Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature

Big Fiction: How Conglomeration Changed the Publishing Industry and American Literature by Dan Sinykin

Publishing houses have consolidated over the years. This has led to the general "corporatization" seen in other fields. This has lead to a bifurcation of publishing where the "award winner" list is very different from the "best seller" list. The consolidation came about gradually. Initially book stores would carry a selection of books that were available. They would order direct from publishers and receive books when they came. There were many publishers concentrated in New York, as well as many other smaller regional publishers. Some innovations such as "mass market" paperbacks brought books to grocery stores and other venues. Wholesalers entered the picture, allowing booksellers to rapidly obtain any book. Then mall bookstores such as Waldenbooks and B. Dalton further emphasized the "popular" books. Borders and Barnes and Noble took it up a notch with superstores. Amazon came to dominate the mail order side of retail. The publishers also consolidated with some being part of giant conglomerates. Genre publishing focussed on certain niches like romance or Science Fiction. Some authors, like Danielle Steel have built up a strong brand in genres. (Interesting, Stephen King found that when he published books under a pseudonym, they did not sell well.)

Thing continue to evolve. Self-publishing has taken over the low end of the market, almost wiping out mass market books. The government has also been acting to prevent further consolidation on the publishing side.

The subtitle attempts to be more alarming than the content is. There are some interesting explorations of the lives of some key players such as Steel and publishing houses. However, the general flow seems like that of standard industrial consolidation.