11. Speak on the topic “History of Publication: Periodical and Nonperiodical Publications”.

UNIT 4

Categories of Publishing:

Trade, Textbook, Academic

A. Discussion. Think of the possible answers to the following questions. Share your opinion with the group.

1. What kinds of publishing matters do you know?

2. What kinds of books do you like to read? You have to read?

3. Do you often buy textbooks for your study?

B. Topic Vocabulary. Learn the words and phrases below.

source – источник

best-seller list – список сенсационных, ходких, книг

trade book – книга для широкой публики; неспециализированное издание

to thrive on – процветать, преуспевать, богатеть

to reach – достигать

objective – цель, задача

scholarly books – академические издания, научные книги

profitable – прибыльный, выгодный, доходный, рентабельный

to supply – снабжать, поставлять, доставлять

nonfiction, non-fiction – документальная, научная литература

effort – усилие

hardback book – книга в жестком, твердом переплете

key purchasers – главные, основные покупатели

C. Read and translate the text.

Text 4

We can group publishers into five major categories: trade, textbook, scholarly, reference and self-publishing. This Unit is going to deal with trade, textbook and scholarly publishing.

1. Trade. Trade publishers are the big commercial houses based largely in New York and owned largely elsewhere. Most people think of trade publishers, when they think of publishers at all. Trade houses are the source of more than half of the books published in the English language, and especially those on the best-seller list. When people talk about books, it’s likely they’re talking about trade books. Trade books are the ones most people read for pleasure and information.

Trade publishing thrives on precisely what scholarly publishing does not: the one depends upon reaching the greatest number of people quickly, while the other depends upon reaching enough of the right people over time, an objective made increasingly complex by the electronic revolution. Trade houses publish some scholarly books, but scholarship isn’t the reason these publishers are in business. In the era of conglomerates, there are fewer independent trade publishers and more divisions, imprints, lines, and series within larger trade houses.

2. Textbook. Textbook publishing is often called college publishing. It can be the most profitable part of the publishing industry. Textbook publishers don’t get their books into Barnes & Noble or your local independent. But they happily supply the textbook counter at your campus store once an order for your course has been received.

Textbook publishing addresses real curricular needs. A well-reviewed work of serious trade nonfiction may earn you a bit of money. But will a textbook? Universities rarely grant tenure to someone on the basis of having authored a textbook, and few scholars devote their early careers to this type of project alone. Why devote one’s efforts – as publisher or writer – to college publishing? Many textbook authors are motivated by a desire to shape a field and to excite beginning students.

3. Scholarly or academic. The heart of any academic’s publishing life will be the scholarly publishing community. Most scholarly publishers are university presses, particularly in the United States and Canada. The term monograph persists as a description of the kind of book published by a scholarly press.

A monograph is a specialized work of scholarship. All university presses continue to offer some monographs, and some commercial houses have found creative ways to publish them, too. Monograph publishing is about hardback books at high prices, marketed to a few hundred key purchasers, most of which are libraries. Generations of scholars were trained to produce their first monograph, and encouraged to seek its publication. The most traditional academic publishers continue to support the monograph as part of their publishing programs.

(to be continued…)