthew printed the
first colonial book, The Whole Booke of Psalms (known today as The Bay Psalm
Book), marking the beginning of book publishing in the colonies. This collection of
biblical psalms quickly sold out its first printing of 1,750 copies, even though fewer
than 3,500 families lived in the colonies at the time. By the mid–1760s, all thirteen
colonies had printing shops.
3. Why did publishing houses develop? What has happened to them today?
ANSWER:
The modern book industry developed gradually in the nineteenth century with the
formation of the early “prestigious” publishing houses: companies that tried to
identify and produce the works of good writers. Among the oldest American houses
established at the time (all are now part of major media conglomerates) were J. B.
Lippincott (1792); Harper & Bros. (1817), which became Harper & Row in 1962 and
HarperCollins in 1990; Houghton Mifflin (1832); Little, Brown (1837); G. P. Putnam
(1838); Scribner’s (1842); E. P. Dutton (1852); Rand McNally (1856); and
Macmillan (1869).
Between 1880 and 1920, as the center of social and economic life shifted from rural
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Company (1909), Prentice-Hall (1913), Alfred A. Knopf (1915), Simon & Schuster
(1924), and Random House (1925).
Despite the growth of the industry in the early twentieth century, book publishing
sputtered from 1910 into the 1950s, as profits were adversely affected by the two
world wars and the Great Depression. Radio and magazines fared better because they
were generally less expensive and could more immediately cover topical issues
during times of crisis. After World War II, the book publishing industry bounced
back.
4. Why haven’t television and the growth of cable substantially decreased the number of new
book titles available each year? Will cable television and specialized computer technology
eventually displace books? Why or why not?
ANSWER:
There are two major facets in the relationship among books, television, and film: how
TV can help sell books and how books serve as ideas for TV shows and movies.
Through TV exposure, books by or about talk-show hosts, actors, and politicians,
such as Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Barack and Michelle Obama, and Hillary
Clinton, sell millions of copies—enormous numbers in a business in which selling
100,000 copies constitutes remarkable success. In national polls conducted from the
1980s through today, nearly 30 percent of respondents said they had read a book after
seeing a story about it or a promotion on television.
One of the most influential forces in promoting books on TV has been Oprah
Winfrey. Even before the development of Oprah’s Book Club in 1996, Oprah’s
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5. Discuss the publishing industry in the digital age. How has convergence changed the industry?
ANSWER:
In 1971, Michael Hart, a student computer operator at the University of Illinois,
typed up the text of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and thus the idea of the e-
book—a digital book read on a computer or a digital reading device—was born. Hart
soon founded Project Gutenberg, which now offers more than forty thousand public
domain books (older texts with expired copyrights) for free at www.gutenberg.org.
However, the idea of commercial e-books—putting copyrighted books like current
best-sellers in digital form—took a lot longer to gain traction.
In the 1990s, early portable reading devices were criticized for being too heavy, too
expensive, or too difficult to read, while their e-book titles were scarce and had little
cost advantage over full-price hardcover books. But in 2007, Amazon—the largest
online bookseller—developed an e-reader (the Kindle) and an e-book store that
seemed inspired by Apple’s iPod and iTunes, which changed the music industry. The
first Kindle had an easy-on-the-eyes electronic paper display, held more than two
hundred books, and did something no other device before could do: wirelessly
download e-books from Amazon’s online bookstore. Moreover, most Kindle e-books
sold for $9.99, less than half the price of most new hardcovers. This time, e-books
caught on quickly.
Amazon has continued to refine its e-reader, and in 2011 it introduced the Kindle
Fire, a color touchscreen tablet with web browsing, access to all the media on
Amazon, and access to Amazon’s Appstore. Apps also have transformed the iPod
Touch, the iPhone, and other smartphones into e-readers. In 2010, Apple introduced
the iPad, a color touchscreen tablet that quickly outsold the Kindle. The immediate
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services, started a nonprofit service in 2007. The Internet Archive’s Open Library
works with the Boston Public Library, several university libraries, Amazon,
Microsoft, and Yahoo! to digitize millions of books with expired copyrights and
make them freely available at openlibrary.org. In 2008, another group of universities
formed the HathiTrust Digital Library to further archive and share digital collections.
