Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 1996. / Chair: Frederic Wakeman, Jr. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 473-481).

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The buying and reading patterns of book lovers have changed dramatically over the past decade. The effects of a shrinking reading market are far-reaching: tough(er) competition not only affects the profitability of the industry, but also places increasing pressure on sustainable growth over the long tenm. Hence the aim of this investigation: (0 identify publishing strategies that could counter these tendencie. .. - with reference to a study comparing the situation in the Netherlands and in South Africa. Michael E. Porter's model offers a useful framework for the critical assessment of international patterns in the publishing world. Changing client needs result in books competing all the more intensely with other forms of entertainment for disposable rands. However, in this struggle for survival the inherent value of books is being destroyed by too low profit margins. Porter's model also fits local tendencies, such as stiffer competition from overseas role players for whom geographical expansion to developing countries is the only way to attain and keep market share. An analysis of the Dutch industry presents three strategic choices: market domination, variety-based positioning or needs-based positioning. Within the context of the South African industry the conclusions of this study could find valuable applications, especially for the publishers in the NB group: • Market domination is not a viable strategy for a local publisher in South Africa. The competition offered by imported books (with a market share of 73%) is too strong. • Radical technological development demands a multi-media approach. Although the success of this strategy has not been adequately demonstrated, large-scale investment by new ventures in the Dutch industry underlines the necessity to investigate possibilities. • Although NB Publishers have lead the Afrikaans niche market with literature of high quality for decades, this segment is threatened by the increasingly important role of English, as well as the wide variety of world literature available in local bookshops. Moreover, profit from the Afrikaans niche market is being further eroded by foreign publishers establishing local imprints in South Africa and luring top writers. IT NB Publishers wish to maintain the lead in this market segment, they have to implement a strategy that not only guarantees quality, but manages to draw and keep the best writers and editors. Further hereto, specific actions need to be launched to develop the Afrikaans niche market. • In the relatively small South African market focus on future growth is essential. This given demands by implication a strategy that develops the underutilized potential of the black middle class. • All leading publishers in South Africa have a social responsibility to promote the reading, writing and availability of books, and strategies to this effect need to be coordinated with those of the Government. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Boekliefhebbers se koop- en leespatrone het in die afgelope dekade dramaties verander. Die gevolge wat 'n krimpende lesersmark inhou, is verreikend: Strawwe(r) mededinging beinvloed nie net die winsgewendheid van die industrie nie, maar plaas ook toenemend druk op langtermynvooruitsigte van volhoubare groei. Daarom wil hierdie ondersoek - aan die hand van 'n vergelykende studie tussen Nederland en Suid-Afrika - uitgewerstrategiee vind wat hierdie tendense kan teewerk. Michael E. Porter se model bied 'n handige raamwerk waarbinne internasionale patrone in die uitgewerswereld krities beskou kan word, o.m. klantbehoeftes wat verander sodat boeke al sterker moet meeding om besteebare rande naas ander vorme van vermaak, terwyl die inherente waarde van boeke in 'n stryd om oorlewing vernietig word deur te lae pryspunte. Ook plaaslike tendense pas binne hierdie model, byvoorbeeld strawwer mededinging van oorsese rolspelers vir wie geografiese uitbreiding na ontwikkelende lande die enigste manier is om markaandeel te wen en te behou. 'n Analise van die Nederlandse industrie bring drie strategiese keuses na vore: markdominansie, variteit-gebaseerde, of behoefte-gebaseerde posisionering. Gevolgtrekkings uit die ondersoek kan - binne die konteks van die Suid-Afrikaanse bedryfsomgewing - waardevolle toepassings vind, veral by die NB-Uitgewersgroep: • Markdominansie is geen strategiese koers vir 'n plaaslike uitgewer in Suid-Afrika nie. Die mededinging van ingevoerde boeke (met 'n markaandeel van 73%) is te sterk. • Ingrypende tegnologiese ontwikkelinge vereis 'n multi-mediale aanpak. Hoewel die sukses van hierdie strategiese keuse nog nie genoegsaam bewys is nie, beklemtoon grootskaalse beleggings deur nuwe ondernemings in die Nederlandse industrie die noodsaak om moontlikhede te ondersoek. • Alhoewel NB-Uitgewers vir dekades in die Afrikaanse nismark die markleier was met literatuur van hoë gehalte, word hierdie segment bedreig deur die rol van Engels wat toenemend belangriker word, asook die wye verskeidenheid van wereldliteratuur wat in plaaslike boekwinkels beskikbaar is. Daarby word wins uit die Afrikaanse nismark verder weggekalwe deurdat buitelandse uitgewers plaaslike drukname in Suid-Afrika vestig en topskrywers wegrokkel. lndien NB-Uitgewers steeds die voortou wil neern in hierdie marksegment, moet 'n strategie geimplementeer word wat nie net gehalte waarborg nie, maar ook topskrywers en redaksionele talent werf en behou. In aansluiting hierby moet spesifieke aksies geloods word om Afrikaans as nismark uit te bou. • In die relatief klein Suid-Afrikaanse mark is 'n gerigtheid op toekomstige groei noodsaaklik. By implikasie vra hierdie gegewe om 'n strategie waarin die onbenutte potensiaal van die swart middelklas ontgin kan word. • Alle leidende uitgewers in Suid-Afrika het 'n sosiale verantwoordelikheid om lees, skryf en die beskikbaarheid van boeke te bevorder, en hierdie strategiee behoort met die van die regering gekoordineer te word.

