Welcome to the Publishing Subject Guide
Use this guide to help you make the most of the library and information resources and services.
Use Nielsen BookScan to access sales statistics for the UK consumer book market.
There are several guides on how to use the system which can be accessed from the home screen once logged in. See Access BookScan “How to” documents on the bottom right hand of the screen.
All students on the MA Publshing programme should have been provided with a login for this resource. Please contact sarah.jones@exeter.ac.uk with any questions.
The University of Exeter has online access to the current issues and digital archive of The Bookseller (2013-date).
You must register with your Exeter email address to activate access. See this help guide for more details.
Take a break from your recommended academic reading and explore e-books and audiobooks on the Libby app.
More information can be found on the Libby guide.
Search across the print and online collections for books, chapters, articles, journals and lots more.
For more in depth research in databases and archives, use the A-Z Databases List.
These databases index the global literature and provide references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports etc. These databases are multidisciplinary, covering many subjects, but will contain scholarly content relating to the field of publishing and creative industries.
For help with searching these databases, see this online guide.
There are a wide range of online resources that will help you find business related information, industry reports, market research, and more, to support your study and research.
You have access to further resources via the Business subject list area in the A-Z Databases list.
For help using the resources, see the database support videos on the Business subject guide.
Use Nielsen BookScan to access sales statistics for the UK consumer book market.
There are several guides on how to use the system which can be accessed from the home screen once logged in. See Access BookScan “How to” documents on the bottom right hand of the screen.
All students on the MA Publshing programme should have been provided with a login for this resource. Please contact sarah.jones@exeter.ac.uk with any questions.
Business research databases
Industry reports
Use the following sources to look for industry reports, for example book publishing industry reports or publishing trends.
Market research
Use the following resources to find market research. See the Market Research guide for further help with using these resources.
Explore research materials available elsewhere using the resources below.
Library Hub Discover - Search the catalogues of over 100 major UK and Irish national, academic and specialist libraries to find books, journals and other materials
WorldCAT - Search the collections of over 10,000 worldwide libraries
The European Library - Access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.
The Library of Congress - Catalogue records of the print and digital resources held in the Library of Congress collections (USA)
LibWeb - Find online library catalogues worldwide
CORE - Search the world's largest collection of open access research papers
You have online access to hundreds of online books that cover publishing, business and the creative industries.
Use Library Search to search by topic to discover relevant content.
Book Series
These are collections of several books, in these subject areas:
New Directions in Book History
The Business of Books by
Post-war American publishing has been ruthlessly transformed since André Schiffrin joined its ranks in 1956. Gone is a plethora of small but prestigious houses that often put ideas before profit in their publishing decisions, sometimes even deliberately. Now six behemoths share 80% of the market and profit margin is all. André Schiffrin can write about these changes with authority because he witnessed them from inside a conglomerate, as head of Pantheon, co-founded by his father, bought (and sold) by Random House. And he can write about them with candor because he is no longer on the inside, having quit corporate publishing in disgust to set up a flourishing independent house, The New Press. Schiffrin's evident affection for his authors sparkles throughout a story woven around publishing the work of those such as Studs Terkel, Noam Chomsky, Gunnar Myrdal, George Kennan, Juliet Mitchell, R. D. Laing, Eric Hobsbawm and E.P.Thompson. Part-memoir, part-history, here is an account of the collapsing standards of contemporary publishing that is irascible, acute and passionate. An engaging counterpoint to recent, celebratory memoirs of the industry written by those with more stock options and fewer scruples than Schiffrin, The Business of Books warns of the danger to adventurous, intelligent publishing in the bullring of today's marketplace.
A History of Book Publishing in Contemporary Latin America by
This book presents a cultural history of Latin America as seen through a symbolic good and a practice - the book, and the act of publication - two elements that have had an irrefutable power in shaping the modern world. The volume combines multiple theoretical approaches and empirical landscapes with the aim to comprehend how Latin American publishers became the protagonists of a symbolic unification of their continent from the 1930s through the 1970s. The Latin American focus responds to a central point in its history: the effective interdependence of the national cultures of the continent. Americanism, until the 1950s, or Latin Americanism, from the onset of the Cold War, were moral frameworks that guided publishers' thinking and actions and had concrete effects on the process of regional integration. The illustration of how Latin American publishing markets were articulated opens up broader and comparative questions regarding the ways in which the ideas embodied in books also sought to unify other cultural areas. The intersection of cultural, political and economic themes, as well as the style of writing, makes this book an interest to a wide reading public with historical and sociological sensitivity and global cultural curiosity.
