Abstract
This historical study looks at the common wisdom concerning a shift in balance between fiction and nonfiction in American book publishing following World War II (1945–1955), particularly from the perspective of the book trade journal Publishers Weekly. A brief statistical analysis suggests that although the collective effect of increases in each of a rising number of categories of nonfiction was to overshadow production in fiction, there was in fact a relatively steady and continuing gain in fiction production. The perception of the publishing community, as seen through the lens of Publishers Weekly, was that a drastic shift “away” from fiction was occurring for diverse reasons—from differences in price sensitivity and acceptability of and product-oriented business.
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Select Bibliography For general background on publishing history and the state of the industry in the war/postwar era see:
Cheney, Orion H., Economic Survey of the Book Industry 1930–1931. New York: Bowker, 1960.
Coser, Lewis, Charles Kadushin, and Walter Powell. Books The Cultural and Commerce of Publishing. New York: Basic, 1982.
Davis, Kenneth, Two Bit Culture: The Paperbacking of America. New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 1984.
Dessauer, John P, Book Publishing: A Basic Introduction. New York: Continuum, 1989.
Grannis, Chandler. What Happens in Book Publishing. New York: Columbia University Press, 1967.
Hackett Alice Payne. 70 Years of Best Sellers. New York: Bowker, 1967.
Katz, Bill. Dahl’s History of the Book. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1995.
Lehmann-Haupt, Hellmut. The Book in America: A History of the Making and Selling of Books in the Unit States. New York: Bowker, 1951.
Madison, Charles A. Book Publishing in America., New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
Miller, William. The Book Industry. New York: Columbia University Press, 1949.
Sheehan, Donald. This Was Publishing: A Chronicle of the Book Trade in the Gilded Age. Bloomington, NJ: Indiana University Press, 1952.
Tebbel, John. A History of Book Publishing in the United States. Vol. IV: The Great Change 1940–1980. New York: Bowker, 1981.
Tebbel, John. Between Covers: The Rise and Transformation of Book Publishing in America. New York: Oxford.
Trends in American Book Publishing. Frank L. Schick, issue ed. Library Trends 7, no. 1 (July 1958).
Vanier, Dinoo J.. Market Structure and the Business of Book Publishing. New York: Pittman, 1973.
Also of interest with respect to the study but outside of the pages of Publishers Weekly were:
“Aversion to Books Traced to Schools.” New York Times (29 Apr. 1951), 73.
“Bad Year in Books Reported in Trade as Prices Move Too High for Readers” New York Times (3 Jan. 67.
“Books and Ballyhoo.” Wall Street Journal (16 July 1956), 1.
“Eight Editors Offer Forecasts of Literary Weather.” New York Times (11 Sept. 1949), 4.
“Good Books Seen Cut Off by Costs.” New York Times (6 Feb. 1947), 20.
“Paperback Books Go Highbrow: Sartre, Spillane Slug It Out.” Wall Street Journal (23 Nov. 1956), 1.
“Reading of Books in College Urged.” New York Times (8 May 1952), 29.
“Teacher Hits Classics.” New York Times (25 Nov. 1950), 30.
“Topics of the Times.” New York Times (17 July 1947), 18.
Adams, J. Donald. “Speaking of Books.” New York Times (15 July 1945), VII, 2.
Adams, J. Donald. “Speaking of Books.” New York Times (23 June 1946), VII. 2.
Burlingame, Roger. “Evolution of Editors.” New York Times (11 Sept. 1949), 4–5.
Dempsey, David. “In and Out of Books.” New York Times (26 Nov. 1950), VII, 8.
Dempsey, David. “In and Out of Books.” New York Times (22 July 1951), VII, 8.
Gould, Jack. “TV Fails to Stint Reading of Nation.” New York Times (23 June 1951), 18.
Hutchens, John K. “The Composite Post-War Reader.” New York Times (14 July 1946), VII, 1.
Krutch, Joseph Wood. “Speaking of Books.” New York Times (30 July 1950), VII, 2.
Miller, William. “The Book Industry.” New York Times (11 Sept. 1949), 5.
Prescott, Orville, “Books of the Times.” New York Times (6 June 1950), 27.
Prescott, Orville. “The Fall Books: Thoughts on the Lists and the Trends They Reveal,.” New York Times (11 Sept. 1949), VIII, 3.
Thompson, Ralph. “In and Out of Books.” New York Times (12 Dec. 1948), VII, 8.
Thompson, Ralph. “In and Out of Books.” New York Times (16 Jan. 1949), VII, 8.
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Priscilla Coit, Murphy is currently a doctoral candidate in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked for a small independent press and as a freelance manuscript editor for a university press. Her research independent press and as a freelance manuscript editor for a university press. Her research interest is in books as a mass medium and twentieth-century book publishing history. Her dissertation is an analysis of media response and public debate concerning a news-making book.
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Murphy, P.C. “Down with fiction and up with fact”:Publishers weekly, and the postwar shift to nonfiction. Pub Res Q 14, 29–52 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-998-0031-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-998-0031-6