Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process.
66-588: Heywood Hill is a bookshop at 10 Curzon Street , in the Mayfair district of London . The shop was opened by George Heywood Hill on 3 August 1936, with the help of Lady Anne Gathorne-Hardy , who would later become his wife. For the last three years of the Second World War, while George Heywood Hill was in the Army, Lady Anne ran the shop with the assistance of the novelist Nancy Mitford . In 1949 Elizabeth Forbes ,
132-461: A Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. CK-12 FlexBooks are free to use online and offer formats suitable for use on portable personal reading devices and computers – both online and offline. Formats for both iPad and Kindle are offered. School districts may select a title as is or customize the open textbook to meet local instructional standards. The file may be then accessed electronically or printed using any print on demand service without paying
198-647: A Latin translation from the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament . Gutenberg's invention made mass production of texts possible for the first time. Although the Gutenberg Bible itself was expensive, printed books began to spread widely over European trade routes during the next 50 years, and by the 16th century, printed books had become more widely accessible and less costly. While many textbooks were already in use, compulsory education and
264-564: A degree program and tuition and fees are lower, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student was $ 886 in academic year 2003–2004, representing almost three-quarters of the cost of tuition and fees. According to the 2nd edition of a study by the United States Public Interest Research Group (US PIRG) published in February 2005 : "Textbook prices are increasing at more than four times
330-452: A faculty order for the book at the end of the term and the edition is still current, they may offer students the wholesale price of the book, which could range from 5 to 35 percent of the new retail price, according to the GAO report. When students resell their textbooks during campus "buyback" periods, these textbooks are often sold into the national used textbook distribution chain. If a textbook
396-408: A kiosk and ordering books online with a third party facilitator or renting directly from the store's inventory. Some stores use a hybrid of both methods, opting for in-store selections of the most popular books and the online option for more obscure titles or books they consider too risky to put in the rental system. Rented items can be used for a set duration of time, then are required to be returned to
462-467: A large scale by ordering textbooks for entire courses at lower prices from international distribution channels. While the 1998 Supreme Court decision Quality King v. L'anza protects the reimportation of copyrighted materials under the first-sale doctrine , textbook publishers have still attempted to prevent the U.S. sale of international editions by enforcing contracts which forbid foreign wholesalers from selling to American distributors. Concerned about
528-417: A loophole through this definition in state bills. Given that the problem of high textbook prices is linked to the "broken" economics of the market, requiring publishers to disclose textbook prices to faculty is a solution pursued by a number of legislatures. By inserting price into sales interactions, this regulation will supposedly make the economic forces operate more normally. No data suggests that this
594-515: A loss of sales for U.S. retailers. Additionally, the availability of lower-priced textbooks through these channels has heightened distrust and frustration among students regarding textbook prices, and college stores find it difficult to explain why their textbook prices are higher, according to the National Association of College Stores. Retailers and publishers have also been concerned that some U.S. retailers may have engaged in reimportation on
660-474: A new edition costs 12% more than a new copy of the previous edition (not surprising if the old version is obsolete), and 58% more than a used copy of the previous edition. Textbook publishers maintain these new editions are driven by demand from teachers. That study found that 76% of teachers said new editions were justified "half of the time or less" and 40% said they were justified "rarely" or "never". The PIRG study has been criticized by publishers, who argue that
726-629: A number of textbooks already exist, and are being used at schools such as MIT and Harvard. A 2010 study published found that open textbooks offer a viable and attractive means to meet faculty and student needs while offering savings of approximately 80% compared to traditional textbook options. Although the largest question seems to be who is going to pay to write them, several state policies suggest that public investment in open textbooks might make sense. To offer another perspective , any jurisdiction might find itself challenged to find sufficient numbers of credible academics who would be willing to undertake
