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Book publishing: What it is, what it does
202
Book Re\~ew\
Illustrated by this study. The first paper by Jesse Shera seems to advocate m advance for the contrary when he strease\ “the essential mcompatlblhty of the research process and the nature of education as a human phenomenon” Should education of mformatlon speclahsts, like good cooking, continue to be the art of using up the scrap, and how man) sauces habe to be spoiled before It finds its Ali Bab? PlNS
hfICHtL J MtYoI Comultant ParI\. France
Book Publishing: What it is, What it does. JOHNP. DESSAL~ER R. R. Bowker Company, New York & London, ?d prmtmg re\
1976. 231 pp. ISBN @8352-G758-7 LC 74-12162 $11.95. In Book Publishing John Dessauer has used his particularly steady and informed vlslon to provide an mtroductory but comprehensive overview of current American book publishing. This second printing Smce December 1974 has been updated: It IS well-produced and Includes a glossary, bibliographic note. and a serviceable index. It should be useful to those active in the trade in whatever capacity, to those who are (or would be) authors, and to the reading public Well-orgdmzed and presented in a clear if unexceptional style, this work is an introduction in the best sense, defining and describmg the separate activities of publishing, depicting their intrinsic characteristics and basic concerns in logical relation to the whole Coverage Includes the full range of book pubhshmg. e.g. trade, religious. text, mass market and university press Publishing is nowhere glamorized, but is presented as a serious and important profession where the ultimate goal ~j to get desirable books from the manuscript stage to the readers. More importantly some of the fundamental problem\ and weaknesses of American publishing (particularly distribution and sales) are thoughtfully considered. The sources and audiences for each type of publishing specialty are considered m the chapter “How Books are Created” whde the yeveral ways of reaching that audience are described in “How Books are Marketed” and “How Books are Stored and Delivered”. (The straightforward, no nonsense chapter titles should not be mistaken as indicating a cursory or superficial approach.) Publishers have always had to respond to economic and social pressures as we are reminded m a short hlstorical chapter, “The Past IS Prologue”, mentioning, among other things, the impact that economics, postal regulations and international copyright had on the development of paperback publishing in the U.S. during the nineteenth century. Dessauer understands the publisher’s very real everyday problems in preparing a good product at a reasonable prolit which will allow the busmes\ to continue. One of his main objects is to improve the soundness of the financial basis for publishing. His last chapter “How Publishers Finance, Plan and Manage” provides good advice and examples while not ignoring weakneste5 in the trade’5 structure and practices (pp. 190-l%). Moreover, he makes some suggestions which, if seriously entertained, may significantly reduce not only cost but misunderstandings and friction between various elements and functions of publishmg as well as between publishers and their authors and readers. For example, Dessauer suggests (pp. 89-91) that m the name of economy (to reduce the difficulty and cost of securing supplies and the expense of press setups) the industry should agree on a range of standard materials and sizes. Members of the public who find the logic of current remamdermg practices elusive and who are dlctre,\ed by the wa) backlists go out of print, will find the discussion of first printing size and price determination (p. 94) particularly pertinent. But It IS a shock to read, “In most cases a printing, be it original or reprint, should represent a supply for no longer than a season (six months) or at most a year. Should the economics of the case not warrant a prmting small enough not to last beyond this period. then the book should probably not be published or reprinted at all unless strong secondary motives exist for doing so or the sponsor IS a not-for-profit publisher performing a service for scholarship or culture.” While it is refreshing not to have the publisher depicted as the selfless patron of culture, the implication is that unless manufacturing costs can be tightly controlled someday there wiIl be only mass audience-demand books and subsidized books. Is the ideal of a moderately priced, slow but steady selling “worthwhile” trade book to be abandoned? Can we trul) no longer afford civilization or scholarshlp? Dessauer’s book is both more sophisticated and more practically detailed than the Franklin Book Programs‘ .A Garde IO Book Publishing by Datus C. Smith. It is more focused and efficient than What Happens in Book Pltblishing edited by Chandler 9. Grannis (to which Dessauer refers readers of his Preface), in which the chatty and detaded chapters assume the reader’s active commitment to the particular function under discussion. Those who want more detailed practical information on how American books are prepared for production should refer to Lee Marshall’s Bookmaking: the IIIustrated Guide fo Desrgn andProduction, cl%5 But first, read Book Publishinn: What it is, What if does. Everyone concerned with books will find it interestmg and enlightening. Unirersitv of California Los Angeles C.4 90024
L' S.A Assembly Language Programming and he IBM 360 and 370 Computers. WALTERG RVDD Prentice-Hall
Inc.. Englewood
Chffc. NJ 1976. $16.95, pp. 553. ISBN O-13-049536-0 This thorough and competent text reviews Assembly language programming for the IBM 360 and 370 computers. It I\ a\ good or better than any other text currently available. The authors’ diligence in preparing the manuscript ylelded a lucid text with numerous useful examples and a reasonable sequence of presentahon. Frequent InsertIon of program\ and program fragment\ facilitates the absorption of the wealth of details in Assembly language programming. Especially appreciated I\ the coverage of both OS and DOS specifics. The advanced material on input/output, macro programming and “fancy” m\tructlons makes this text useful to junior professional programmers as well as student\. The authors friendly wrltmg style and the careful productlon makes the material approachable. More motivational material would have clarified the utility of some operations I would have liked a few I‘irge \cdle problems worked out in detail. One gets the impression that Assembly language program\ never get longer th‘tn 50