In 2010, these nonprofit archives joined other libraries to create the Digital Public
Library of America.
7. Is there ever a good reason to censor a library book? Why or why not? Use examples to
support your answer.
ANSWER:
Over time, the wide circulation of books gave many ordinary people the same
opportunities to learn that were once available to only the privileged few. However,
as societies discovered the power associated with knowledge and the printed word,
books were subjected to a variety of censors. Imposed by various rulers and groups
intent on maintaining their authority, the censorship of books often prevented people
from learning about the rituals and moral standards of other cultures. Political
censors sought to banish “dangerous” books that promoted radical ideas or
challenged conventional authority. In various parts of the world, some versions of the
Bible, Karl Marx’s Das Kapital (1867), The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), and
Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1989) have all been banned at one time or
another. In fact, one of the triumphs of the Internet is that it allows the digital passage
of banned books into nations where printed versions have been outlawed.
8. If you were opening an independent bookstore in a town with a chain store, such as a Barnes
& Noble, how would you compete?
ANSWER:
If I were opening a bookstore to compete with Barnes & Noble, I would first
learn about the types of books that customers wanted. I would make them available
in hardcopy and in digital formats. I would make sure I had top employees who read
and could do well in customer service. I would invite local and international writers
to come in and read. Finally, I would partner with local libraries and schools to get
the community interested in reading and buying books.
9. What have been the major contributions of books to democratic life?
ANSWER:
As we enter the digital age, the book-reading habits of children and adults have
become a social concern. After all, books have played an important role not only in
spreading the idea of democracy but also in connecting us to new ideas beyond our
local experience. The impact of our oldest mass medium—the book—remains
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a difference. They have told us things that we wanted—and needed—to know, and
they have inspired us to action.
Completion
1. One of the first materials on which people could write language and symbols, _______ was
made from plant reeds found along the Nile River.
ANSWER:
papyrus
2. An early type of book, the _______ was made of sheets of parchment that were cut and sewn
together along the edge, then bound with thin pieces of wood and covered with leather.
ANSWER:
codex
3. _______ from the Middle Ages featured decorative, colorful designs and illustrations on each
page.
ANSWER:
Illuminated manuscripts
4. A printing technique developed by early Chinese printers, _______ involved hand-carving
letters and illustrations into blocks of wood.
ANSWER:
block printing
5. The Gutenberg Bible was printed on _______, a fine parchment made from calfskin.
ANSWER:
vellum
6. _______, a technology introduced in the nineteenth century, enabled printers to set type
mechanically using a typewriter-style keyboard.
ANSWER:
Linotype
7. _______ include books about art and travel.
ANSWER:
Trade books
8. Law and medical books are considered _______ books.
ANSWER:
professional
9. _______ include el-hi books.
ANSWER:
Textbooks
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10. The success of Bible sales has created an industry for _______ books.
ANSWER:
religious
11. While e-books can be read off computers and smartphones, devices created specifically for
reading e-books are called _______.
ANSWER:
e-readers
12. _______ editors attend to specific problems in writing or length in a book manuscript.
ANSWER:
Copy
13. In book publishing, _______ editors provide authors with feedback, make suggestions for
improvements, and obtain advice from knowledgeable members of the academic community.
ANSWER:
developmental
14. A large retail business that sells books, music, and coffee is called a book _______.
ANSWER:
superstore
15. The one remaining national bookstore retail chain is _______.
ANSWER:
Barnes & Noble
16. _______ transformed the book industry by becoming the fastest book delivery system in the
world.
ANSWER:
Amazon
17. The_______ ruled in 2013 that Apple and the major publishers had colluded to set book
prices.
