British Book Publishing as a Business Since the 1960s

The years since the 1960s have seen a period of unprecedented change in British book publishing. This re-shaping has been an irregular process, with trends established in one period being reversed the next only to be taken up again a few years later. In British Book Publishing as a Business since the 1960s Eric de Bellaigue traces this convoluted pattern which has led to the creation of several multi-media groups, and in turn the individual stories of some of the major publishers, such as Collins, Octopus, Chatto, Bodley Head & Jonathan Cape, Associated Book Publishers, and Penguin. The study concludes with an examination of the contrasting profitability of trade publishing groups of different sizes, the expanded role played by venture capital money in the funding of publishing businesses and the impact of conglomeration on literary standards. The prospects for literary agents and self-publishing, as well as the opportunities presented to publishers by developments in digital printing, are also assessed.