Book Re\~ew\
Illustrated by this study. The first paper by Jesse Shera seems to advocate m advance for the contrary when he strease\ “the essential mcompatlblhty of the research process and the nature of education as a human phenomenon” Should education of mformatlon speclahsts, like good cooking, continue to be the art of using up the scrap, and how man) sauces habe to be spoiled before It finds its Ali Bab? PlNS
hfICHtL J MtYoI Comultant ParI\. France
Book Publishing: What it is, What it does. JOHNP. DESSAL~ER R. R. Bowker Company, New York & London, ?d prmtmg re\
1976. 231 pp. ISBN @8352-G758-7 LC 74-12162 $11.95. In Book Publishing John Dessauer has used his particularly steady and informed vlslon to provide an mtroductory but comprehensive overview of current American book publishing. This second printing Smce December 1974 has been updated: It IS well-produced and Includes a glossary, bibliographic note. and a serviceable index. It should be useful to those active in the trade in whatever capacity, to those who are (or would be) authors, and to the reading public Well-orgdmzed and presented in a clear if unexceptional style, this work is an introduction in the best sense, defining and describmg the separate activities of publishing, depicting their intrinsic characteristics and basic concerns in logical relation to the whole Coverage Includes the full range of book pubhshmg. e.g. trade, religious. text, mass market and university press Publishing is nowhere glamorized, but is presented as a serious and important profession where the ultimate goal ~j to get desirable books from the manuscript stage to the readers. More importantly some of the fundamental problem\ and weaknesses of American publishing (particularly distribution and sales) are thoughtfully considered. The sources and audiences for each type of publishing specialty are considered m the chapter “How Books are Created” whde the yeveral ways of reaching that audience are described in “How Books are Marketed” and “How Books are Stored and Delivered”. (The straightforward, no nonsense chapter titles should not be mistaken as indicating a cursory or superficial approach.) Publishers have always had to respond to economic and social pressures as we are reminded m a short hlstorical chapter, “The Past IS Prologue”, mentioning, among other things, the impact that economics, postal regulations and international copyright had on the development of paperback publishing in the U.S. during the nineteenth century. Dessauer understands the publisher’s very real everyday problems in preparing a good product at a reasonable prolit which will allow the busmes\ to continue. One of his main objects is to improve the soundness of the financial basis for publishing. His last chapter “How Publishers Finance, Plan and Manage” provides good advice and examples while not ignoring weakneste5 in the trade’5 structure and practices (pp. 190-l%). Moreover, he makes some suggestions which, if seriously entertained, may significantly reduce not only cost but misunderstandings and friction between various elements and functions of publishmg as well as between publishers and their authors and readers. For example, Dessauer suggests (pp. 89-91) that m the name of economy (to reduce the difficulty and cost of securing supplies and the expense of press setups) the industry should agree on a range of standard materials and sizes. Members of the public who find the logic of current remamdermg practices elusive and who are dlctre,\ed by the wa) backlists go out of print, will find the discussion of first printing size and price determination (p. 94) particularly pertinent. But It IS a shock to read, “In most cases a printing, be it original or reprint, should represent a supply for no longer than a season (six months) or at most a year. Should the economics of the case not warrant a prmting small enough not to last beyond this period. then the book should probably not be published or reprinted at all unless strong secondary motives exist for doing so or the sponsor IS a not-for-profit publisher performing a service for scholarship or culture.” While it is refreshing not to have the publisher depicted as the selfless patron of culture, the implication is that unless manufacturing costs can be tightly controlled someday there wiIl be only mass audience-demand books and subsidized books. Is the ideal of a moderately priced, slow but steady selling “worthwhile” trade book to be abandoned? Can we trul) no longer afford civilization or scholarshlp? Dessauer’s book is both more sophisticated and more practically detailed than the Franklin Book Programs‘ .A Garde IO Book Publishing by Datus C. Smith. It is more focused and efficient than What Happens in Book Pltblishing edited by Chandler 9. Grannis (to which Dessauer refers readers of his Preface), in which the chatty and detaded chapters assume the reader’s active commitment to the particular function under discussion. Those who want more detailed practical information on how American books are prepared for production should refer to Lee Marshall’s Bookmaking: the IIIustrated Guide fo Desrgn andProduction, cl%5 But first, read Book Publishinn: What it is, What if does. Everyone concerned with books will find it interestmg and enlightening. Unirersitv of California Los Angeles C.4 90024
L' S.A Assembly Language Programming and he IBM 360 and 370 Computers. WALTERG RVDD Prentice-Hall
Inc.. Englewood
Chffc. NJ 1976. $16.95, pp. 553. ISBN O-13-049536-0 This thorough and competent text reviews Assembly language programming for the IBM 360 and 370 computers. It I\ a\ good or better than any other text currently available. The authors’ diligence in preparing the manuscript ylelded a lucid text with numerous useful examples and a reasonable sequence of presentahon. Frequent InsertIon of program\ and program fragment\ facilitates the absorption of the wealth of details in Assembly language programming. Especially appreciated I\ the coverage of both OS and DOS specifics. The advanced material on input/output, macro programming and “fancy” m\tructlons makes this text useful to junior professional programmers as well as student\. The authors friendly wrltmg style and the careful productlon makes the material approachable. More motivational material would have clarified the utility of some operations I would have liked a few I‘irge \cdle problems worked out in detail. One gets the impression that Assembly language program\ never get longer th‘tn 50