Publishing Markets and categories
Trade — publishing for the general public: Adult and Juvenile (children, teens and young adults). Trade includes Fiction, Non-Fiction and Religion.
Religion covers Bibles and religious texts, biblical studies, spiritual titles, hymnals, prayer books, religious fiction and non-fiction.
K-12 School — Teaching and learning materials for K-12 education in public and private schools.
Higher Education — Multiplatform course learning systems and materials for college and university students and faculty.
Professional — Print and digital content for practitioners, clinicians and others working in fields such as medicine, law, business, science, technology, the humanities and social sciences, including handbooks, reference books, manuals and monographs.
Scholarly — Print and digital content published by scholarly societies, commercial publishers and university presses for those involved in primary research either in academic, corporate or government settings.
Publishing formats
Physical: All products more than 50% print-on-paper or sold in another physical medium such as disc or preloaded audio. These include:
Hardcover — Printed books bound in hard covers.
Softcover — Printed books with flexible bindings traditionally of better production quality, larger size and higher price than rack-sized, mass-market paperbacks. Also includes digest format and spiral, comb and other specialty-bound books.
Mass-market paperback — Rack-sized printed books with flexible bindings measuring roughly 4½” by 7.”
Physical Audio — Audiobooks sold on physical media such as CD, mp3 CD, preloaded single use devices, CD ROM and tape.
Non-physical: All content, products and services delivered solely in e-formats.
e-books — Works that are direct or very similar facsimiles of printed originals developed initially or exclusively for electronic format. These could contain some hyperlinks.
Enhanced e-books — e-books with significant additional content and enhancements such as additional text, extensive hyperlinks and/or multimedia features beyond what was present in an original printed version.
Non-physical audiobooks — Audiobooks downloaded for mp3 devices, smartphones and e-readers.
Paid mobile apps — Publishers’ content categorized as mobile apps go significantly beyond the book concept and provide interactivity, database-driven apps, non-linear usage, testing and/or administration features.
Note that this does not include titles simply sold as apps. For example, an e-textbook that is a book facsimile sold as a standalone app is considered an e-book.
Internet-based products and services — Content delivered online including all products and services requiring web access for use. These include subscription models, homework managers and portions of books sold separately.
Bundled products — Multiplatform products and services that may include any combination of print, electronic and/or custom-created content elements included in a single sales item. These are a significant element in Higher Education publishing where bundled products are often sold with both electronic and print components.