Resource Guides
Publishing Industry
- Books
- Periodicals
- Inclusive
Publishing House Research - Resource Guides
American Business Media
American Business Media is an association serving
business-to-business information providers, including print producers;
non-members can access many of its resources for free, notably Business
Information Network, a monthly report on b-to-b print ad spending and
pages. Other resources include white papers in areas such as marketing
and HR, and guidelines for international publishing. One of the more
recent is a member survey on the role of the editor. ABM offers a
monthly e-newsletter with industry data and research, and a monthly
report on b-to-b print ad spending. The B-to-B Media Handbook is a free
guidebook for advertisers, available for download.
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Communications Industry
Forecast & Report
published by Veronis Suhler Stevenson
This report on the U.S. communications industry provides
industry-level statistics for historical expenditures, spending
projections, and financial performance by segment, using data from
public companies. It has chapters on newspaper publishing, consumer
book publishing, and consumer magazine publishing, as well as chapters
on professional, educational and training media and
business-to-business media. The authors are concerned with trends in
all these areas and in specific segments of each, and offer advertising
and consumption statistics. The resource is available in print or on
CD-ROM.
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Euromonitor is a research organization in a wide range of
fields. It offers about twenty country reports on the book publishing
industry and some shorter country market profiles, as well as a few
reports on the major newspaper and magazine markets. Its World
Directory of Trade and Business Journals covers professional publishing
globally, with the requisite coverage and circulation info. Its most
comprehensive report in our field is The World Market for Books and
Publishing. This report has sales figures by geographical market,
format, and category; it identifies market trends, discusses the supply
chain, etc. It includes a discussion of the strategies of the main
industry players, and even predicts future performance.
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Global Entertainment and
Media Outlook
published by PriceWaterhouseCoopers
The industry segments covered in the latest edition
(2005-2009) of this annual include magazine publishing, newspaper
publishing, consumer book publishing, and educational and professional
books. It provides market analyses and five-year growth projections for
the U.S., Canada, and global regions. Data within each industry segment
is categorized. Segment reports are available for purchase individually.
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This UK Web site is collaboration between The British Council and The Publishers Association (UK). Reports on the publishing industry and market, rich in statistical data, are available by country, including developing countries, to GPI members. For example, the China Publishing Market Profile (2001) is a report of 180 pages. Historical data covers the years 1994 through 1999. There's a great deal of demographic data and economic measurement, and thorough examination of every element of the industry, from legislation through market indicators, including a SWOT analysis. The discussion of market size is replete with finely categorized stats on industry output, and the various sectors of the market are explored. Education and GPI forecasts are carefully examined, and there are charts with projections through 2004.
At 126 pages, the Profile on India is hardly less inclusive;
the report on Ghana runs 38 pages. All contain valuable lists of
related resources. Access to the material is by membership.
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International Directory
of Small Magazines and Small Presses
published by Dustbooks
This annual is a listing of over 4,000 small-circulation
magazines and small publishers of both books and magazines. Entries
include comprehensive information for publishers, such as name of
periodical, content, average press run, number of titles published in
the previous year, etc., depending on the type of publication produced.
Information for magazines includes circulation, frequency, etc. The
entries are indexed by subject, and also by country and state. It is a
comprehensive directory, defining "small" liberally.
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International Publishers
Association
This organization is made up of 78 publishing organizations in 66 countries. It concerns itself with both book and periodicals publishing. Its mission involves ensuring the right to publish, the protection of copyright, and furthering unrestricted international trade of publications. The Web site also has areas concerned with new technologies. There are areas listing training programs in publishing (academic and non-academic), and international events.
The site has statistics measuring publication for about 30
countries by various measures: type of book; number of titles; domestic
and export market; journals and electronic products; number of people
employed; distribution channels; and other measures. There are many
cells telling us that data is not available, and no data is current,
but the site has valuable information nonetheless, notably a chart with
the annual book production of 57 countries. Its latest data is from
2002, although most data is older.
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Sector
Futures: The Future of Publishing and Media
Sector
Futures: In Search of a realistic Future
Both above published by European Foundation for the Improvement of
Living and Working Conditions (The European Union)
Data on publishing can be extracted from these reports, from
the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions. The Future of Publishing and Media was published in 2003;
In Search of aRealistic Future in 2004. They analyze market structure,
discuss trends and drivers of the industries, and offer future
scenarios. Although the reports are Eurocentric, the global industries
are examined either explicitly or by generalization.
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Simba Information is a primary source of market intelligence for the media industry. Its reports on publishing cover the range of subindustries with comprehensive and detailed data, often including, notably, forecasts. Reports may be defined by product, market segment, or both, but the data will be broken down and categorized in such a way as to form a matrix. Its resources may focus on print or combine print with electronic materials.
Industry analyses include size, trends, and the other vital
data from publisher through retailer, thoroughly broken down. Market
data, the other strength of Simba resources, is meticulously
categorized and includes data on market drivers (such as school
enrollment, for textbooks). Company profiles, reasonably complete,
include financials, market share, etc. The forecasts generally cover up
to four years. Many reports are associated with electronic newsletters
that regularly update the info. This is quantitative and qualitative
data, available only in print, for a fee.
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Standard
& Poor's Industry Survey: Publishing
published by Standard & Poor's
This is a thorough examination of the U.S. industry and its
regulatory, economic and demographic environment. The report includes
industry profiles for books and periodicals, trends, statistics, and
near-term advertising forecasts. A section titled "How the Industry
Operates" inspects the entire marketing process in every category from
paper through distribution, including financial and sales
considerations. Expanding along these lines, the survey provides rules
for evaluating a publisher financially and strategically. The study is
complete with charts listing ad spending, revenue, sales, etc.
Published every six months, the survey moves beyond reporting to
analysis.
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The U.S. Copyright Office, of course, is the legal registry
for literary and other creative works, under the Library of Congress.
Copyright law includes mandatory deposit, and the Copyright Office is
the legal depository. Publishers are required to deposit two copies of
every work published for the use of The Library of Congress. The Web
site also allows us to search copyright records.
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Who's
Buying Whom
Published by Whitestone Communications
Who's Buying Whom is an annual report on acquisition, divestiture, and investment activity in the publishing, information and training industries. The chapters segment the publishing industry by the familiar categories of trade magazines, consumer magazines, trade books, etc. Buyer, seller and subindustry are listed for each individual deal, as well as valuation multiples on publicly disclosed deals. In addition, it offers a chart of the year's largest deals, and lists of deals by each major publisher. Its aggregate info includes the number and dollar value of deals with comparisons to the prior years, by segment. The report is augmented by quarterly newsletters.