John B. Thompson - Merchants of Culture

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‘ Merchants of Culture is an eye-opening tour of both American and British trade publishing. Veterans in the publishing world will learn a lot, and novices will feel welcome, in this behind-the-scenes examination of how book publishing works in an age of mass marketing and digitization. Thompson knows more about contemporary publishing than any other scholar and he asks just the right questions of his sources. Theoretically sophisticated but not burdened by academic apparatus, this is a landmark work.’

Michael Schudson, Columbia University

‘Thompson’s ground-breaking research into the world of consumer book publishing provides a fascinating insight into the high-risk culture on both sides of the Atlantic. Revealed is the world of agents and scouts, of auctions and deals, often with large sums of money paid out to authors, as publishers gamble in the hope of signing the next Harry Potter or Dan Brown. Thompson’s work is of the highest quality and should be read by all those concerned about our literary culture and its future.’

Angus Phillips, Director, Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies

‘For the uninitiated, Merchants of Culture provides a very perceptive, thorough and in-depth view of how trade publishing really works in the English-speaking world today. For those of us in the business or for writers who are mystified by their publisher’s behavior, it offers a penetrating account of our business by a very shrewd, analytical observer. This book is the only thing I’ve ever read about our industry that has really got it.’

William Shinker, President and Publisher of Gotham Books and Avery Books, Penguin Group USA

‘Thompson’s analysis of UK and US trade publishing is extraordinarily acute and insightful. It should be required reading for new entrants to the industry – but it will also illuminate many things for old publishing hands.’

Helen Fraser, Former Managing Director, Penguin Group UK

‘This uncommonly perceptive and thorough study tells you all you need to know about the publishing industry at a time of momentous change.’

Drake McFeely, Chairman and President, W.W. Norton & Company

‘ Merchants of Culture is one of the most intelligent and accessible accounts of the curious business of trade book publishing I have read. Anyone interested in knowing more about how our industry works – and where it might be headed – will find this book invaluable.’

Morgan Entrekin, CEO and Publisher, Grove Atlantic

‘A must-read piece on publishing history … The only history of publishing we’ll need.’

Richard Nash, former publisher of Soft Skull Press and founder of Cursor

‘Excellent and fascinating study of the book business at this critical time … Superb stuff. This is why we have academies and academics.’

West Cork Times

‘The single most impressive fact to drive home about this remarkable book is that Thompson displays a rare gift, that of presenting a world of the most heart-stopping complexity in short, simple, inter-related steps … a tour de force … this is a book to buy and use and keep on your shelf.’

Tribune Magazine

‘[Thompson] draws on valuable interviews and the mass of statistics that the field itself devours in search of success. He offers a calm, relatively sanguine account of contemporary publishing, a world dominated by the $6 million advance, the blockbuster and the buzz.’

Times Literary Supplement

‘ Merchants of Culture – in-depth, perceptive, profound – will remain the industry benchmark for years to come.’

Publishing Research Quarterly

‘Professor Thompson has written a seriously good, almost monumental work, one that will quickly become required reading for seasoned practitioners and newcomers alike, whatever segment of the book trade they find themselves in or are about to commit to. It’s a highly readable, absorbing account of a culturally important industry in the throes of transition.’

Logos

‘Thompson is prudent in his method, generous with generalization, and sympathetic to his subject … [his] attention to different segments of the trade offers something new for everyone.’