Chapter 10 summaries

Chapter 10

1.) Printing Press

In the years of 1453 to 1456 the printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenburg which he adapted from a wine press. This device produced the first modern books including copies of the Latin Bible and Holy Bible. This invention of the printing press opened boundries across seas and allowed for mass productions of books of all kinds. This spread widely across Europe in the 1400 and 1500’s. It also made it cheaper to produce paper because you didn’t need expensive grades of paper. Campbell supports this evidence by asserting he cultural transformations it led to; people could independently learn through books and literature and it became a new medium for transmitting information through writing. This is very convincing because I have learned a lot from books and we use them every day to gain knowledge, and so has everyone across the globe.

2.) The Organization and Ownership of the Book Industry

The publishing of books is done by one of two ways: it is either regulated by major companies in which you employ hundreds of people to work for you, or (how most are0 in smaller houses only consisting of fewer than twenty people. Most publishers will hire people called acquisitions editors whose job is to sign authors to contracts. Within these contracts there are subsidiary rights for the author, which are selling rights for publishers to use in other types of media. Campbell supports this information by asserting that author Anne Rice, writer of Interview with a Vampire, made a $17 million dollar profit because of all the different types of media her novel went through by commercially selling her books. This is convincing because when signing authors under contract and allowing their books to reach other media sources, you bring in more money because your reaching more people in more places.

3.) Influences of Television and Film

A lot of television and films have been influenced by major books and continue to do so. There are a lot of movies that have even been based off comic books, as well as novels, and now-a-days even cartoons and TV shows have made their way into this huge movie medium. Campbell backs these facts by stating that Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park and Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit both became big motion pictures. This is convincing because I have seen multiple movies that have been based off of both fiction and nonfiction novels. Also, movies like X-Men have been based off of comic books. People from different countries would be convinced as well because they have also made movies based off of books.