10.3
END OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY?
100
SPEAKING AND READING
1
Work with a partner to discuss the following.
1
Where do you get your books from?
2
Do you pay for books? Why?/Why not?
3
Do you prefer to get hardback or paperback?
4
Do you know of any trends in the publishing
industry?
2
10.2
Listen to six people talking about their book
buying habits. How do they get their books and why
do they like those kinds of books?
3
a
Scan the article quickly and decide which of the
three people think we should pay for books.
3
b
Read the article again. Which person says/implies
the following: the downloader (D), the publisher (P) or
the author (A)?
1
Overall book sales are falling.
2
Overall book sales are up this year.
3
We should download the first chapters of books
and then pay for the books we like.
4
How important downloading is for teenagers.
5
Why sales results have improved this year.
6
Who had the bestselling book in the previous year.
7
How some authors have made money.
3
c
Answer these questions about the article.
1
Why are overall book sales up for the first time since
2004?
2
How are paperback sales doing compared to digital
sales?
3
Why have sales results improved recently?
4
How did the some authors become famous?
5
How are teenagers’ reading habits changing?
6
Which country rewards authors fairly?
4
a
Reacting to the text
Look at the following
statements. Indicate how strongly you agree or
disagree with each statement (1 = agree strongly,
5 = disagree strongly).
1
People should pay for their books.
2
People should pay for music and films.
3
It is impossible to stop people from downloading
for free.
4
When authors and singers die, we should not have
to pay for their books and songs.
4
b
Work with a partner to discuss the statements.
I’ve supported authors by spending
hundreds of dollars on books. However,
I’ve only bought three printed books in
the last six years. I like reading non-fiction
rather than novels. I find them on online
bookstores and I download them to my
tablet.
Publishing companies and some authors
expect the public to continue paying for
music. They believe that if we stop buying
books the way they have decided to sell
them then the publishing industry will die.
They are wrong. They should make all their
books available for download with the first
chapter for free and then we can start to
pay for the ones we like. Some authors got
famous this way and made money. They
might as well join the 21st century and start
supporting creativity.
It is important to look at the figures. For many
years we have read reports on the publishing
industry saying that overall book sales are down.
However, this year, for the first time since 2004,
overall sales are up. Book sales are up 1.4%
to 330.57 million units from 326.15 million the
previous year. John Grisham had the best-selling
book, moving 58.2 million copies in the world
sales. Paperback sales fell by 6%, whereas digital
downloads rose 20% to 103.1 million.
So, the so-called ‘death of the publishing industry’
has not happened. This year’s improved results
are due to more marketing, the public paying for
digital books and the power of social media.
However, it is clear that if people continue
downloading books illegally, then the
publishing industry and authors in certain
countries will not be able to keep on working.
Therefore people should continue to pay for
their books.
The publisher
The downloader
