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This book explores the college textbook publishing industry, from its inception in medieval universities, through the late 20th century, to the present day which has led to an existential crisis for some publishers. The various sections in this book offers a comprehensive analysis of the substantive developments, problems, and concerns about a myriad of major issues that confronted the higher education textbook sector after 2000. Chapters incorporate highly reliable textbook statistical sources as well as a review of some marketing theories utilized by these publishers (e.g., understanding the threat of substitute products; the sale of used and rental texts; the sale of new digital textbooks).
List of contents
1. The State of the U.S. College Textbook Industry to 2000.- 2. The Impact of Disruption on the College Textbook Publishing Industry: 2001-2012.- 3. The Responses of the Major College Textbook Publishers: 2013-2018.- 4. College Bookstores and College Textbook Publishers Confront Dramatic Developments and Challenges: 2019-2021.- 5. The Future of College Textbook Publishing.
About the author
Albert N. Greco is Professor of Marketing in the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University, USA. He is the author or editor of nineteen scholarly books, ten professional books, and more than thirty journal articles. He has lectured about book publishing at Harvard University, The World Bank, and The Library of Congress.
Report
"Albert N. Greco explains in his concise, carefully researched history of recent changes in the college textbook industry. ... Greco is one of the country's leading experts on the economics of publishing ... . He has done yeoman's labor collecting relevant statistics about publishers' sales, revenues and costs-all presented in neat, easily digestible tables-and detailing the bankruptcies, mergers and other major developments within the industry." (Jonathan Zimmerman, Publishing Research Quarterly, November 17, 2023)
