By the book?: Contemporary publishing in Australia

This book brings together the work of major scholars and practitioners of Australian publishing to examine an industry facing new pressures from developments in digital technology, changed consumer buying patterns and the apparent arrival of a global marketplace. The authors seek to map the complicated terrain of contemporary publishing by combining elements of sociology, contemporary theory, textual analysis, and reception theory with a pragmatic understanding of industrial dynamics, including copyright restrictions, supply-chain inefficiencies and the manner in which publishing houses actually earn their profits. While the authors demonstrate that "the book" is far from dead, as has often been claimed in mass-media reports on the industry, and express scepticism towards claims that digital delivery provides an easy salvation, they nonetheless highlight the need to think beyond the boundaries of the traditional model that has characterised the last hundred years of publishing.