Bibliographic information provider Bowker, a business unit of ProQuest, has released its annual report on US print book publishing, compiled from its Books In Print database. Based on preliminary figures from US publishers, Bowker is projecting that despite the popularity of e-books, traditional US print title output in 2010 increased 5 percent. Output of new titles and editions increased from 302,410 in 2009 to a projected 316,480 in 2010. The 5 percent increase comes on the heels of a 4 percent increase the previous year based on the final 2008-2009 figures.
The non-traditional sector is seen to continue its explosive growth, increasing 169 percent from 1,033,065 in 2009 to 2,776,260 in 2010. These books, marketed almost exclusively on the web, are largely on-demand titles produced by reprint houses specialising in public domain works and by presses catering to self-publishers and 'micro-niche' publications.
Continuing the trend seen last year, science and technology were the leading areas of growth as consumers purchased information for business and careers. Major increases were seen in computers (51 percent over 2009, with an average five-year growth rate of 8 percent), science (37 percent over 2009, with an average five-year growth rate of 12 percent) and technology (35 percent over 2009, with an average five-year growth rate of 11 percent).
In 2008, the production of non-traditional print-on-demand books surpassed traditional book publishing for the first time and since then, its growth has been staggering. Now almost eight times the output of traditional titles, the market is seen to be dominated by a handful of publishers. In fact, the top three publishers accounted for nearly 87 percent of total titles produced in 2010.
A look at the top publishers by title output in 2010 shows who is providing this content, primarily through the web marketplace. Science and technology mainstay Springer is stated to be the only traditional publisher represented.
The report is available for download online at http://www.bowkerinfo.com/pubtrack/AnnualBookProduction2010/ISBN_Output_2002-2010.pdf
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