ANSWER:
U.S. Department of Justice
Multiple Choice
1. Because books are such an old and traditional medium, they are no longer very influential.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
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2. Papyrus is a kind of paper made from treated animal skin.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
3. Parchment is a kind of paper made from plant reeds found along the Nile River.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
4. The Chinese were printing books using strips of wood and bamboo long before Gutenberg
printed his Bible using movable type.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
5. Gutenberg developed the printing press in the fifteenth century.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
6. The first printed books were so inexpensive and modest that they were primarily sold to the
middle and lower classes.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
7. Pulp fiction was another name for the popular paperbacks and dime novels of the 1880s.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
8. Most of the original publishing houses in America, such as J. B. Lippincott (founded in 1792),
Harper & Bros. (1817), and Houghton Mifflin (1832), are still independent companies
unaffiliated with any other media firms.
a.
True
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b.
False
ANSWER:
b
9. Trade books refer to the category of books sold to the general reader at commercial retail
outlets.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
10. The Harry Potter series gave an enormous boost to the juvenile books segment of the trade
industry.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
11. Professional books are bought mostly by professional schools and libraries.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
12. McGuffey’s Eclectic Reader taught most nineteenth-century elementary school children to
read.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
13. In about 89 percent of the states, local school districts determine which textbooks will be
used by their students.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
14. Despite the rise of digital textbooks, the price of college textbooks continues to rise.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
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15. Students have turned to online purchasing to buy their books.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
16. Sales of religious books have dropped substantially over the past twenty years.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
17. University presses are the smallest division in the book industry.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
18. University presses are usually very small presses that produce more than one hundred titles a
year.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
19. Once strongly influenced by books, television and film now look elsewhere for most of their
story ideas.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
20. The idea of the e-book was born when Michael Hart typed up the text of the U.S. Declaration
of Independence on his computer in 1971.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
21. The first e-book readers introduced in the 1990s were deemed too expensive and too heavy.
a.
True
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b.
False
ANSWER:
a
22. Despite Amazon’s attempt to jump-start the e-book market with the Kindle device, it is the
slowest-growing segment of the book publishing industry.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
23. By 2016, e-books represented 33 percent of adult fiction book sales in the United States.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
24. Libraries are unable to digitize any books because of copyright laws.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
25. One of the triumphs of the Internet is that it allows the digital passage of banned books into
nations where printed versions have been outlawed.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
26. Unlike most other forms of mass media, book publishing has avoided being dominated by a
few huge corporations.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
27. In the publishing industry, advance money is an early payment to the author that is NOT
deducted from the author’s royalties on book sales.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
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28. Bookstores must absorb the cost of any new books they don’t sell.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
b
29. The development of book superstores in the 1980s reinvigorated book sales.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
30. The rise of book superstores and online retailers has caused independent bookstores’ business
to drop significantly.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
31. E-publishing has allowed authors to sidestep traditional publishers because the cost of
producing and distributing an e-book is low.
a.
True
b.
False
ANSWER:
a
32. The first protomodern book, which used sheets of material sewn together at the edges to
allow the book to be opened at any page, was called a(n)
a.
papyrus.
b.
parchment.
c.
codex.
d.
illuminated manuscript.
ANSWER:
c
33. Many books from the Middle Ages were called illuminated manuscripts because they were
a.
elaborately decorated with colorful designs and illustrations.
b.
printed using reflective ink.
c.
burned in castle fireplaces to honor God.
d.
read aloud in the town square by scholars who explained, or illuminated, the text.
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ANSWER:
a
34. Rules of punctuation, capitalization, and spacing of written words were developed
a.
during the Middle Ages by scribes.
b.
in 1452 by printer Johannes Gutenberg.
c.
in the 1500s for the publication of Canterbury Tales.
d.
in the ninth century by Wang Chieh for Diamond Sutra.
ANSWER:
a
35. Which of the following is the oldest dated printed book still in existence?
a.
the Gutenberg Bible
b.
The Bay Psalm Book
c.
Wang Chieh’s Diamond Sutra
d.
Plato’s Republic
ANSWER:
c
36. Well before Gutenberg’s printing press, who brought the Chinese technology of block
printing to Europe?
a.
