MCM 105 (INTRODUCTION TO BOOK PUBLISHING)

LECTURE NOTE

1.1 Introduction

Book publishing has become one important industry in the world. This is because the world is
survives on information which books provide. There are many people, groups and
organizations involved in the business of providing different information through books and
other printed materials. Book publishing is an interesting course that touches all aspect of
literacy and formal education. It is therefore central to all journalistic practice. In this age of
electronic networks and global satellite media, the book today constitutes more than ever an
essential tool for the defence of the individual’s independence and the civic conscience. It is
also a vital tool for the economic, social and cultural development of societies. It is an
irreplaceable means of information transmission, critical reflection and education; and
underpins the ceaseless construction of democracy, human rights and fundamental liberties.

Book publishing is a powerful agent of dialogue that transcends both national and language
borders. Thanks to translation and together with the educational system and the ensemble of
the cultural industry, it provides the cornerstone upon which each country builds and
develops its identity and self-image, as well as its views on life and the world in general. The
book also plays an important role in terms of material welfare, given its capacity as an
instrument for the sharing and updating of knowledge. Beyond its function within the specific
domain of publishing, the book can serve as a pivotal point for the economy as a whole. Book
promotion goes hand-in-hand with the fight against illiteracy and poverty. This is particularly
so when this strategic battle is seen as concerning not only specialists, but also those who are
striving to build a better world – one that is more open and marked by solidarity.

Furthermore, publications play an important role in the actions of UNESCO, which, since its
founding, has launched numerous thought provoking initiatives, as well as support for
national sectorial policies, and training and professional reinforcement. However, in spite of
the significant results registered in almost sixty years of commitment, there still remain
challenges. Today more than 860 million adults are illiterate, while more than 100 million
children have no access to schools. In environments where books are rare and expensive
objects, those who want to learn to read can become discouraged. From this perspective, the
global need for books is enormous. To attempt to satisfy this need implies a constant and
lasting supply of printed materials adapted to the needs of the readers in question. This can
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only be achieved, in a lasting and endogenous way, through the creation of local publishing
bases and markets for locally produced books – fruits of the synergy among people interested
in writing, producing, exchanging, selling and buying or borrowing publications.

But to promote the creation or reinforcement of such favourable circumstances requires

intervention – often in difficult situations – in favour of the development of national norms
and the reinforcement of certain elements of the book production sector. As Alvaro Garzón
explains, this is an area in which a large number of highly diverse disciplines and interests
converge. Intervention is today needed more pressingly than ever and requires the
collaboration and goodwill of all involved. The essence of this course therefore, is to expose
students to the different areas of book publishing viz-a-viz its necessity in contemporary
world that is information and knowledge dependent.

1.2 Course Outline

In this course, we will be looking at book publishing under the following subthems:

1. Definition of Book publishing

2. Objectives of book publishing

3. Types of Book Publishing

4. Importance of Book Publishing

5. Evolution of Book Publishing in Nigeria

6. Professions in Book Publishing

7. Book Publishing Houses/Departments

8. The Book Publishing Process/Procedure

9. Book Publishing in the Digital Age

10. Book Publishing and Law

2.1 Definition of Book Publishing

Book publishing is a concept that is made up of two key words ‘book’ and ‘publishing’. To
clearly define the concept therefore, there is need to, first understand the individual words
that constitute the concept. To start with, book In 1964 UNESCO defined book as ‘a non-

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periodical printed publication of at least 49 pages, exclusive of the cover pages, published in
the country and made available to the public’. The key words in this definition are:

a. ‘non-periodical’ (this excludes daily papers, magazines and scientific journals);

b. ‘printed publication’ (excluding the recent e-books, audiobooks, etc);
c. ‘49 pages’ (excluding all booklets like illustrated publications for children that had
fewer than 48 pages);
d. ‘published’ (most be published by an established publishing house, this excludes self-
publishing as seen Amazon KDP today);
e. ‘made available’(this refers to circulation or distribution to the end users)

To simply summarize the UNESCO definition of books therefore, they are those textual
artefacts published by commercial publishers whose codex-like format was visually different
from other print media such as magazines and daily papers, and whose business model was
the copy sale of a single item. As such, from 1967, books were assigned International
Standard Book Number (ISBN) making the cataloguing of the ever-growing quantities of
newly published titles much easier.

Looking at the current book industry however, it is glaring that the UNESCO’s 1964
definition of book cannot comprehensively describe the many different forms books take in
the current age. Any contradictions found in the UNESCO definition were therefore
pragmatically dealt with by the definition produced by the United States Postal Service.
According to them, book is ‘a bound publication having 24 or more pages, at least 22 of
which are printed and contain primary reading material, with advertising limited only to book
announcements’. The artistry of this definition is that on the one hand it included illustrated
books for children, with little text and fewer than 48 pages, and at the same time excluded
commercial catalogues, newspapers and magazines containing advertising. Yet a periodical
without ads, such as a scientific journal, could be considered to be a book too.

With the arrival of digitization, these definitions and identifiers started to look shakier, as all
digital texts ‘arrive to the reader in the same material form, which suggest that all texts are
leveled, reduced to the same physical experience, encouraging the same cognitive-emotional
experience. In brief, the technology behind digital media is not framing books in the same
way as printing technology framed books, magazines and papers as distinct genres when
UNESCO coined its definition of the book in [Link] closest fit to older definitions of the
book—in terms of content it is largely its digital equivalent—is the vanilla e-book. It has no
fixed pages and the text adapts to the size of the screen. Hence, its appearance is different

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from its printed cousin although the content is exactly the same. As long as such textual
continuity persisted, publishers and librarians considered e-books as one more book format
and assigned to them ISBNs alongside the hardback and paperback editions of the same title.

Ihwa & Adikpo (2009) describe books as materials that promote knowledge of all kinds.
They said books are set of non-periodical printed sheets of papers of at least forty-nine pages
excluding covers that serve as media of access to knowledge of values, wisdom, aesthetics
and human imagination.

Okpoko (2012, p.3) summarized the importance of books as follows:

a) Basic to our system of education

b) Repository of our culture and all types of knowledge.
c) Medium of storing and retrieving information
d) Channel of communication
e) A part of national development
f) A print medium that store information from generation to generation – a historical
document.

It is also difficult to cultivate a generally accepted definition for publishing. Nevertheless,

scholars have developed generic terms for the process of producing literary works for public
use. Publishing, according to Okwilongwe (2001) is a process that consists of planning,
selecting, editing, designing, producing, marketing and distribution of printed materials such
as books, magazines and newspapers. Nyeko (1999, p.1) opines that; it is “the process of
producing for dissemination, books, films, computer programmes, records, newspapers,
periodicals, discs, bulletins, magazines and other literacy materials.” Publishing could also
mean to make public – to send forth among the people – the words and pictures the creative
minds have produced, that editors have worked on, and that printers have reproduced.

Contextually therefore, we can define book publishing as that process that seeks to capture
social and intellectual activity, storing and distributing same for the information, education
and entertainment of the society. Akpoko (2012, p.27) said book publishing “simply means to
have a book or periodical printed out and distributed for sale.” He pointed out that publishing
normally covers a wide range of activities, which include production of reports, books and
other reading materials for the use of general public. It is only when a manuscript has been
transformed into a book and then distributed to its intended market place, that the process of
publishing is complete.