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#1732855741882792-399: A price quote or offer. These online book buyers often offer "free shipping" (which in actuality is built into the offer for the book), and allow students to sell multiple books to the same source. Because online book buyers are buying books for resale, the prices they offer may be lower than students can get on online marketplaces. However, their prices are competitive, and they tend to focus on
858-628: A royalty, saving 80% or more when compared to traditional textbook options. An example print on demand open textbook title, "College Algebra" by Stitz & Zeager through Lulu is 608 pages, royalty free, and costs about $ 20 ordered one at a time (March 2011). (Any print on demand service could be used – this is just an example. School districts could easily negotiate even lower prices for bulk purchases to be printed in their own communities.) Teacher's editions are available for educators and parents. Titles have been authored by various individuals and organizations and are vetted for quality prior to inclusion in
924-443: A service of assembling and delivering bespoke libraries for customers. It has been described as the late Queen 's favourite bookshop. 51°30′25″N 0°08′48″W / 51.5070°N 0.1466°W / 51.5070; -0.1466 Bookselling People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers , bookdealers , bookpeople , bookmen , or bookwomen . The founding of libraries in c. 300 BC stimulated
990-442: A small commission only after the sale is completed. According to textbook author Henry L. Roediger (and Wadsworth Publishing Company senior editor Vicki Knight), the used textbook market is illegitimate, and entirely to blame for the rising costs of textbooks. As methods of "dealing with this problem", he recommends making previous editions of textbooks obsolete, binding the textbook with other materials, and passing laws to prevent
1056-427: A student receives. If a professor chooses to use the same book the following semester, even if it is a custom text, designed specifically for an individual instructor, bookstores often buy the book back. The GAO report found that, generally, if a book is in good condition and will be used on the campus again the next term, bookstores will pay students 50 percent of the original price paid. If the bookstore has not received
1122-461: A textbook. Supplemental items range from CD-ROMs and workbooks to online passcodes and bonus material. Students often cannot buy these things separately, and often the one-time-use supplements destroy the resale value of the textbook. According to the Student PIRGs, the typical bundled textbook costs 10%–50% more than an unbundled textbook, and 65% of professors said they "rarely" or "never" use
1188-545: Is Houghton Mifflin Harcourt . The market for textbooks does not reflect classic supply and demand because of agency problems . Some students save money by buying used copies of textbooks, which tend to be less expensive, and are available from many college bookstores in the US, who buy them back from students at the end of a term. Books that are not being re-used at the school are often purchased by an off-campus wholesaler for 0–30% of
1254-501: Is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textbooks and other books used in schools. Today, many textbooks are published in both print and digital formats. The history of textbooks dates back to ancient civilizations. For example, Ancient Greeks wrote educational texts. The modern textbook has its roots in
1320-473: Is in fact true. However, The Student PIRGs have found that publishers actively withhold pricing information from faculty, making it difficult to obtain. Their most recent study found that 77% of faculty say publisher sales representatives do not volunteer prices, and only 40% got an answer when they directly asked. Furthermore, the study found that 23% of faculty rated publisher websites as "informative and easy to use" and less than half said they typically listed
1386-412: Is not going to be used on campus for the next semester of courses then many times the college bookstore will sell that book to a national used book company. The used book company then resells the book to another college bookstore. Finally, that book is sold as used to a student at another college at a price that is typically 75% of the new book price. At each step, a markup is applied to the book to enable
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#17328557418821452-899: The Commonwealth , apart from Canada ) may be either part of a chain , or local independent bookstores . Stores can range in size, offering several hundred to several hundred thousand titles. They may be brick and mortar stores, internet-only stores, or a combination of both. Sizes for the larger bookstores exceed half a million titles. Bookstores often sell other printed matter besides books, such as newspapers , magazines , and maps ; additional product lines may vary enormously, particularly among independent bookstores. Colleges and universities often have bookstores on campus that focus on providing course textbooks and scholarly books and also sell other supplies and logo merchandise. Many on-campus bookstores are owned or operated by large commercial chains such as WHSmith , Blackwell's or Waterstone's in