Marco Polo
b.
Genghis Khan
c.
Christopher Columbus
d.
immigrants from China
ANSWER:
a
37. Johannes Gutenberg is remembered for
a.
inventing paper.
b.
developing the printing press.
c.
inventing the codex.
d.
translating the Canterbury Tales into English.
ANSWER:
b
38. The first English work to be printed in book form was
a.
the Gutenberg Bible.
b.
The Whole Booke of Psalms.
c.
Diamond Sutra by Wang Chieh.
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d.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
ANSWER:
d
39. The author of the first dime novel was
a.
Ann Stephens.
b.
Samuel Richardson.
c.
Benjamin Franklin.
d.
Irwin Beadle.
ANSWER:
a
40. Which of the following did the linotype do?
a.
engrave photographs
b.
set type mechanically
c.
power the press by electricity
d.
add color to the printed page
ANSWER:
b
41. Which statement about the early American “prestigious” publishing houses is true?
a.
They developed rapidly during the eighteenth century with printers like Benjamin
Franklin.
b.
For almost a century, there was only one major publishing house that was broken
apart by antitrust laws.
c.
The first American publishing houses were founded between 1900 and 1910.
d.
The oldest and most prestigious American publishing houses are now part of major
media conglomerates.
ANSWER:
d
42. An adult trade book is
a.
a novel of a pornographic nature.
b.
any hardbound or paperback book, fiction or nonfiction, aimed at the general adult
reader.
c.
a type of book that targets various occupational groups and is not intended for the
general consumer market.
d.
a type of book typically used in a classroom setting as students learn about a specific
topic.
ANSWER:
b
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43. Will Eisner’s first graphic novel is titled
a.
The Dark Knight.
b.
X-Men.
c.
A Contract with God.
d.
Watchmen.
ANSWER:
c
44. The counterpart to professional trade magazines, _____ target various occupational groups.
a.
comic books
b.
textbooks
c.
professional books
d.
mass market paperbacks
ANSWER:
c
45. Numerous books became best-sellers after their authors appeared on
a.
Inside Edition.
b.
Home Improvement.
c.
Oprah.
d.
C-SPAN’s Booknotes.
ANSWER:
c
46. Which of the following is a method large book publishers use to generate enormous
revenues?
a.
allowing bookstores to return unsold copies of books for credit
b.
paying large advances to authors
c.
seeking out and publishing books only a handful of scholars will ever read
d.
signing lucrative agreements for turning books into films or television programs
ANSWER:
d
47. Which of the following is true about the relationship between the movie and publishing
industries?
a.
The film industry gets many of its story ideas from books.
b.
Publishers and authors are often cheated out of huge movie rights revenues for film
adaptations of novels.
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c.
The film industry will adapt graphic novels or comic books but not fiction or
nonfiction.
d.
Publishers pay movie studios huge amounts of money to have their books adapted into
movies.
ANSWER:
a
48. What book series has been a profitable movie success?
a.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
b.
Harry Potter
c.
Pretty Little Liars
d.
Game of Thrones
ANSWER:
b
49. What are two major facets of the relationship between books and television?
a.
the ability of book authors to become TV stars and TV stars to write books
b.
that TV can help sell books, and books serve as ideas for TV shows
c.
that for either industry to be profitable, books need to be advertised on television, and
TV shows need to be talked about in books
d.
that TV shows often give authors ideas for books, but books are never a source of
inspiration for TV shows
ANSWER:
b
50. According to the textbook, the most profitable movie successes for the book industry
emerged from _____ books.
a.
nonfiction
b.
fantasy
c.
children’s
d.
religious
ANSWER:
b
51. Which of the following statements about audio books is FALSE?
a.
Audio books are now downloadable to mobile devices.
b.
Audio books offer a valuable service to sightless and vision-impaired readers.
c.
The author reads the entire work.
d.
Sales of downloaded audio books more than doubled between 2012 and 2016.