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2.2 Objectives of Book Publishing

Book writing serves many objectives. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb,
science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. This assertion tells of the invaluable
nature of books. The objectives of book publishing in this case, have been summarized into
five (5) classes:

- To announce

- To expound

- For historical reason

- To transmit knowledge or teaching

- For economic reasons

1. To Announce

Many writers have an inbuilt yearning to express an idea, have an intuition about a
phenomenon which they believe is true, or a future idea which they think will occupy a
significant space in our world of existence, and so on. (a) It is this desire that makes them to
write books that contain such ideas. Just like the town crier of old, books serve the purpose
of information dissemination. (b) It serves as a notice board for whoever cares about any
information. Communication can be in the form of one person relating with the other or the
writer relating with a mass of people. (c) The world consists of millions of people that are in
different geographical locations, speaking different languages, have different colours,
religions and creeds. Book writing has achieved the function of communicating with these
same people thereby bridging this diversity. (d). Writers especially, novelists provide a lot of
entertainment value to the reading audience. Though their writing might be fictitious or
factual but they are always infused with very enthralling features that makes the reading
experience exciting.

2. To Expound

(a). Many historical events are not the same as we have them today. This is because there was
a time when certain knowledge was highly restricted. There was a time when plants were
thought to be organisms that you plant, they grow and you harvest them. A bad crop does not

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produce well and a good one does well. It was not known that plants could be ill as human
beings hence their performances can be low. It was not known that man’s present appearance
is a function of his genetic make-up. These are areas where new knowledge has been added
to previous knowledge to bring us to the present. (b). To challenge knowledge. At a particular
time, scientists believed that the world was as flat as a table and a continuous movement
towards a particular direction will only bring you to the precipice and an eventual fall into an
endless abyss. In our present world, that knowledge have been challenged and found to be
false. (c). Book publishing has served the purpose of continuous re-evaluation of knowledge.
Most writers evaluate previous positions and theories, and establish new ones.

3. Transmit Knowledge

(a). Scholarly writing often refers to that body of writing that seeks to contribute new
knowledge or contribute to existing knowledge. (b). Whatever form the scholarly knowledge
may take, be it in the form of confirmation, disputation and repudiation or expansion,
scholarly knowledge always aims at transferring knowledge from one person to another. The
book is the tool of the teacher to achieve this aim. Sometimes the book replaces the teacher.

4. Serve as Reservoir

Book publishing serves as a reservoir of knowledge. It is what we write today that eventually
becomes history. Africans have been found in the act of trying to re-write their own history.
This stems from the fact that most of their literatures were oral. The written word has the
ability for longevity while the oral one does not. This was why the misinterpretation of the
African realities by the European writers were widely condemned, and steps taken to right
these wrongs. Many writers like Descartes, Aristotle, and Sophocles achieved the status of
immortality by writing. These writings have become what we refer to today as history. Book
publishing has served as a reservoir of contemporary events.

5. Economy

The book publishing industry, especially in modern times, where society has become
knowledge driven, has become a veritable source of wealth. In super literate societies,
writers live off what they write. Many writers simply write wholly or partly to make money.
Many see this as derogatory but the fact remains that a good reason for writing is economic.
As long as a book holds appeal to a wide range of audience it will bring profit.

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2.3 Types of Book publishing

John Okpobo in his book, ‘Understanding Book Publishing’ (2012) explained that there are
three types of publishing arrangement that are commonly practiced today. These are:

(a) Corporate Publishing: This is the traditional publishing arrangement where the
publishing houses accepts manuscripts from the author and undertake to produce the book.
Here the publishing organisation funds the publishing process right from editing, typesetting,
page layout, filming, plating, and printing, binding, trimming, and finishing to the marketing
of such books. He pays royalty to the author based on the sale of such book in line with
earlier agreement between them. The publisher is absolutely in charge of production and
marketing of the book and bear all the risk involve in such business or the profits associated
therein.

(b) Vanity Publishing: This is a publishing arrangement where you pay for the cost of
publication of your book. The publisher will accept to publish the manuscript first before he
(the author) signs an agreement to publish such book. He normally builds in his profit into the
agreement to publish the manuscript.

(c) Self-Publishing: This is an arrangement where the author takes his manuscript to the
publishing house, pay for the production of the book and collects all the copies. The author
will then market the book or give them out freely. Self publishers take more risk financially
even though they are always satisfied by seeing their names in print.

2.4 A Brief Summary of the Evolution of Book Publishing in Nigeria

The history of book publishing can be traced to the establishment of first press in Nigeria at
Calabar in 1846 by the Presbyterian mission. It was set up then with the aim of propagating
Christianity by providing literature to the new converts. In 1959, Henry Townsend also set up
another press at Abeokuta which eventually produced the first newspaper in Nigeria called
Iwe-Irohin Fun Awon AraEgba Ati Yoruba. The missionary press was also used cunningly as
tool for political propagation in the hand of the colonialists. Not quite long, notable Nigerians
like Herbert Macaulay established the first indigenous newspaper in 1926 called Lagos Daily
News , the same year Daily Times made its debut. In 1949, Oxford University Press (OUP)
floated a sales outlet in Nigeria. This action attracted many foreign based publishing firms to
Nigeria such as Macmillian, Longman and others. The first published book in Nigeria by the
foreign firm was in 1963 when the local branch of OUP published Ijala Ere Ode, a Yoruba
poetry genre by Yemitan. Aside from the foreign companies, many other home based

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publishing houses were architected by indigenous entrepreneurs. Some of these were fourth
Dimention, Aromolaran, Ilesanmi, Literame and a host of others. It is important to note,
however, that book publishing has continued to enjoy drastic growth in Nigeria ever since.

2.4 Book Publishing Houses/Departments

The publisher is the head of a publishing house. The publishing house is a formal
organization that undertakes the business of book publishing as its main function. Okpoko
(2012:14) explained that publishing houses produce and distribute books to the audience.
Every publishing house has different departments and sections that handle different functions.

A typical book publishing house has the following departments:

1. The Editorial Department develops books, acquires manuscript and assesses them.
It is saddled with the responsibility of planning and preparing books for production.
2. Human Resource Department is responsible for recruitment, development and
welfare of all staff in the organization.
3. Finance and Accounts Department is responsible for managing the funds of the
organization.
4. Production Department is responsible for printing all books submitted to the
organization for publication.
5. Marketing Department is responsible for promotion and distribution of all published
books.
2.5 The Book Publishing Process

There are many processes and activities that take place during book publishing. Some of the
activities are the followings:

i. Manuscript Acquisition (involves four stages: conception of ideas, writing, re-

writing & manuscript development and submission)
ii. Editing
iii. Production (involves printing, folding, collating, binding, putting the cover &
trimming to size)
iv. Marketing and Publicity
v. Sales and Distribution

From another perspective however, Biobaku & Akinjobgin (2009:33) summarize book
publishing process into three: conception, production and marketing. Conception, according

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to them, has to do with coming out with a publishable idea which can emanate from an author
who submits a manuscript to the publisher.

Meanwhile, according to them, the production stage involves four stages – editing, designing,
typesetting and printing. The last production process they say is marketing the books.

