The British Library adds about three million items to its shelves every year
Physical books were long humanity's main way of storing knowledge, and the British Library alone holds more than 170 million items, growing by some three million a year. Publishing, the business of putting all that content before the public, has since stretched to cover video games, websites and social media.
In the traditional sense, publishing meant producing and distributing printed works, from books and newspapers to comics and zines. Digital technology widened the definition to e-books, online magazines, music, software and games. The word publisher can mean a company, an organisation or the person in charge of an imprint or periodical. What began as a small craft restricted by law or religion has become a vast industry.
The commercial landscape runs from giant conglomerates such as Penguin Random House, Pearson and News Corp to thousands of small independents. It divides into trade publishing of fiction and non-fiction, educational and academic work, and specialist fields. Governments, charities and companies also publish, producing annual reports, policy briefings and technical papers for compliance, research or advocacy. Even directories, catalogues and review sites count, since displaying organised data to the public is a form of publishing; printed catalogues from firms like IKEA have evolved into searchable online stores.
Each format has its own logic. Newspapers and news sites, usually subsidised by advertising, are meant to serve the public interest and hold people and businesses to account. Academic journals rely on peer review to guarantee quality, while magazines lean on design, photography and a focused subject. The book trade sells fiction and non-fiction in print, electronic and audio form, with every title identified by an ISBN; the English-speaking market alone spans about 1.5 billion people, and self-publishing platforms and short digital print runs let almost anyone take part. University presses publish scholarly work, and textbook publishers increasingly fold their books into online learning platforms.
Money flows in several ways. Advertising can subsidise publishers, and a strong return on investment encourages more spending; John Lewis Christmas campaigns reportedly returned up to ten pounds for every pound spent. Tie-in publishing, spin-off books, games and toys around a hit film such as Star Wars, squeezes extra value from a single story.
Source: Publishing