While 'book hunger' in Third World societies was regarded by a 'first generation' of theorists, working in the modernization/diffusion of innovation paradigm, as a cause of underdevelopment (and thus requiring the correction of problems relating to the undersupply of books to Third World countries by means of book aid policies, transfer of expertise and technology, and development of modern (western) publishing and distribution procedures and infrastructures), a 'second generation' of theorists working in the dependency/disassociation paradigm responded by insisting that 'book hunger' was an effect of the underdevelopment of peripheral economies, and a symptom of the debilitating cultural effects of the global economic order, with its skewed international distribution of knowledge, resources and capital. In recent approaches to the topic of 'book hunger' (which are wary of the sweeping dichotomies of dependency theory), 'book hunger' serves to describe a chronic shortage of books which results from complex structural inequities and antagonisms, from the distorting effects of global rationalization, as well as from local economic arrangements and policy mechanisms which do not adequately meet the knowledge and information needs of competing local cultural formations. 'Book hunger' is seen to derive from a range of causes, and to produce a range of effects, which correspond to the varying needs, resources, and conditions operative in - and the cultural media and knowledge infrastructures available within specific societies. Obviously, 'book hunger' is rooted to a considerable degree in the specific historical configurations and socioeconomic circumstances of specific countries. An understanding of complex, globally-interlinked socio-cultural, political and economic structures and practices is thus crucial to understanding 'book hunger' in South Africa. A survey of global and local environments within which scholarly books are produced and circulated - including South African distribution systems and knowledge dissemination networks - makes it possible to sketch an approach to South Africa's own 'book hunger:' which is sensitive to the complexity and the specificity of conditions in the local booktrade, and which is able to contribute to the complex debates on local knowledge infrastructures, strategies for book development and new forms of distribution which are now beginning to take place in South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, 1994.

This thesis is an in-depth study of the labour market in the UK publishing sector. The aim is to study the role of social ties in publishing in external recruitment and internal promotion. Conventional sociological studies on social ties and labour market outcomes either neglect the perspective of the recruiter and the referrer or fail to explore the mechanisms by which social ties bring about labour market outcomes. This thesis fills these gaps. I used qualitative research methods, i.e. semi-structured interviews and participant observation for this research. The semi-structured interviews were with 40 interviewees, who were working in different roles (e.g. editorial and design) and levels (e.g. senior and junior) in Oxford and London-based publishing houses. I also served as a committee member of a publishing association in Oxford for seven months. Participant observation serves to triangulate the information I obtained through semi-structured interviews. This thesis examines different aspects of the labour market process and mechanisms. Regarding recruitment methods, I found that whether recruiters use formal or informal (word of mouth) methods depend on the level of uncertainty of recruiting a wrong person and the cost of making such mistakes. The greater the uncertainty and the cost, the more likely recruiters are to use social ties. Social ties serve to provide information about the availability of suitable employees. With regard to selection processes, I found that professional skills are a must but not enough in themselves. Recruiters use informal method at the final stage of selection to ensure the recruits possess the relevant qualities. As for job-hunting methods, I found that most newcomers introduce themselves using formal methods to get into publishing but in fact informality is often embedded in formal methods. Interviewees at managerial level almost entirely got their job through informal channels. Social ties have different functions as people rise through the different levels: whereas first entrants use social ties to obtain information about job opportunities, senior level staff members and freelancers carry with them reputation of their fitness to fill a particular position. Finally, when it comes to internal promotion, employers in my sample promote staff from within the company who already possesses the relevant skills, so as to minimize training costs and get around the uncertainties in settling in new staff. From the employees’ point of view, so long as they perform well in the job and establish a cooperative link with their boss and team members, they would be able to be promoted.

by Cheng Wai-ming, James. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 102).