2.6 Types of Books

There are different types of books. Consider the following few:

1. Education and Professional Books: Education and professional books focus on

training and most of them are marked by their use of pedagogy (Learning materials)
which includes certain features like learning objectives, chapters’ recaps, questions
for discussion and others. This kind of books point to corporate training manual,
college course packs, online version of textbooks and text related video. People that
work in industries, corporate entities, government parastatals, non-governmental
establishment recognised this form of books.
2. Higher Education Material Books: These are books that focus on teaching students
in colleges and post college learning. These books are good for academic research in
finding new discoveries in all areas of academic endeavours.
3. El-Hi Books: These are books published for use by elementary and middle school
students. These books are majorly created for pupils in kindergarten. The usual
increase in number of students in the educational system resulted in increased orders
for El-Hi textbooks. These kind of books facilitate general commitment to improving
education at that level. It helps district schools to be able to keep buying textbooks
and materials that involves evaluation and testing of students’ knowledge based on the
texts.
4. Consumer Books: Consumer Books publishers deliberately aimed their products at
the general public. They target readers in their private lives. Outside their roles as
students and highly trained workers, informal teaching and non-educational genres are
also major parts of consumer books publishing. They include romance novels, jokes
books, travel books, etc.
5. Fictional and Non-Fictional books: Fictional books are books which tell about
imaginary events and people while Non-Fictional books are factual books whose
contents relate true information concerning people and events.
6. Fantasy books: These are books about situations which can hardly happen in real
life.

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 7. Mystery books: These are books about unsolved life events. The themes of such
books often revolve around crime and murder.
8. Biography books: A biography is a book about a person’s life.
9. Auto Biographic books: This is a book about the author’s life.
10. Folklore, Myths and Legends: Books that tell of oral traditional stories of the people
has been put down in print form.
11. Humour: These are books that encourage a read-laugh situation.
12. Classics: These are books that have become eternally relevant and people read them
for many years.

These different types of books can also be broadly categorized into two: they are the
educational books and the general books.

a) Educational Books: Educational books are those prepared to and published based on a
given syllabus normally released by an authority. In Nigeria, such authorities may be
Ministries of Education, Science and Technology, Justice, or agencies such as
Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NUC and such books are
normally for use in schools, colleges and higher institutions.
b) General Books: General books are all types of books written for general use by
different people with no specific level or group. Some of these general books include
biographies, memoirs, autobiographies, novels, drama and poetry. However, some of
these general books can be used as educational ones.
2.7 Structure of a Book

Every book should be produced with a formal standard structure for easy usage by readers.
Okpoko (2012:111) has explained that a book can be structurally divided into three parts
namely:

a) Preliminary maters which are the materials before the main text;
b) The main text; and
c) The oddment which are materials that follows the text.

(A) PRELIMINARY MATTERS: The following are the materials that come before the
main text in a book:

a) Half Title: This is also called bastard title because the page contains the title of the
book. It is called half page because it is only the major title of the book that is written

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 on this page. Sometimes it is followed by “pages of respect” which are blank which
protect the half pages and the full titles.
b) Front Piece: This page normally appears on left-hand page called verso. It is the page
that comes immediately after the half title. Sometimes authors use the page to present
titles of their previous books.
c) Title Page: This contains the title of the book, the names of the author and the
publisher with his official logo.
d) Imprint: This page house copyright, date of publication, date of impressions and
editions, printer’s imprint and international standard book number (ISBN).
e) Dedication: This page normally appears on the right-hand page of a book called recto.
It is always brief and devoted to a love one or ones by the author(s).
f) Forward: This contains notes from a well-known person other than the author. It
normally appear on recto (right-hand) page with the date, name of the writer and place
where it was written.
g) Preface: This page normally summarise the work section by section or chapter by
chapter but some books do substitute preface for forward.
h) Acknowledgements: This is the page where the author(s) express(es) appreciation for
assistance received in the course of producing the book.
i) Table of Contents: This page contains chapters, section, titles and the pages where
they appear. It is the page that helps readers to locate the information they want to
use.
j) List of Illustration: It has all the list of illustrations in the book and the pages where
they appear. This page is only for textbooks with illustrations.

(B) THE TEXT:

This is the main body of a book and it should start on a new page. Normally, it should begin
with the titles which are set in capital (upper case).

(C) ODDMENTS (Materials after the main text):

a) Appendix: This is a page that has additional information about the subject matter. The
information on this page is meant to complement, illustrate and corroborate the text.
b) Author Notes: These are pages where some clarifications are made by the author on
the subject matter.
c) Glossary: This is a page devoted to special words or terms used in the book which are
arranged alphabetically for easy use by readers.

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 d) Bibliography: This is the page that has the list of books, journals and other written
works consulted. People interviewed during the research for the book will also be
documented here. All bibliographies are normally alphabetically arranged but not to
be numbered serially.
e) Index: This is the list of words, phrases or expressions arranged with their reference
pages. All good books are produced with these structures for professional use and
ease of reference.

Home Work

Assess different textbooks and explore the structure therein. Also take good note of the
differences that exist and relate your experience to one another.

3.1 Sub-Sectors Concerned In Book Publishing

The book sector encompasses a wide range of players: authors, publishers, printers,
distributors, booksellers, readers and librarians are all parts of a complex mechanism, and,
though different, all play their role in bringing a book into existence. At the risk of presenting
a rather fragmented picture of the activities involved in the book sector, which can sometimes
overlap or merge into one and the same person or firm, we shall endeavour to sketch an
outline of each subsector, identifying the main problems that each often has to face. It should
be remembered that our attention is focused in particular on developing countries. This area
basically introduces you to the most important players and or professionals in the publishing
business.

1. Authors
2. Editors
3. Printers
4. Publishers
5. Distributors/Book Sellers
6. Other Players in Book Publishing
a. Book designers
b. Indexers
c. Readers
1. Authors

The process of book publishing begins with the author whose creative zeal enables him to
conceptualize the ideas and thoughts that can be published. This could be his personal

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experiences or professional knowledge, the predicament of his society, contents meant to
educate and mobilize his people. From his creative reasoning, he can also develop a
manuscript. The role of the author as a book publishing professional is basically that of
writing manuscripts and handling it to the publisher. His roles also include being the one who
conceives of the ideas and thoughts that are developed into manuscripts.

The author is not usually very interested in the forces that affect the publishing market or the
laws that protect the moral and economic rights his work generates at national and
international levels. His dealings with publishers, in order to get his work into print, mean
that he is vaguely familiar with the economic workings of the publishing business, the legal
basis for publishing contracts and the customs and practices of the publishing sector in his
country. Frequently, he is reluctant to join associations of writers that could help him protect
his interests. He may, with more or less enthusiasm, enter literary competitions occasionally
organized by the state or by private bodies to encourage writers. But his survival ultimately
depends on the publishing infrastructure in his country of residence.