1518-526: The 2007 edition of the College Board's Trend in College Pricing Report published October 2007 : "College costs continue to rise and federal student aid has shown slower growth when adjusted for inflation, while textbooks, as a percentage of total college costs, have remained steady at about 5 percent." In most U.S. K-12 public schools, a local school board votes on which textbooks to purchase from
1584-453: The Amazon kindle, e-textbooks are not an innovation, but have been "gaining momentum". According to the article " Are textbooks obsolete?", publishers and editorials are concerned about the issue of expensive textbooks. "The expense of textbooks is a concern for students, and e-textbooks, address the face of the issue, Williams says " As publishers we understand the high cost of these materials, and
1650-525: The CK-12 catalog. An effort is underway to map state educational standards correlations. Stanford University provided a number of titles in use. Curriki is another modular K-12 content non-profit "empowering educators to deliver and share curricula." Selected Curriki materials are also correlated to U.S. state educational standards. Some Curriki content has been collected into open textbooks and some may be used for modular lessons or special topics. Similar to
1716-685: The Flat World financial model sustainable. However, in January 2013 Flat World Knowledge announced their financial model could no longer sustain their free-to-read options for students. Flat World Knowledge intends to have open textbooks available for the 125 highest-enrolled courses on college campuses within the next few years. CK-12 Flexbooks are the open textbooks designed for United States K-12 courses. CK-12 FlexBooks are designed to facilitate conformance to national and United States and individual state textbook standards. CK-12 FlexBooks are licensed under
1782-622: The ISBN or title, author and edition, most textbooks can be located through online used booksellers or retailers. Most leading textbook companies publish a new edition every 3 or 4 years, more frequently in math and science. Harvard economics chair James K. Stock has stated that new editions are often not about significant improvements to the content. "New editions are to a considerable extent simply another tool used by publishers and textbook authors to maintain their revenue stream, that is, to keep up prices." A study conducted by The Student PIRGs found that
1848-669: The United Kingdom, or Barnes & Noble College Booksellers in the United States. Another common type of bookstore is the used bookstore or second-hand bookshop which buys and sells used and out-of-print books in a variety of conditions . A range of titles are available in used bookstores, including in print and out-of-print books. Book collectors tend to frequent used bookstores. Large online bookstores offer used books for sale, too. Individuals wishing to sell their used books using online bookstores agree to terms outlined by
1914-444: The actual price the publisher would get for the book. Once a textbook is purchased from a retailer for the first time, there are several ways a student can sell his/her textbooks back at the end of the semester or later. Students can sell to 1) the college/university bookstore; 2) fellow students; 3) numerous online websites; or 4) a student swap service. As for buyback on a specific campus, faculty decisions largely determine how much
1980-478: The aim of reselling them for a profit. Like online marketplaces, online book buyers operate year-round, giving students the opportunity to sell their books even when campus "buyback" periods are not in effect. Online book buyers, who are often online book sellers as well, will sometimes disclaim whether or not a book can be sold back prior to purchase. Students enter the ISBN numbers of the books they wish to sell and receive
2046-645: The bookstore(s): paying the online bookstore(s) a predetermined commission once the books have sold. In Paris , the Bouquinistes are antiquarian and used booksellers who have had outdoor stalls and boxes along both sides of the Seine for hundreds of years, regulated by law since the 1850s and contributing to the scenic ambiance of the city. Unit sales of print books in the United States were down 2.6 percent in 2023 compared to 2022, but print sales in 2023 were up 10 percent compared to 2019. Textbook A textbook
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2112-541: The bundled items in their courses. A 2005 Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report in the United States found that the production of these supplemental items was the primary cause of rapidly increasing prices: While publishers, retailers, and wholesalers all play a role in textbook pricing, the primary factor contributing to increases in the price of textbooks has been the increased investment publishers have made in new products to enhance instruction and learning...While wholesalers, retailers, and others do not question
2178-465: The charges for returned books from bookstores. According to the National Association of College Stores, the entire cost of the book is justified by expenses, with typically 11.7% of the price of a new book going to the author's royalties (or a committee of editors at the publishing house), 22.7% going to the store, and 64.6% going to the publisher. The store and publisher amounts are slightly higher for Canada. Bookstores and used-book vendors profit from
