Videoage International November 2021

8 Book Review V I D E O A G E November 2021 A dvancements in digital tech- nology have dramatically shifted global industries. Those changes can be seen in the international television industrywith the impact of streaming, VoD platforms, and social media. In his latest book, British sociologist John B. Thompson looks at the far-reaching ramifications of the digital revolution on the book publishing industry. Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing (511 pgs., Polity, 2021, U.S. $35) offers an incredibly well-researched historical account of the transformations in the world of book publishing, from the development of the e-book to the legal battles that ensued in the early 2000s to the boom of self-publishing and audiobooks, as well as other trends in the trade. With the digital revolution, Thompson writes that “unprecedented new opportunities are opened up, both for individuals and for organizations, while beneath the surface the tectonic plates of the industry are shifting.” Thompson, an emeritus professor at Cambridge University and a fellow of Jesus College, has considered the influenceofmediaand its different forms throughout his career. His previous book, Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century , which was released in 2010, also looked at the contemporary state of the book industry. More than a decade later, Book Wars advances his thinking and research to further shed light on the implications of widespread digitization. The Anglo-American publishing industry, the primary focus of Thompson’s study, was once overshadowed by the control of publishers, literary agents, and retail bookstores. With the advent of the digital revolution beginning in the 1980s, that structure would first be altered at the logistical level. He writes, “For an industry like book publishing, where thousands of new products — that is, books — are published every week, each bearing a unique numerical identifier or ISBN, the potential for achieving greater efficiencies in supply-chain management through the use of IT was enormous.” Thompson goes on to indicate how the digital revolution went on to transform how books were produced, how entire jobs were changed, and how new formats for books were established, most notably, the e-book. For many, the e-book revolutionized how books could be consumed by readersby separating thecontent of abook fromits physical form. At the outset, many commentators and trend forecasters had differing ideas about the changes that would take place, including those who feared the worst: that e-books would make physical books artifacts for museums. In his analysis of e-books, Thompson traces the development of the format, the companies that first got into the game, and what models were initially being offered (Who remembers one of the first dedicated e-readers, Nuvomedia’s Rocket eBook?). Following Amazon’s introduction of the Kindle in 2008, and the launch of Apple’s iPad in 2010, e-book sales in the U.S. saw a steady then meteoric increase. Thompson notes, “By 2012, e-book sales had reached over $1.5 billion, a 22- fold increase in just four years. This was dizzying growth.” E-books, though, in Thompson’s estimation, were not all that they were hoped to be. After that initial spike, e-book sales dropped or plateaued. And then, more often than not, only certain sorts of books did well as digital versions, such as romance or mystery novels, while other genres and types of books, for example, nonlinear books like cookbooks and travel books, saw negligible growth in sales. Outside of the U.S. or the West, the adoption of e-books wasn’t as turbulent as in the Anglo-American book industry. To that point, Thompson adds, “There is no reason to assume that the digital revolution will disrupt the publishing industry in the same way everywhere, sweeping through it like a technological tsunami, and the evidence to date suggests that this is not what is happening.” Thompson is tireless in following the significant legal battles that the digital revolution brought about. One of the first clashes commenced with Google’s foray into the book world. In 2004, the Silicon Valley tech giant partnered with several university libraries, as well as the NewYork Public Library, to digitize their archives. However, one of the principal reasons that tech companies like Google got involved in the book world was not about books. As Thompson explains, “the motivation for digitizing book content was rooted firmly in Google’s determination to strengthen its competitive advantage vis-à-vis Yahoo! and Microsoft in the search engine wars.” Another important player in the book world is Amazon. Thompson does not understate the position that the multinational tech company has within the book ecosystem. Thompson also addresses Amazon’s role in disrupting the price of e-books, which would cause legal skirmishes between the Top Five publishers on the East Coast against the tech giants on the West Coast. Later on, on the subject of Amazon, Thompson judges, “The digital revolution has brought into being an organization that now wields unprecedented power in the publishing field, while many other organizations survive on revenues so small and margins so thin that a small downturn in the economy, let alone a major lockdown or prolonged recession, could push them into insolvency.” At over 500 pages, BookWars is a doorstopper of a book. Thompson has prepared a definitive and enjoyable report on the various transformative shifts catalyzed by the digital revolution in the Anglo-American book publishing trade. British sociologist John B. Thompson offers a substantive report on the changing landscape in the publishing industry following digital advancements. How The Book Publishing Sector Survived The Digital Revolution By Luis Polanco At over 500 pages, Book Wars is a doorstopper of a book. Thompson has prepared a definitive and enjoyable report on the various transformative shifts catalyzed by the digital revolution.