ANSWER:
c
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52. In 1971, Michael Hart, a student computer operator at the University of Illinois, typed up the
text of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, and thus the idea of the _____—a digital book read
on a computer or a digital reading device—was born.
a.
e-book
b.
Kindle
c.
iPad
d.
Kindle Fire
ANSWER:
a
53. ______ developed the first commercially successful electronic reading device.
a.
Sony
b.
Amazon
c.
Apple
d.
Barnes & Noble
ANSWER:
b
54. The key to the success of e-books has NOT been
a.
the creation of an e-reader that has a comfortable-to-read display.
b.
the creation of an e-reader that was affordable for a large audience.
c.
having a large number of titles available electronically.
d.
making e-books more expensive than hardcover copies.
ANSWER:
d
55. Which of the following statements about e-books is FALSE?
a.
E-books accounted for 33 percent of U.S. adult fiction book sales by 2016.
b.
E-books will likely surpass the print book market by 2017.
c.
Apple’s iPod Touch, iPad, and iPhone devices are so successful that other competitors
are backing away from the e-book business.
d.
Several companies, including Apple and Amazon are competing for shares of the e-
book market.
ANSWER:
c
56. According to the textbook, as e-books become more popular, consumers who use them might
expect to see
a.
e-books that will look and feel more like print books.
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b.
very few changes from current e-books.
c.
e-books with embedded video, hyperlinks, and dynamic content.
d.
e-books that will look and feel more like magazines.
ANSWER:
c
57. Millions of library books are deteriorating because
a.
there is too much humidity in library buildings.
b.
the ink used in printing the books is eating through the paper.
c.
the glue holding the books together is drying out.
d.
the books were printed on acid-based paper, which is turning brittle.
ANSWER:
d
58. What is the name of the project in which many libraries and companies like Microsoft and
Amazon are joining forces to digitize millions of books with expired copyrights?
a.
Apple
b.
the Open Content Alliance
c.
the Association of American Publishers
d.
the Digital Public Library of America
ANSWER:
d
59. Political censors sought to banish _____ books that promoted radical ideas or challenged
conventional authority.
a.
“successful”
b.
“comic”
c.
“trade”
d.
“dangerous”
ANSWER:
d
60. What do Das Kapital, The Satanic Verses, and The Autobiography of Malcolm X have in
common?
a.
They were all banned at one time or another.
b.
They all had trouble finding a publisher.
c.
They were the first books made into e-books.
d.
They were originally published in Latin.
ANSWER:
a
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61. The largest trade book publisher is
a.
Penguin Random House.
b.
Pearson.
c.
McGraw-Hill Education.
d.
Holzbrinck.
ANSWER:
a
62. What struggle is faced by the largest book publishers and independents alike?
a.
shoddy binding and paper quality
b.
libraries
c.
made-for-TV movies
d.
the dominance of Amazon
ANSWER:
d
63. A small publishing house may have a staff of
a.
50–100.
b.
a few to 20.
c.
65–100.
d.
30–40.
ANSWER:
b
64. Publishers employ ______ to seek out and sign authors to contracts.
a.
copy editors
b.
acquisitions editors
c.
book agents
d.
developmental editors
ANSWER:
b
65. The rights to use the contents of a book in another form, such as a screenplay, are called
a.
royalties.
b.
residuals.
c.
subsidiary rights.
d.
an advance.
ANSWER:
c
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66. As part of their contracts, writers sometimes receive _____ money.
a.
advance
b.
royalty
c.
book sale
d.
acquisition
ANSWER:
a
67. What percentage belongs to the author as a royalty?
a.
30%
b.
10%
c.
20%
d.
5%–15%
ANSWER:
d
68. After a contract is signed, the acquisitions editor may turn the book over to a
a.
copy editor.
b.
developmental editor.
c.
publicist.
d.
design manager.
ANSWER:
b
69. The impact of our oldest mass medium—the book—
a.
is irrelevant.
b.
remains immense.
c.
changed television.
d.
is overshadowed by radio.
ANSWER:
b