2. Editors

This refers to all actors involved in the process of fine-tuning a book for mass consumption.
Citing Adesanoye 1995; Aniyi notes that ‘editing includes what is done from the time a book
is conceived until it is made available to the readers. The different types of editors involved
in the process of book publishing are:

a) Acquisition or development editor

b) Managing editor
c) Content editor
d) Copy editor
e) Graphic editor
a. Acquisition Editor is responsible for acquiring manuscripts for publication. Such
editor is to select manuscript from the available pool of manuscripts or to request for a
manuscript on any topic from experts in that area. He/she keep in touch with several
authors and authors’ agents for special projects.
b. Managing Editor is responsible for all the manuscript selected for publication. He/she
works with the author to ensure that necessary corrections and changes are made on
the manuscript.
c. Content Editor ensures that the manuscript is in line with current argument in the area
in which the publication falls into. For example, if the publication is in the area of

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 nutrition, then the content editor should ensure that the work is in line with the current
argument about nutrition.
d. Copy Editor’s main responsibility is to make sure that the use of language in the
manuscript is correct and apt.
e. Graphic Editor provides relevant illustrations, pictures, drawings and diagrams that
will enhance the understanding of the messages outside and inside the book. This area
of partnership in book publishing requires special skill in handling. Each of the
partners must have undergone special training to be able to perform in the profession.
3. Publishers

The development of the manuscript involves the professional input of the publisher. The
publisher fulfills three basic functions:

i. He decides what books to publish;

ii. He assumes the financial risks associated with his decision; and
iii. Like an orchestral conductor, he co-ordinates the work of all those who contribute to the
production of a book – author, translator, illustrator, printer and bookbinder – right
through to its promotion and distribution.

The publisher is a hybrid, almost a centaur: half man of letters – a sentinel keeping careful
watch over the cultural movements of his time – and half businessman, dealing with
problems of finance, investment and profit. This is perhaps why the publisher is now more
often a team than an individual.

The publisher almost always reserves the right (and it is sometimes a pleasure) to determine
the physical form the book will eventually take, supervising composition, layout and
illustration and selecting the typeface and the quality of the paper – in short, all those things
that determine the final appearance of the book and its cost. Once the work has been
published, the publisher has to make sure as many potential readers as possible get to know
about it, through book presentations, press reviews, advertising, mailing shots, book fairs and
all the other ways of promoting distribution and sales.

4. Printers

The printer acts on the manuscripts by typesetting, binding, printing and returning same to the
publisher. The printer may undertake certain works on the book in the process of
manufacturing. These works may include designing the book, page layout, binding, type and
other things necessary in the manufacturing process. In countries with developed book

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industries, every publisher has a designer, either on payroll or available on a regular
consulting basis. This explains why the relationship between the printer and publisher allows
the publisher to enjoy certain privileges.

The printer is the professional who gives life to the manuscript and makes it presentable to
the public. He receives the manuscript from the publisher and subjects it to the final
production processes which include composing, binding and printing. He also performs other
roles like:

i. Relating with the author throughout the production process.

ii. Undertaking on behalf of the publisher, though sometimes with charges, the design,
layout, selection of paper, copy editing and proof reading.

Today, in the developing countries where the most basic needs still exist alongside the most
sophisticated advances in printing technology, the main problem facing the printer is that of
finding the right equipment. There is also, of course, the problem of raw materials, especially
paper, and that other most crucial problem, the availability of technically skilled labour at
every level. These are problems the printer must solve to be competitive in terms of price and
quality on the market. It used to be said of certain printers that printing ink ran in their veins
instead of blood, so great was their commitment to their work.

5. Distributors/Book Sellers

These are obviously commercial agents, although here again the book is unlike most other
commercial products when it comes to promotion and sales. The distributor markets books
through the traditional bookshop and also through the so-called non-traditional channels,
which are increasingly numerous: kiosks, supermarkets, general stores, book clubs, mail-
order catalogues, door-to-door sales, etc., each involving a particular strategy. Distributors,
wholesalers and retailers are constantly aware of the slow returns on capital investment that
characterize the book trade; their efforts to get books through to the final sales outlet.

The bookseller provides the link between the publisher and the buyers usually bookshop
owners. The transaction usually allows the bookseller to earn a discount and sells at a price
he deems fit, or a price prescribed by the publisher. This is so that the price of the book is not
unduly higher at the bookshop thereby slowing down purchase and reproduction. The book
seller occupies a crucial position in book publishing. The aim of publishing most of the time
is to sell and make profit. The book seller is the gateway to profit making. The bookseller’s
role as a professional in book publishing is to receive for sale the published books. The books

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are sold to him at a discount which allows him to charge any price at the shop or the
publisher determines how much the book should be sold for the following reasons:

i. So that the books are sold at a controlled price affordable to the buyers.
ii. A reasonably favourable price range will speed up sales, increase the demand for the
book which in turn will step up production. All the professionals involved in book
publishing play complementary role in making books available to readers.
6. Other Players in Book Publishing

There are other professionals and players in book publishing that we need to explain their
functions in the process of publishing. They are:

a) Book Designers: This is a person who designs the book. The designer of a book must
be able to create a design that should suitably convey the message of that book. This
is because for a book to effectively communicate, it must have to attract attention of
readers, be easy to read and to make a lasting impression on the audience. To perform
his work effectively, book designer have to work with all other professionals in the
process of book publishing. Book designers should design books for legibility,
readability, clarity and intelligibility.
The designer usually employ elements such as body types, display types,
photography, illustrations, colour, borders and rules and open space in the design of a
book. He also uses principles such balance and contrast, rhythm, proportion and unity
in the design of a book.
“The designer’s purpose is to plan a book not only to look good but to present the
author’s and illustrator’s ideas in the clearest and most intelligible way”.
b) Indexer: An indexer is a person who compiles in a systematical way location of
words, names and concepts in books. Sowunmi (2009:269) says “the index provides
immediate access to the important terms, concepts and names scattered throughout the
book, quickly and efficiently”. He differentiates between human indexer and
automatic indexing software programmers in the computers and concluded that
indexing is an efficient way of tracing information. Indexers add value to the books.
c) Readers: These are end users of all books and therefore are the most important
players in the process of book publishing. Authors and publishers normally consider
readers and readership trends when embarking on the business of publishing. This is
because if readers do not buy books, publishers will not publish them and authors will
not write them. The different types of readers include:

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 a. Bibliographers: They are the most enthusiastic readers who always devote
time to reading many books in a year.
b. Casual: They are readers that enjoy reading but read only few books a year.
c. The Required Readers: those who read extensively but read only what they
need for their studies or jobs. Most textbook sales and classic literature depend
entirely on required readers as students at all levels.
4.1 Manuscript Development & Acquisition

The manuscript is the foundation block upon which other book publishing requirements are
erected. Before the advent of typewriters and computers, manuscripts were handwritten but
the modern age of advanced technology, ideas can first be handwritten and then typeset. This
does not stop the soft-proof material from being regarded as a manuscript. Note that the
manuscript undergoes serious development from the inception stage to the publishing and
final stage.

4.1.1 Classification of Manuscripts

Manuscripts are classified into two groups namely:

(1) Solicited manuscripts

(2) Unsolicited manuscripts
1.) Solicited manuscripts

Solicited manuscripts on the other hand are manuscripts that publishing houses request from
writers/authors and institutions for publication. Solicited manuscripts otherwise known as
“commissioned manuscripts” have been known to be more successful both in the market and
the publishing process. Commissioned authors are specialists and professionals who have
vast experience in their various fields and bring the same to bear on the academic or
contemporary issues to be dealt with.

The selected authors are often given a brief on the assignment at hand. The publishing house
usually handles accommodation, feeding, transportation, etc. This arrangement usually is
separate from the contract agreement between the author and the publishing house. This
arrangement subsists when the publishing house schedules the author giving him a period to
accomplish his task. At other times, the publishing house might require the service of more
than one author and in such cases, writing workshops may be required and arranged.

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A writing session is a guided writing arrangement whereby selected writers are camped in a
comfortable secluded area for a period of time to write manuscripts on a chosen subject. The
workshop runs for as long as the arrangement is comfortable for both parties.

