Book Report Texas publishers, bookstores see change sweep the industry E ach book essentially represents a journey for its reader.
Books also take their own journeys, from writer to publisher, from printer to bookstore shelf.
The public's growing appetite for reading materials is attributed, in part, to a healthy economy that is generating tax revenues for schools and libraries to spend on books and raising income levels for individuals to spend on leisure purchases. Structural changes also are permeating the industry, particularly among book superstore chains and large publishing conglomerates that have come to dominate the market. Texas publishers, who process manuscripts and issue titles, are involved in producing textbooks, mass-market hardbacks and paperbacks, and technical, scientific, religious and audio books. Other companies involved in the manufacture of books include book printers, binders and paper suppliers. More than 9,000 Texans work in bookstores, and another 4,300 are employed by publishers.