In the history of information technologies, Gutenberg and his printing press are (understandably) treated with the kind of reverence even the most celebrated of modern tech tycoons could only imagine. So perhaps it will come as a surprise that Europe’s literacy rates remained fairly stagnant for centuries after printing presses, originally invented in about 1440, started popping up in major cities across the continent. Progress was inconsistent and unreliable, with literacy rates booming through the 16th century and then stagnating, even declining, across most of Western Europe. Great Britain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy all produced more printed books per capita in 1651–1700 than in 1701–1750. Continue reading at 'Slate'
[ Slate | 2017-08-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
New figures show total spending on Great Britain's libraries fell by £20m in the last financial year, as Libraries Connected warned more budget reductions are on the way. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-04 10:12:19 UTC ]
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Printed book sales plunge in first six months of 2020 on back of shop and school closuresSee all our coronavirus coverageSales of digital books by British publishers are set to hit an all-time high this year as the public turns to reading to escape pandemic cabin fever.However, the ebook and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-14 07:00:02 UTC ]
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Last week some £33m worth of printed books were sold through the Nielsen BookScan universe, including for the first time since the end of March high street bookshops in England and Northern Ireland. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-25 23:28:04 UTC ]
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Starting a new job can be tough under any circumstances. But starting a new job just weeks before one of the biggest global crises in modern history is nearly unthinkable. Yet, for Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc., that was his reality. Omelianuk spent nearly 12 years as the top editor... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-06-04 18:52:38 UTC ]
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It’s pretty obvious that the book industry, along with nearly all other businesses, will be hammered by the plague. The damage is somewhat mitigated by online ordering and delivery of printed books from you-know-who and by digital delivery of e-books and audiobooks. But that cannot compensate... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-06-01 14:21:00 UTC ]
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The fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating a planned shift from print to digital at Michigan-based BNP Media, where management has informed staffers that the company will be phasing out the print editions of all of its controlled-circulation trade magazines by the end of July. The... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-04-28 15:18:48 UTC ]
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The Aspen Institute has just announced the winner of their 2020 Literary Prize: Christy Lefteri, for her novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which tells the story of Syrian refugees in Great Britain. The Aspen Words Literary Prize was established to celebrate a work of fiction that spotlights a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-16 22:00:41 UTC ]
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Rishi Sunak confirmed ebooks and online newspapers will no longer be subjected to sales tax The government will abolish the 20% “reading tax” on ebooks and online newspapers from December, although it is unclear whether publishers will pass the full saving on to customers.Printed books and... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-03-11 19:46:19 UTC ]
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From Gutenberg’s printing press to Google’s AMP format, the publishing world has gone from zero to one million miles per hour, with revolutionary changes to the way we produce, distribute, and consume content. Here is a breakdown of some of the key changes in digital publishing, plus tips for... Continue reading at Publishing Executive
[ Publishing Executive | 2020-03-05 15:43:14 UTC ]
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Journalism is arguably in one of the most fragile states since Gutenberg’s advent of the printing press almost 600 years Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2019-12-13 17:13:57 UTC ]
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The unintended consequences of the printing press are a good reminder that we have no idea what the internet has in store for us. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2019-12-10 12:00:00 UTC ]
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"Joker" dominated U.S. theaters this weekend, bringing in $93.5 million and setting a box office record for October. Warner Bros. Pictures pulled off its record-setting weekend without using many of the marketing tools that come standard with comic book movies. While other... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-07 17:33:36 UTC ]
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It opened against the backdrop of gun assaults across the nation. It’s been criticized for gore and a sympathetic portrait of its homicidal protagonist. And it received an R rating for violence. All of which could add up to why Warner Bros. has been promoting “Joker” as more of an arthouse... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-10-07 17:33:36 UTC ]
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The export-reliant UK industry's publishers association raises the alarm, having invoiced close to US$160 million in printed books last year. The post UK Publishers Association Slams Trump Tariffs: Book Exports as ‘Collateral Damage’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2019-10-04 12:53:41 UTC ]
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A decade after rescuing it from an imminent shutdown, Duncan McIntosh has sold newspaper industry trade magazine Editor & Publisher to consultant Mike Blinder for an undisclosed sum. In an announcement late last week, E&P indicated that its upcoming October issue will be the first... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2019-09-03 20:10:05 UTC ]
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Book Reviews Alan Levenson Ever since early Islam, Jews have been dubbed the people of the book. The title stuck in European lands too, a deferential nod to the role of the Hebrew Bible in the Western canon, the breadth of Jewish literacy (never... Continue reading at World Literature Today
[ World Literature Today | 2019-07-02 20:46:30 UTC ]
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A new pocket photo book celebrates one of Great Britain's most iconic landmarks. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2019-04-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain has announced its 2019 shortlist for its annual awards, featuring nominations for novelists Guy Gunaratne, Nicola Mostyn and Mary Lynn Bracht. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) today agreed on a proposal which will allow all member states to give ebooks the same VAT-free status as printed books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The head of publisher Hachette has claimed ebooks are a failure – but as an author and a reader, they’ve completely changed my lifeI was a relatively late convert to the e-reader, getting my Kindle five years ago when it became clear that reading 600-pages of A Suitable Boy while breastfeeding... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2018-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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