2) Unsolicited Manuscripts

Unsolicited manuscripts are those manuscripts that the publisher did not seek for. On the other
hand, it is the author that actually sought for the publisher to help him accomplish the task of
bringing his ideas to the public. In this instance the author or institution seeking publication
voluntarily submits his/her manuscripts to the publishing company for publication.

Most established publishing houses are always bombarded with unsolicited manuscripts. A
huge percentage of them are in most cases rejected because often times they fall short of the
required standards. The rejections are not deliberate. Many unskilled authors see writing as a
past time that requires little skill only to be met with huge disappointment.

Since fictional writing, prose and inspirational books have no standard format for writing, and
most times requires no intensive research and costs, it is the most abused area in book
publishing.

4.1.2 Factors That Influence Availability Of Manuscripts To The Publishers

1. The Publishers’ Reputation: Many authors run to famous publishers to harness the
goodwill, fame, and publication expertise that the publishing houses have garnered over
the years. That is why only one percent of the unsolicited scripts that get to these
publishing houses get to see the light of the day. As the potential authors know that being
published and marketed by a famous publishing house could mark the beginning of their
rise in the publishing world, so does the publisher who knows that a poor publication
could dent the image that has been laboriously built over the years “the most outstanding
qualification of a publisher who competes for the publication of a particular book is good
reputation” (Okpoko: 80).
2. Authors’ Reputation: Many outstanding authors do not wish to offer their works to
inferior publishing houses. Just as the author’s works are highly sought after, so does the
author seek for the best houses and the best deals.
3. Author’s and Publishers’ Agents: The author’s own agents are also known as ‘literacy
agents’. These literacy agents represent the author/publisher as the case may be. They
receive the manuscripts from the author, and try to negotiate a favourable term of contract
for their respective clients. Their decision is greatly influenced by their previous
experiences, with different publishing houses. Though the literary agent is remunerated
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 by the author/publisher after the contract has been signed. The publishing house might
also give incentive to an outstanding agent, considering the fact that his works has been
largely very marketable.
4. Editorial Staff: Manuscripts acquisition is the responsibility of the editorial staff. The
editorial staffs of a publishing company have the responsibility of canvassing for, and
bringing manuscripts to their publisher. This responsibility has been designed for ‘mature
editors’ that is those with years of experience, or senior editors.
5. Price Offered by Publisher: The price offered by the publisher often times influences
the choice of the publication. Since the author seeks to make maximum benefits from his
works, the highest bidder often times gets the job. The author might also consider factors
like the terms of payment of royalty. If they are favourable, he will be disposed to work
with the said publishing house.
6. Editor’s Creativity: Though the editor might not be an author; it is not surprising to find
many editors who are quite creative in their work. For instance, an editor can persuade
scholars to write on areas that are of interest to readers but are virgin areas for authors.
His creativity will involve his skill to persuade authors to delve into these virgin areas. He
will also have to persuade the author that his job will not go unrewarded because there is
a readership that awaits such writing.
4.1.3 The Process of Manuscripts Evaluation

The process of manuscript evaluation involves detecting and eliminating illogical and
irrelevant materials in a manuscript. The moment a manuscript comes in; its journey to
acceptance or rejection equally begins.

In a publishing house where unsolicited manuscripts are not welcome, they don’t go through
any process of evaluation because they are out rightly rejected. But in a house where they are
welcome, they go through two stages:

1. Internal evaluation
2. External evaluation

Be it internal or otherwise, when a manuscript is received by a publishing house, it issues a

letter of acknowledgement to the author, while a copy is kept in the office file for official use.

Internal Evaluation: Internal manuscript assessment is usually done by the assistant editor
or a young editor who writes to ascertain

(i) The significance of the work

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 (ii) The quality of the writing
(iii) Relevance of the subject matter
(iv) Recommendations for further assessment or outright rejection.

When the report of the young editor is favourable then further processing of the manuscript
commences. The editor in charge of the particular discipline that the book title falls under
takes possession of the manuscript. He now assess whether the company has the capacity and
competence to publish the content of the manuscript. He also checks the language and style
and size of the manuscript. He also tries to see that other authors’ works are not copied
without citing the original sources. Other considerations by the editor will include
compliance with the curriculum, the existing competing titles, etc.

A Checklist or Questions Which the Editor’s Report Must Answer.

1. Are there other books on the subject?

2. How are those titles doing in the market?

3. Is there any title on the subject being expected soon?

4. Is there any title on the subject now out of print?

5. How well did it sell and why is it not reprinted?

6. Is the contribution of the current work good enough to assure them of demand?

7. Can sufficient copies be sold profitably?

8. Are there cultural considerations that strongly recommend the publication of such
books at the time?

When these processes have been successfully accomplished, most publishing houses would
recommend an evaluation meeting. However it is the practice in some publishing houses to
send the manuscript to an external assessor for further scrutiny.

External Evaluation: The moment a publisher sends out a manuscript for consideration of
an external assessor, the company has started incurring cost on the said script. The external
assessor is usually a very skilful professional who is adept at this kind of work. The assessor
or assessors have to be paid adequately, and return mailing cost might be incurred if there is a
considerable distance between the external assessor and the publishing company. Before an
external assessor is chosen, extreme care has to be taken to ascertain how efficient he will be
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on the job. For an educational book, though the assessor might not be an academic, he should
be an educationist who is conversant with the level which the manuscript targets.

Once the character of the assessor has been guaranteed, he must be furnished with relevant
information to act as a term of reference when he writes his report. The following is what Oso
et al, (2008) said are what the external assessor should be looked for.

(1) Logicality

(2) Treatment of the subject

(3) Legal, moral and copyright issues

(4) Relevance and appropriateness of illustration and diagrams.

(5) Adequacy of examples, exercise or questions

(6) Simplicity and fluency of expression.

(7) Justification section for bibliography/references glossary etc.

(8) Target audience/users and recommended level of education

(9) Chances of the book in the market among the competing books.

5.1 Impact & Problems of Book Publishing Industry in Nigeria

Book publishing has a tremendous impact on the society. According to Lai Oso (2000);
“Book publishing is a serious business, a benchmark of a nation’s education and an important
index of national development’’. Some of the significant impacts of book publishing industry
on the society according to him are;

i. Book Publishing as a Business: Book publishing contribution to the nation’s economic

growth is enormous. It is an important business venture and it enhances literacy
development in the areas of science and technology, humanities, sociology, medicine,
law, politics and others. Of course, it serves as benchmark for socio-economic growth of
the nation. Manuscripts are considered due to their profit tendencies, a publisher must
make profit, therefore, it is important for him to be business conscious at all times.
Publishers work tirelessly with the sponsoring Editor who must stand to convince the
editorial board of his organization on the commercial viability of a book before it could
be published. Other areas to be considered in the book costing are; cost of production,