2244-443: The convenience of their service. Some even claim that buying used textbooks online and selling them to online book buyers has a lower total cost than even textbook rental services. In response to escalating textbook prices, limited competition, and to provide a more efficient system to connect buyers and sellers together, online textbook exchanges were developed. Most of today's sites handle buyer and seller payments, and usually deduct
2310-476: The copies of the textbook. Legislation at state and federal levels seeks to limit the practice of bundling, by requiring publishers to offer all components separately. Publishers have testified in favor of bills including this provision, but only in the case that the provision exempts the loosely defined category of "integrated textbooks". The Federal bill only exempts 3rd party materials in integrated textbooks, however publisher lobbyists have attempted to create
2376-442: The cost of textbooks and supplies for degree-seeking students as a percentage of tuition and fees varies by the type of institution attended. For example, the average estimated cost of books and supplies per first-time, full-time student for academic year 2003–2004 was $ 898 at 4-year public institutions, or about 26 percent of the cost of tuition and fees. At 2-year public institutions, where low-income students are more likely to pursue
2442-432: The daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Forbes , joined the staff of the store where she worked prior to her career as a journalist, music critic, and musicologist. In the period following Heywood Hill's retirement, the shop was managed by Handasyde Buchanan , a notable contributor to books on natural history who had joined the shop in 1945. John Saumarez Smith , who had joined the staff straight from Cambridge in 1965, took up
2508-481: The effects of differential pricing on college stores, the National Association of College Stores has called on publishers to stop the practice of selling textbooks at lower prices outside the United States. For example, some U.S. booksellers arrange for drop-shipments in foreign countries which are then re-shipped to America where the books can be sold online at used prices (for a "new" unopened book). The authors often getting half-royalties instead of full-royalties, minus
2574-415: The effort of creating an open textbook without realistic compensation, to make such a proposal work. Currently, some open textbooks have been funded with non-profit investment. The other challenge involves the reality of publishing, which is that textbooks with good sales and profitability subsidize the creation and publication of low demand but believed to be necessary textbooks. Subsidies skew markets and
2640-408: The electronic format permit us diminish the general expense of our content to the market". E-textbook applications facilitate similar experiences to physical textbooks by allowing the user to highlight and take notes in-page. These applications also extend textbook learning by providing quick definitions, reading the text aloud, and search functionality. In-store rentals are processed by either using
2706-548: The elimination of subsidies is disruptive; in the case of low demand textbooks the possibilities following subsidy removal include any or all of the following: higher retail prices, a switch to open textbooks, a reduction of the number of titles published. On the other hand, independent open textbook authoring and publishing models are developing. Most notably, the startup publisher Flat World Knowledge already has dozens of college-level open textbooks that are used by more than 900 institutions in 44 countries. Their business model
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2772-541: The energies of the Athenian booksellers. In Rome , toward the end of the republic , it became the fashion to have a library, and Roman booksellers carried on a flourishing trade. The spread of Christianity naturally created a great demand for copies of the Gospels , other sacred books, and later on for missals and other devotional volumes for both church and private use. The modern system of bookselling dates from soon after
2838-399: The field of books came with the 15th-century invention of printing with changeable type. The invention is attributed to German metalsmith Johannes Gutenberg, who cast type in molds using a melted metal alloy and constructed a wooden-screw printing press to transfer the image onto paper. Gutenberg's first and only large-scale printing effort was the now iconic Gutenberg Bible in the 1450s –
2904-448: The inflation rate for all finished goods, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index. The wholesale prices charged by textbook publishers have jumped 62 percent since 1994, while prices charged for all finished goods increased only 14 percent. Similarly, the prices charged by publishers for general books increased just 19 percent during the same time period." According to
