John Donne famously wrote that ‘No man is an island.’ Certainly no author is. Though writing may at times be a solitary business, getting published certainly isn't. Publishing introduces the work of the author into a busy, crowded landscape. The purpose of this chapter is to survey the publishing scene to see how it is populated and how it is changing.

THE PUBLISHING SCENE

There are many different types of publishers. Here we will begin to differentiate them. Later, in Chapter 3 (see pp. 31–3), we will consider in more detail why it matters which company you publish with and how to go about selecting a publisher.

Over the years I have listened to many authors discuss publishers and the differences between them. In the conversations, two variables commonly feature, namely (1) the size of the publishing house, and (2) its provenance. Let's consider size first.

Differences in size between academic publishers can be extreme. At one end of the spectrum are multinational conglomerates, often themselves part of even larger media empires. Routledge, for example, is part of Taylor & Francis, which, in turn, is part of Informa. As I write (late Febuary 2009, following a stock market crash), Informa is valued on the London Stock Exchange at just over £900 million. Reed Elsevier is valued at nearly £6 billion and Pearson at over £5 billion.