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 cost of editing, author’s royalties, cost of promotion, overhead cost and others. However,
all these are geared towards making profits from the business.
ii. Book Publishing is A Tool of Development: Book publishing facilitates literacy which
in turn fast-track national development. The quality, quantity and diversity of books
produced by a society are important indicators of that society’s level of development,
intellectual sophistication, capacity for technological innovation and industriousness”.
This establishes that book publishing is an effective vehicle for development and
positive change in the behavioural attitude of the people. Notwithstanding, book
publishing is the nerve –centre of education and it helps people to gain full control of
their environment. For instance, Nigerian nationalists were able to challenge and agitate
for independence due to their grace of western education.
iii. Book Publishing As A Cultural Basement Block: Book publishing enhances cultural
heritage and values. Culture is described as a way of life of a particular group of people.
Customs, tradition, language and arts are its key drivers; its components are subject such
as history, political science, philosophy, language, anthropology and others. Publications
of books in these academic areas have allowed our cultural values to thrive
systematically. The literary works of our known authors like Wole Soyinka, Chinua
Achebe, Chimamanda Adiche, Akinwumi Ishola , Adebayo Faleti and so on popularized
various Nigeria artifacts, songs and proverbs. These creative works have turned out to be
a medium of instruction used to counsel the young ones today. To cap it up, book
publishing navigate culture towards civilization and it reflects and enhances people
understanding of the customs, tradition, norms and values of their given society.
iv. Book Publishing As a Source of employment: The fact that book publishers have not
been glamorously showcased like their counterparts in the movies industry or any other
areas of human endeavours does not make the industry a toothless bulldog when it
comes to gainful employment (Carte and Williams, 2001). Book publishing industry
provides job opportunities for many young graduates and professionals who studied
related courses. Opportunities such as Publishers,i personnel, literary agent editors,
Designers, artists, Typographers, Printers, Binders, Marketers, Sales Representatives,
Promotion officers, public Relations Officers and a host of others.
v. Book Publishing As a Means of Record Keeping: Publication of books in any
academic area is a record kept for the generation to come. Books that were published
centuries are still standing as a reference point. For instance, if our oral tradition were to
be published, most of them would have been scientifically assessed and standardized.
The activities of Prophet Mohammed and that of Jesus Christ that were recorded and
published to facilitate the creed of Islam and Christianity practice today. Therefore,
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 whatever that is published today forms the book of what becomes the acceptable
standard tomorrow.
5.2 Problems Of Book Publishing In Nigeria

Rather than abating, the problems of book publishing in Nigeria are getting more unbearable
and threatening. These are;

i. Finance: Book publishing is adjudged a capital intensive venture that profit but little.
Due to this, most publishers find it uneasy to raise enough funds to finance their
activities. Moreover, financial institutions like banks are usually reluctant to loan
publishers’ money with the fear of not yielding the aimed profit or better still lose such
money completely. This attitude of the financial institutions has eroded the financial
strength of the publishers, making operations difficult for them and the turn-over will be
nothing to write home about.
ii. Government attitude: Government attitude towards the building of the book publishing
industry in Nigeria is not encouraging. Policies on the industry are not well implemented
talk more of giving adequate monitoring. The government at all levels has not been
known to be key-drivers and enablers on the book publishing. Policies change as
unpredictably as women fashion in clothes, although, of course, with more devastating
negative in terms of the publishing efforts. The incessant revision of policies by
successive government undermines the publishing business in no small measure. For
instance, the change from the educational system 6-5-4 to 6-3-3-4 etc seems not showing
seriousness on the part of government.
iii. The Economy: The country’s economy is in shambles and it requires all methods for a
publisher to survive the ugly trend. To compound the publisher’s dilemma, the value
added Tax (VAT) and high tariff placed on imported printing materials such as ink,
plates, papers, films, boards and acquisition of machineries has made the cost of
publishing unreachable. High cost of production is soaring higher and further deteriorated
by the usual power outage in the country.
iv. Poor Reading Culture: The reading culture and attitude is stamping out by the day
especially in this era of digital age. Reading in Nigeria is majorly for examination or
certificate inclined. Students for example, tend to read just to pass their examinations,
many hardly read books outside their disciplines. Nigerian graduates of all levels are
often not really information literate and /or sophisticated. According to Tiamiyu (2005), a
good book reading culture is the spinal cord for growth and development of the book
industry. He also established that the market for book publishing in Nigeria is limited as
Nigerians attitude towards habit of reading is discouraging.
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v. Piracy: Piracy has become an institution in Nigerian publishing industry. It is neck-deep
in eroding publishers’ profit. Book sellers conniving with pirates and several allegations
of book sellers pirating bestselling titles at ridiculous prices. (Tiamiyu, 2005). The
consequence is that the publishers stocks are retarded while pirates enjoy patronage. It is
unfortunate that government and the regulatory agencies like the Nigerian copyright
Commission, Book Publishers association Of Nigeria and others are yet to find a lasting
solution to the burning and worrisome issue. Echebiri (2005) says there is an alarming
growth of book pirates in Nigeria. He went ahead to say that "Nigerian book pirates are
even now known to employ sales representatives of their own and often time succeed in
selling books to, and oftentimes unsuspecting or wilfully colluding school officials."
vi. Substandard Production: It is no longer news that publishers in Nigeria have resorted to
the use of low-grade materials (e.g., newsprint instead of high grammage wood-free
paper) in book production while editorial and design proficiency have declined drastically
due to inadequate training facilities. There are now many instances of books published in
the country, even those produced by some of the major publishing houses, where pages
are not straight and are smudged with large blobs of ink. Uneven print density and print
images, barely legible halftones, poor finishing/binding and various other production
flaws are now common in Nigeria. The majority of books produced in the country do not
meet internationally acceptable standards in physical and visual quality, or in the quality
of content.
vii. Self-Publishing: The self-publishing option is one in which the author manages the
overall publishing, distribution and marketing processes him/her self. This option gives
the author much more personal control of the whole process and allows him/her to earn
more money per copy than through a commercial publisher. It also involves a lot of work
by the self-publisher who is responsible for performing all of the functions and services
that a commercial publisher would normally look after. This model is normally less time-
consuming in terms of elapsed time, since there is no manuscript submission and approval
process involved. On average, the self-publishing process can save 6 to 12 months over
the commercial publisher model. By implication however, self-publishing leads to too
many mediocre books being published and minimal marketing support for the vast
majority of books being published.
viii. Others
A SWOT analysis will enable us to identify (at a glance) other basic problems and
possible opportunities affecting book publishing in Nigeria. The SWOT (strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis is a technique used by organizations to
appraise in details, its internal working in order to come up with ways to improve its
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operations by building on its strengths, eliminating its weaknesses, exploiting the
opportunities and avoiding the threats. In doing so, it would identify critical factors that
can affect its operations and will be able to plan for the future. Make an effort to
decisively research, understand and provide explanation to the under listed in a potential
attempt to better analyse trends in the industry.
Strengths
i. Qualified and highly experienced staff
ii. Office equipment and space
iii. Good and functional government policies
iv. Efficient power supply
v. Subsidized production facilities

Weaknesses

i. Severe infrastructural problems

ii. Under-capitalised
iii. Inadequate knowledge about/inconsistent local syllabus
iv. No clear objectives of the type of publications
v. No marketing programme
vi. No clear cut budgeting
vii. Insufficient staff
viii. Too few titles published
ix. The Company is old but not widely known

Opportunities

i. Law to teach vernacular in schools in all primary and secondary schools

ii. Proliferation of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions in the country
iii. Advocacy of reading culture
iv. Constitutional Clampdown on pirates
v. Wide expanse of titles to explore

Threats

i. The problem of bribery before getting books recommended by Ministry of

Education
ii. Bookshops are not willing to stock non recommended books
iii. Piracy

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 iv. Preference for imported textbooks
v. Poor or Lack of adequate research
6.1 ICT In Book Publishing

The pace with which technology is changing the world is amazing. Since the ICT revolution,
information on any given area of knowledge or event now moves across the globe at the
speed of light. The book publishing industry has not been left out in this technological
revolution. The traditional book publishing processes from manuscripts development through
book production, distribution and marketing and the process of actual sales is going through
tremendous transformation, due to the global information and electronic revolution.