2970-609: The introduction of printing . During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Low Countries, for a time, became the chief centre of the bookselling world. Modern book selling has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet. Major websites such as Amazon , eBay , and other big book distributors offer affiliate programs and dominate book sales. Bookstores (called bookshops in the United Kingdom , Ireland , Australia and most of
3036-562: The invention of the Greek alphabet 2,500 years ago, knowledge and stories were recited aloud, much like Homer 's epic poems. The new technology of writing meant stories no longer needed to be memorized, a development Socrates feared would weaken the Greeks' mental capacities for memorizing and retelling. (Ironically, we know about Socrates' concerns only because they were written down by his student Plato in his famous Dialogues.) The next revolution in
3102-443: The issue of reimportation of pharmaceuticals into the U.S. market, the GAO report also highlights a similar phenomenon in textbook distribution. Retailers and publishers have expressed concern about the re-importation of lower-priced textbooks from international locations. Specifically, they cited the ability students have to purchase books from online distribution channels outside the United States at lower prices, which may result in
3168-422: The mass production made possible by the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg himself may have printed editions of Ars Minor , a schoolbook on Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus . Early textbooks were used by tutors and teachers (e.g. alphabet books), as well as by individuals who taught themselves. The Greek philosopher Socrates lamented the loss of knowledge because the media of transmission were changing. Before
3234-451: The new cost, for distribution to other bookstores. Some textbook companies have countered this by encouraging teachers to assign homework that must be done on the publisher's website. Students with a new textbook can use the pass code in the book to register on the site; otherwise they must pay the publisher to access the website and complete assigned homework. Students who look beyond the campus bookstore can typically find lower prices. With
3300-652: The number of providers has declined in recent years (there are just a handful of major textbook companies in the United States). Also, elasticity of demand is fairly low. The term "broken market" appeared in the economist James Koch's analysis of the market commissioned by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. In the United States, the largest textbook publishers are Pearson Education , Cengage , McGraw-Hill Education , and Wiley . Together they control 90% of market revenue. Another textbook publisher
3366-454: The physical store or shipped back to the third party facilitator by the rental due date. Writing and highlighting is sometimes allowed in rented items, although excessive markup which makes the item unrentable is discouraged. Overdue items are often charged a fee up to the retail price of the rented item. Rented items typically do not include supplemental materials such as access codes, CDs, or loose-leafs. Using textbook sharing, students share
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#17328557418823432-428: The physical textbook with other students, and the cost of the book is divided among the users of the textbook. Over the life of the textbook, if 4 students use the textbook, the cost of the textbook for each student will be 25% of the total cost of the book. The latest trend in textbooks is "open textbooks". An open textbook is a free, openly licensed textbook offered online by the copyright holders. According to PIRG,
3498-469: The price. The US Congress passed a law in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act that would require price disclosure. Legislation requiring price disclosure has passed in Connecticut, Washington, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Publishers are currently supporting price disclosure mandates, though they insist that the "suggested retail price" should be disclosed, rather than
3564-433: The quality of these materials, they have expressed concern that the publishers' practice of packaging supplements with a textbook to sell as one unit limits the opportunity students have to purchase less expensive used books....If publishers continue to increase these investments, particularly in technology, the cost to produce a textbook is likely to continue to increase in the future. Bundling has also been used to segment
3630-455: The reigns as manager in 1974 following Buchanan's retirement, a position he held for over thirty years. In 1991, the shop was bought by Nancy Mitford's brother-in-law, Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire . Since 2016, the shop has been owned by Mitford's nephew Peregrine Cavendish, 12th Duke of Devonshire . It has been managed by his son-in-law, Nicky Dunne since 2011. Heywood Hill specialises in rare books and collections of books, and has
3696-442: The report contains factual inaccuracies regarding the annual average cost of textbooks per student. The Student PIRGs also point out that recent emphasis on e-textbooks does not always save students money. Even though the book costs less up-front, the student will not recover any of the cost through resale. Another publishing industry practice that has been highly criticized is "bundling", or shrink-wrapping supplemental items into
