Firstly, my apologies for the tardiness of recent blog posts. I have been utterly consumed by work and University essay writing, a result of which was the lack of creative juices. The festive period always helps though, and I’m happily gearing up for a week of food and drink gluttony with the family. Tis the season!
On the Christmas theme, and to steal an idea very obviously from Charles Dickens, let’s have a short meander around the past, present and future of books. I’m in an interesting position in that I’m studying a course of the history of the book, am involved in Book Sanctuary as part of the present, and am curious about the future of the book. So, let’s get started.
The past of the book, to give a crude and academically questionable summary, truly became an item of the masses once Gutenberg print technology was established. As I have learnt in my studies, the idea of the book can be traced back as far as 2nd and 3rd Centuries BC. However, Gutenberg’s movable print had, by the late 15th Century, predicated an almost unprecedented expansion of book production. Gradually, as the decades and centuries passed, the improvement of this printing technology democratised the book and made it more available to the masses. Book producers could create cheaper editions and the middle classes began to read. Progressions in society (greater literacy), and the more accessible cost of a book, contributed to the development of the book industry as a major commercial force. Our old friend Charles Dickens was a good example, utilising cheap, serial publications in Victorian times to build a large, devoted audience. Books started to become big business, which leads us to…
The present: I believe that the last 15 years in particular, the period where I’ve grown up and become an enthusiastic reader, has seen the industry of the book expand. What we now have are major book chains with large stores (eg. Waterstones, Blackwells), as well as supermarkets and department stores. Books, particularly self-defined ‘best-sellers’, can now be found almost anywhere. We have major book festivals, book awards with significant press coverage, and blockbuster Hollywood adaptations. In addition, we now have the eBook. While our goal with the eBook is to encourage fresh, new writing, the eBook is becoming a commercial industry in its own right. There are a number of e-readers and book stores selling eBooks, and we’ve all seen a number of adverts and marketing efforts from Amazon; eBooks are becoming big business.
So, the future: It is hard to predict as there is currently a major upheaval taking place in the publishing industry. I’m not going to go into details in this entry, but as long as people still receive reward for their work, and publication agreements are fair to the author, then eBooks will succeed. It’s my belief that if this principle is defended the book will continue to thrive in both print and eBook form. Much like the music industry, equilibrium will be found. There will be those who prefer to buy an eBook, and those who like to have the physical edition. Who knows, maybe publishers and retailers will be savvy enough to help both forms continue and complement each other.
Those are my thoughts, in very brief form, on the book and where it is going. It is important that we embrace the opportunities of the future, while defending and retaining the best of the past:
“I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.” (Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)
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