Some countries around the world now have 40% of their book publishing endeavours
credited to the electronic media. Electronic media has made it possible to expand the
readership of books and also bring comfort to the prospect of study.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) particularly the computer,

telecommunication and Internet technologies have greatly impacted on the publishing
industries worldwide through the introduction of such facilities as: E-books; E-commerce;
Low Volume Production; Internet Book Distribution; Print-on-Demand Publications; CD-
ROMs, etc.

6.2 Trends in Global e-Book Publishing

With the growth of the information and communication technologies (ICT), book publishing
has been affected. The technological development has changed the traditional publishing in
many ways. Some of these ways are:

1. Audio Books: This is a sound recording of a book. These are books that one listens to.
They are books that are written into tapes and disks. Publishers now produce complete
text books in recorded forms using different types of voices to represent the characters
in such books for the visually impaired to be on the same level with those who are
reading those books. This is equally useful to those who feel they may not have the
time or patience to go through such books but could afford to listen to its contents in
audio forms. It may be online, in cassette tape, CD or MP3 formats. The ICT has
helped in this direction. Audio books also have its own expenses contrary to what
people think. There is a common cost generating factor- its narration. You have to pay
the narrator plus cover the cost of sound recording and editing.

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2. E-Books: This is a digital representation of a printed book. They are books that are
produced in digital forms and files and made available online and other platforms that
one can read on a screen. Many hard copies of books are now having the soft copes on
CD-ROMS. Buyers can download e-books from the internet but many of such books
are usually formatted for specific hardware which cannot be used outside such
hardware. Authors can decide to produce only e-books which can only be accessed on
the internet without hard copies while some authors prefer to produce both. Creating
an e book requires that you format it to standard print book sizes, know how to use
book publishing tools or hire a professional. The author must always be wary of
sloppy book formatting or unappealing layouts.
It is estimated that book sales on the Internet through net bookshops are now 43% of
the total books sold, with [Link] holding 77% of the market and
[Link] 8%. It is also predicted that the total book sales on-line will
continue to rise. As a matter of fact, it has been predicted that the printed book as it is
now currently may soon be relegated to the museum with the advent of the electronic
book (e-book). The E-book is projected as the book of the future as postulated by the
electronic gurus of the Microsoft. The E-book has the advantage of being sold in
million copies in a very short time; it can easily be accessed instantaneously
worldwide; it can easily be updated, revised, and shaped any way; it can be read,
listened to and have colour added, and it could have a dictionary accompanying the
text. The major drawback to the E-book endeavour in Nigeria however, is that, the
user, buyer, publisher, require a computer, a web page, a telecommunication line with
perhaps a credit card which majority of the Nigerian public do not have nor have easy
access to.
3. E-Publishing: This is when the publication of books or journals is done exclusively
on-line. This is the new way for authors to share their ideas with other people with
less hindrance. E-publishing organizations are concerned with publishing e-books that
can be used on internet facilities such as laptops, handsets and other computer
devices.
4. Print on Demand (POD): This is a form of e-publishing where all printed materials
such as books, mazagines; journals etc are stored digitally and only printed when they
are demanded for by consumers. Many such POD publishers exist and their main
activities are to print, bind and sell books that are demanded by individuals and
organizations. The sale of on-line books and e-books facilitates POD and eliminates
the need for hard copy book displays. POD has also changed the publishing industry
by reducing the need for traditional publishing houses, allowing authors to self
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 publish at very low cost. It is sometimes called Publish on Demand. POD has
revolutionized publishing. Not all publishers use POD but many see it as a way of
continuing to make older and low demand books available without incurring printing
and warehouse storage costs, providing dramatic cost-saving for publishers. POD has
also broadened the scope of books that are available to readers because publishers
incur some risks when agreeing to publish a book, many are rejected, either because
an audience may be too limited or the book topic or style is relatively uninteresting.
Because POD is accessible to writers in terms of costs and the ease of self publishing,
many unique and niche books can now reach their intended audience.
6.3 E-Publishing: Opportunities & Problems

Opportunities:

There are many opportunities for publishers and readers in the field of electronic publishing.
Some of these opportunities are:

i. E-book technology will reduce the cost of books and make book distribution easy.
ii. It will make books more available and no book will be out of print.
iii. Many companies will specialize on publishing books on demand (POD)
iv. E-books reduce the problem of censorship by governments due to political
problems, religious beliefs or ideological differences. Books banned by government
can be place on the internet now by groups and supporters of such books.
v. E-books can be read online where such digital book allows you to also read other
related books globally.
vi. E-publishing helps new authors to be published instantly and be known globally
by readers.
vii. Authors of E-books usually get their royalty from the publishers regularly than authors
of traditional books.
viii. Most e-books can be downloaded by readers at a less cost and use at the convenience
of the readers. So e-publishing will benefit the readers both in time and money.

Problems:

E-publishing also comes with its own challenges. Some of them include:

i. Cost: The PC computers as well as Android, Blackberry, iPad, iPod, iPhone, Windows
Phone and Palm OS are available in Nigeria. The problem is the exorbitant price. The
digital publishers may afford the cost of purchase, but how about the readers who

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 cannot afford the cost? Therefore, the poverty level of readers in relation to the access
and ability to purchase the computer, phones and internet facilities that will be used for
e-book reading/publishing is a major problem. With this factor, coverage of information
dissemination or eBooks/journals by publishers to people is minimal.
ii. Area of Internet Coverage and Speed: The area of coverage of the internet facility is not
wide except in the cities. Normally, the living conditions here are costly. Digital
publishers or readers located in the other parts of the city may not find the connection to
internet easy. Even if found, it may be slow to connect. No slow browser can download
e-publishing of 3Kb and above and even when it does; it may take an entire day thereby
wasting ones productive time. The internet service providers have 2G, 3G - 4G
networks. Any digital publisher working with 2G cannot do serious internet browsing
because it always slows to connect. Not all areas have the 3G or 4G. For digital
publishing to thrive well, this or faster network service have to be made available in all
parts of the nation.
iii. Content Quality: The issues of quality, of content, or editing, of production, of design;
all these came together under the general concern that digital publishing makes it too
easy for material of very low quality to be self-published. According to Roberts (2011),
some has to do with academics that will put a cover onto their lecture notes and then
make this required reading for their students; some linked to self-publishing of memoirs
and autobiographies. Many publishers in Nigeria are printers who take on self-
published work, so there is a lot of material of compromised quality.
iv. Piracy: Piracy is a big issue, and also distrust of digital formats. It is obvious that
Nigeria populace has low income. Regrettably, the cost of hardware and software is
uncommonly high when compared with costs in Europe or USA. For this reason, people
prefer pirated digital formats and other devices. There is the lack of an effective legal
framework to administer digital publishing in the country thereby leaving holes that
these pirates often explore. E-publishing has drawn the attention of publishers and
authors to the problems of inadequate copyright laws as it affects this new field of
publishing.
v. Power Upsurge: Without a constant power supply, it is always difficult to make the
digital publishing or even accessing happen. The problem of inadequate and non-
availability of electricity for the use of computers, phones and internet facilities to
access the e-books remains a constant threat to the industry. This is a serious challenge
most Nigerians encounter. Electric supply is epileptic in most parts of the country,
although the government is trying, but it is not enough. This has been the main
constrain to digital publishing in Nigeria and other third world countries.
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 vi. Archival storage: There is no central organization or company archiving digital books.
The storage devices – flash, CD, memory drive used for this purpose are either
expensive or of less quality and so in no time, the vital information may be lost. Also,
the handling of the storage device maybe poor and so loss is recorded. Information and
storage devices must be handled with care.
vii. The problem of computer literacy facing many readers in the country.
viii. The issues of interest by readers to change from the use of traditional books to the
modern e-books remain slow.
7.1 Legal & Ethical Imperatives in Book Publishing