3762-889: The resale of textbooks on the used market, with publishers only earning profits on sales of new textbooks. According to the GAO study published July 2005: Following closely behind annual increases in tuition and fees at postsecondary institutions, college textbook and supply prices have risen at twice the rate of annual inflation over the last two decades. Rising at an average of 6 percent each year since academic year 1987–1988, compared with overall average price increases of 3 percent per year, college textbook and supply prices trailed tuition and fee increases, which averaged 7 percent per year. Since December 1986, textbook and supply prices have nearly tripled, increasing by 186 percent, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall prices grew by 72 percent. While increases in textbook and supply prices have followed increases in tuition and fees,
3828-424: The respective companies to continue to operate. Students can also sell or trade textbooks among themselves. After completing a course, sellers will often seek out members of the next enrolling class, people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the required books. This may be done by posting flyers to advertise the sale of the books or simply soliciting individuals who are shopping in the college bookstore for
3894-585: The resulting growth of schooling in Europe led to the printing of many more textbooks for children. Textbooks have been the primary teaching instrument for most children since the 19th century. Two textbooks of historical significance in United States schooling were the 18th century New England Primer and the 19th century McGuffey Readers . Recent technological advances have changed the way people interact with textbooks. Online and digital materials are making it increasingly easy for students to access materials other than
3960-418: The sale of used books , and would make that entire industry illegal. Another alternative to save money and obtaining the materials you are required are e-textbooks. The article "E books rewrite the rules of education" states that, alternately to spending a lot of money on textbooks, you can purchase an e-textbook at a small amount of the cost. With the growth of digital applications for iPhone, and gadgets like
4026-419: The sale of used books. The concept is not unlike the limited licensing approach for computer software, which places rigid restrictions on resale and reproduction. The intent is to make users understand that the content of any textbook is the intellectual property of the author and/or the publisher, and that as such, subject to copyright. Obviously, this idea is completely opposed to the millennia-old tradition of
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#17328557418824092-501: The same titles. Many larger schools have independent websites set up for the purpose of facilitating such trade. These often operate much like digital classified ads, enabling students to list their items for sale and browse for those they wish to acquire. Also, at the US Air Force Academy , it is possible to e-mail entire specific classes, allowing for an extensive network of textbook sales to exist. Online marketplaces are one of
4158-407: The traditional print textbook. Students now have access to electronic books ("e-books"), online tutoring systems and video lectures. An example of an e-book is Principles of Biology from Nature Publishing . Most notably, an increasing number of authors are avoiding commercial publishers and instead offering their textbooks under a creative commons or other open license. As in many industries,
4224-648: The two major types of online websites students can use to sell used textbooks. Online marketplaces may have an online auction format or may allow the student to list their books for a fixed price. In either case, the student must create the listing for each book themselves and wait for a buyer to order, making the use of marketplaces a more passive way of selling used textbooks. Unlike campus buyback and online book, students are unlikely to sell all their books to one buyer using online marketplaces, and will likely have to send out multiple books individually. Online book buyers buy textbooks, and sometimes other types of books, with
4290-403: The used book market. Each combination of a textbook and supplemental items receives a separate ISBN. A single textbook could therefore have dozens of ISBNs that denote different combinations of supplements packaged with that particular book. When a bookstore attempts to track down used copies of textbooks, they will search for the ISBN the course instructor orders, which will locate only a subset of
4356-403: Was to offer the open textbook free online, and then sell ancillary products that students are likely to buy if prices are reasonable – print copies, study guides, ePub , .Mobi ( Kindle ), PDF download, etc. Flat World Knowledge compensates its authors with royalties on these sales. With the generated revenue Flat World Knowledge funded high-quality publishing activities with a goal of making
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