Inside Book Publishing by
Now fully revised and updated for its sixth edition, Inside Book Publishing is the classic introduction to the book publishing industry. Giles Clark and Angus Phillips offer authoritative coverage of all sectors of the industry, from commercial fiction and non-fiction to educational publishing and academic journals. They reveal how publishers continue to adapt to a fast-changing and highly interconnected world, in which printed books have proved resilient alongside ebooks and the growth of audio. Major themes are explored, including the development of digital products and the use of social media in book marketing, as well as those that affect publishers' businesses, such as the rise of internet retailing; rental models for student textbooks; and open access, where academic content is free to the user. Case studies from industry experts give fascinating perspectives on topics such as crowdfunding, self-publishing and how authors can market themselves. The book provides excellent overviews of the main aspects of the publishing process: commissioning authors, product development, design and production, marketing, sales and distribution. As a manual for those in the profession and a guide for the potential publishers of the future, Inside Book Publishing remains a seminal work for anyone with an interest in the industry. It will also be of interest to authors seeking an insider's view of this exciting industry.
Marketing Literature by
This is an important study of the publishing of contemporary writing in Britain. It analyzes the changing social, economic and cultural environment of the publishing industry in the 1990s-2000s, and investigates its impact on genre, authorship and reading. It includes case studies of Trainspotting and the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Reading Communities from Salons to Cyberspace by
Reading is both a social process and a social formation, as this book illustrates across centuries and cultural contexts. Highlighting links evident in reading communities from literary salons to online environments, each essay reflects the rich repertoire of research methods available to reading scholars.
World Editors by
The existence of World Literature depends on specific processes, institutions, and actors involved in the global circulation of literary works. The contributions of this volume aim to pay attention to these multiple material dimensions of Latin American 20thand 21st century literatures. From perspectives informed by materialism, sociology, book studies, and digital humanities, the articles of this volume analyze the role of publishing houses, politics of translation, mediators and gatekeepers, allowing insights into the processes that enable books to cross borders and to be transformed into globally circulating commodities. The book focusses both on material (re)sources of literary archives, key actors in literary and cultural markets, prizes and book fairs, as well as on recent dimension of the digital age. Statements of some of the leading representatives of the global publishing world complement these analyses of the operations of selection and aggregation of value to literary texts.
Writing cultures and literary media: publishing and reception in the digital age by 
Use Library Search to find journal titles and articles that relate to your research/study area. Most of our journal articles are available in digital format.
For targeted searching, select a research database and explore the published literature in your field. Key databases are flagged in the Research Databases tab above.
The Bookseller
The University of Exeter has access to the current issues and digital archive (2013 - date) via the Bookseller.com. You must register with your Exeter email address to activate access - see the Bookseller help guide for more information.
Riptide literary journal
Volumes of this journal are available in print from the Forum Library. See more details on Library Search.
See Special Issue on Purpose, Power and Profit in Feminist Publishing (Vol. 32, issue 3-4, 2021)
Squires, C. and Ray Murray, P. (2013). ‘The digital publishing communications circuit’. Book 2.0, Volume 3, Number 1, 1 June 2013, pp. 3-23(21).
Start by searching Library Search to see if you can access the literary work you need. We have many titles available online as e-books.
Additionally, you can use these databases to find literary works including poetry, drama and prose.
Most of our film resources are available in digital format. These collections contain interviews, documentaries and film.
You have access to further resources via the Film Studies subject list area in the A-Z Databases list.
News sources can be invaluable research resources. Find out more on the News LibGuide
The following news sources may be useful:
Use the following sources to look for industry reports, for example book publishing industry reports or publishing trends.
These reports may be of interest:
India Literature and Publishing Sector Report – the British Council
Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Peru Publishing Sector Report – the British Council
PEN Presents: a new programme to support sample translations – English PEN
Use the following sources to find market research relating to publishing.
Visit this guide for help in locating market research.
The University has access to an extensive range of online primary source materials. These contain digitised copies of documents, letters, books, photographs and other primary sources.
The Primary Sources Libguide will help you identify the best databases for your research.
For example we have:
Archives beyond University of Exeter
Archives of British Printing and Publishing – University of Reading
British Library – Oral Histories of Writing and Publishing Collection Guide
British Library – Literary Archives and Manuscripts 1600-present Collection Guide
Feminist and Women’s Publishing & Cultural Industries: A Guide to Archives and Resources
Modernist Archives Publishing Project - Home | Modernist Archives Publishing Project
Penguin and Related Archives – University of Bristol
SHARP’s website includes a fantastic webpage on Book Series and Journals.
Recruitment
Atwood Tate
www.atwoodtatepublishingjobs.co.uk
Inspired Selection Limited
Professional training
The Publishing Training Centre
It is important to plan your search strategy, and manage your search results so that you get the most from your online searching.
Keep a record of all the material you need to cite in your assignments, papers, projects etc.
Use the Search Techniques and Referencing guidance to assist you.
As you search you need to keep track of all the material you will be using in your academic work so that you can cite and reference it appropriately.
Always check your module handbook for specific departmental guidance on the style required for your assessed works and dissertations. Check with your personal tutor or dissertation supervisor if you need clarification.
For more guidance take a look at:
Find out more about the skills support available to help you develop a range of study skills including essay writing, referencing, critical reading and getting the most out of lectures.
Sage Research Methods Online (SRMO) is a great resource to use when you are planning and conducting your research.
It is targeted at social science researchers but is useful across all subject areas as it covers key research methodology topics that are applicable across the research spectrum.
Sage have produced a comprehensive LibGuide to help you get the best from the resource.