As long as there is an existence of man and life as a whole, laws abound. There are laws of
morality, socio-political jurisprudence as well as that of nature itself (such as rising and
setting of the sun). it is imperative to mention that law provides boundaries of actions set by
society, beyond which a person may go only by risking sanctions. Ethics on the other hand
tells people what they should do and embodies the ideals they should strive to attain. This
explains why ethical codes usually involve generalities while laws tend to be more specific.
At the mention of legalities involved in book publishing, there is a formal relationship
existing between the principal actors in the publishing terrain, which are the writers,
publishers, readers of the said published works, etc.

The methods and customs so differ from country to country and because of such variations,
there are also neutral differences of opinion between authors and publishers about what is
contract able and what is not.

In this course, emphasis will be placed on such elementary book publishing laws and laws
related concepts that guide the art of book publishing. Consider the following basics:

1. Publication Agreements/Contracts: An author publisher contract is an agreement under

which the author permits the publisher to use those publishing rights under specific
conditions. A contract between an author and publisher establishes the basis on which an
author’s writings shall be published and sold. And while they may vary in detail, they are
usually in favour of both parties, and the obligations of each on divisions of earnings from
sales clearly defined.
The payment of royalties or some other fee is usually one of the chief conditions, but there
are others as important. For example, exclusivity, which implies a situation where the
author grants certain rights to the publisher alone or except it is clearly stated, the author
cannot grant same rights to anyone else. This type of protection is absolutely essential for

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 the publisher who risks money in issuing the book and whose investment could be ruined
by a rival edition brought out by someone else.
Drafting and negotiating contracts is viewed by some publishers and authors as wasteful
and time consuming. They belief it costs money (attorneys) since most books do not earn
back their advance. Meanwhile, the key to a good contract is clarity. Formal agreements
are essential especially in some regards. For example, without a written agreement duly
signed by the author, the publisher cannot lay claim to any work because a provision under
the copyright law states that the publisher does not control exclusive rights but the author.
Therefore, publishers must shore up any weakness in a publishing contract.
2. Acknowledgement: While it is important for an author or writer to seek permission to use
a substantial portion of the work of another, sufficient acknowledgement must be made
stating author and title of a used write up. This must be done in full and reasonable words.
The acknowledgement must be in the place as required by the copyright holder, such as
immediately below the quotation or illustration- (Okwilagwe, 2001).
Also, unless all the acknowledgements are given in the text, it is useful to have a complete
list at the end of the book in form of references or bibliography and for special need; it
should be given an entire page separately.
If the illustrations are the only copyright materials, the acknowledgement may be included
at the end of the relevant items or provide it in the lists of illustration.
3. Copyright Law: Copyright, like most legal phenomena, evades apt definition. This is
further compounded by the 1959 Act that laid no definition of the subject matter. The
decree simply enumerated the works that should be eligible for copyright. Nonetheless,
copyright can be defined as the right of author to prevent others from publishing or
producing his work without his or her consent. Obatisan Ogunkoye defines it as the
‘‘exclusive right given under the law to the owner of copyright to control the reproduction
of the work which is the subject of copyright law”. Interestingly, the two indigenous
definitions above, a common phenomena running through the definitions is the exclusive
right so conferred on the copyright owner, the right so conferred on the copyright owner is
exercisable by him alone or by another person with his/her consent.
The features of copyright as highlighted in the above definition is; In the first place,
copyright is a personal right which is not of a tangible nature. Secondly, it is a creature of
statute. Thirdly, it is vested in the author or originator of protectable work. The above
mentioned ingredients are on all forms of the generality of our copyright law or act. The
definition is circumscribed to certain literary, musical, artistic, cinematography/films,
Sound recording and Broadcasts works.

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 Exemptions to Copyright Rule:

The following are the instances in which works that are under copyright rules can be dealt
with without the permission of the copyright owner.

a) When the copyright product is to be used for educational purposes and not for
retransmission/sale.
b) When the copyright product is needed for only research purposes, in which case,
acknowledgements should be made.
c) Private use of materials.
4. Copyright Ownership: The ownership of a copyright is a natural right of the author. But
in cases where the author is employed under a contract for service to provide intellectual
works, the copyright on works produced in the duration of such contract belongs to the
employer.
5. Copyright Infringements: This occurs when a person reproduces a copyrighted work of
an author. This is perpetuated by any act with respect to any exclusive right in a protected
work, if authorisation has not been obtained from the author or owners of such publishers’
right. Copyright infringement is a serious form of threat on a nations socio-economic
development and its culprits are usually made to face judicial consequences. The
punishment for this act differs from country to country but what is common is that the
infringer is regarded as a thief because he has stolen the economic benefits of the
copyright owner.
6. ISBN: The acronym ISBN means International Standard Book Number. It is a number
given to published book for easy identification in a series of books. It is a ten digit number
allocated to each new edition of a publishable work. It is a unique code number for
identifying a book that cannot be given to two books even if it was published by the same
author. The number consists of a country’s code which is 978. The essence of ISBN is to
protect a book from being pirated and it differentiates one book from another. The
international standard book number (ISBN) identifies a single, non-recurring publication
such as a novel, book, etc

ISBN requirements are as follows:

i. The book to be numbered must be original: This mean it has to do with the book
emanating from the original author or authors.
ii. It must not be a pirated book.

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 iii. The name of the author, firm or company that undertook the publication work must be
on the book.
iv. The topic of the work or the heading of the work must be there. A word or words
having no direct reference to the character or quality or title of another book should be
provided.
v. The procedure for ISBN registration must be adhered to, etc.

Functions of ISBN

1. They give authenticity and legitimacy to books

2. It differentiates one book from another even if it is written by the same author
3. It protects the writers intellectual property against piracy
4. It gives the book national and international outlook and prestige
7. ISSN: The International Standard Book Number (ISSN) on the other hand is used in the
book trade and mostly used in serial publishing. The identification is used for serial
publications such as journals, magazines and other serials. It comprises of eight digits
separated by a hyphen. Only serial publications are given this number. Both ISBN and
ISSN are seen as additional features of a book and other forms of published works, and a
phenomenon that further confers thereto legal, social and professional status. ISSN
identifies a serial, recurring publication such as a monthly journal.

Functions of ISSN

1. It gives periodicals authenticity. It differentiates it from underground periodicals

2. It makes it legitimate and acceptable
3. It shows approval by the government
4. It assures the public especially authors of the safety of the material

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