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Publishing Studies Johannesburg, 2016 / AMECEA Gaba Publications was founded in 1958 in Gaba, Uganda, by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA) bishops. As a platform for theological reflections by the agents of evangelization in the AMECEA region, Gaba Publications’ sole aim is to make Christ’s message relevant to the Church in Africa through printed reflections, research findings, informed views and pastoral ministry experience. Its main publications are the African Ecclesial Review (AFER) journal and Spearhead monograph book series. The concern of this case study was that AMECEA Gaba Publications (AGP), which has been in the business for a relatively longer time than most publishers in the region, and with the influence it has across all of the East and Central Africa thanks to the support of AMECEA bishops, should by all estimates be doing better or at least competing favourably with the other players in the field of publishing in the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Over the years, Gaba Publications has witnessed a great reduction in its subscription, readership sales and authorship contributions. What is Gaba Publications not doing to stay competitive and in keeping with the publishing trends in the region? What is the Publications doing wrong? This study sought to answer these questions by examining the current publishing status of AMECEA Gaba Publications, identifying some of the opportunities available for Gaba Publications to improve its current financial status and assessing the capacity of Gaba Publications to engage in e-publishing. From the study findings, it was established that Gaba Publications, being an evangelical publishing firm, may never fully achieve self-sustainability. However, the findings of the study also indicated that a number of opportunities are available for Gaba Publications to attract business opportunities and help it make steps towards improving its current publishing status. The key lessons that this study has yielded are that a publishing company must have a product that has a distinct quality, genre and style, it must have a mission and goals that consumers can relate to, and be able to effectively sell its goods and services / GR2017

Submitted to the Faculty of Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.A (Publishing Studies) University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 2017 / Gérard Genette famously noted that paratexts are ‘those liminal devices’, elements, both within and outside the book, that form part of the complex relationship between book, author, publisher, and reader. He determined that titles, forewords, epigraphs, and publishers’ jacket copy are part of a book’s ‘private and public history’. By considering each of these liminal devices in the larger context of marketing strategies, this research report addresses the question of how paratexts are altered to appeal to different markets in different countries – specifically South Africa and Germany – and how this is done in relation to five translated novels: Stadt des Goldes by Norman Ohler; Portrait with Keys by Ivan Vladislavić; Township Blues and Themba by Lutz van Dijk; and Fiela se Kind by Dalene Matthee. The research report argues that the relationship between paratext and reader is of vital importance when it comes to understanding how cultures are perceived by foreign readers. With each comparison between the paratexts of the original and their translated novels, the research report demonstrates that paratextual alterations are predominantly influenced by alterations in time and geography; use or dismissal of clichés and stereotypes; educational value; and either techniques which familiarise or defamiliarise the reader. By uncovering the way novels are marketed to a foreign readership, it becomes possible to uncover why translations occur and how the source-culture is perceived. / XL2018

Thesis--Aix-Marseille. / Includes indexes. Includes bibliographical references (p. [249]-260).

This dissertation explores the impact of gender ideologies held by medieval readerships on the production of books and circulation of texts in late medieval England. The first chapter explores how the professional book trade of late medieval London circulated booklets of Chauceriana which constructed masculinity and femininity in strict adherence to the courtly love literary tradition. In the second chapter, I demonstrate that such a standardized representation of courtly gender could be adapted by a readership removed from the professional book trade, in this case the rural gentry producers of the Findern manuscript, who present a revised vision of femininity and courtliness in their anthology. This revised femininity includes several texts which privilege the female speaking voice. The third chapter goes on to investigate the use of the female voice in one particular genre, the love lyric, and asks if the female lyric speaker can be associated with manuscripts in which women participated as producers or readers. Finally, the fourth chapter turns to masculinity, examining how the commonplace book of an early 16th century grocer, Richard Hill, contains selections from didactic and recreational literature which reinforce the ideals of masculine conduct in the merchant community of late medieval London. The dissertation concludes that manuscript contexts must be taken into account when reading gender in medieval English literature.