什麼是出版

傳統而言，即指選擇、準備及發行某種印刷品--包括書籍、報紙、雜誌及宣傳小冊。不過當代的出版還包括製作數位格式的作品，例如光碟；也包括在網路上以電子形式發行的作品。出版已經從古代小規模、與法律或宗教有關的起源，演化成今日龐大的企業，能夠散播各式資訊。就現代觀點而言，便是一個能夠提供世俗大衆閱讀資訊的影印行業。出版始於古希臘、羅馬與中國。在紙張於11世紀從中國傳至西方後，西方最主要的出版革新就是由古騰堡發明的活體印刷。到了19與20世紀，科技進展、識字率與休閒活動的提升，加上更多的資訊需求都讓出版業的發展突飛猛進。現代出版業必須面臨的議題包括監督體系、版稅法、作者版稅及代理權公司的仲介費用等等。此外還有新型態的行銷方式、來自廣告業主的壓力都會影響編輯的自主權；另有來自財團收購獨立出版公司的壓力及競爭媒體如電視及網路的成長。

publishing

Traditionally, the selection, preparation, and distribution of printed matter—including books, newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets. Contemporary publishing includes the production of materials in digital formats such as CD-ROMs, as well as materials created or adapted for online, electronic distribution. Publishing has evolved from small, ancient, and law- or religion-bound origins into a vast industry that disseminates every kind of information imaginable. In the modern sense of a copying industry supplying a lay readership, publishing began in Hellenistic Greece, in Rome, and in China. After paper reached the West from China in the 11th century, the central innovation in Western publishing was Johannes Gutenberg's invention of movable type. In the 19th and 20th centuries, technological advances, the rise of literacy and leisure, and ever-increasing information needs contributed to an unprecedented expansion of publishing. Issues that modern publishing must contend with include attempts at censorship, copyright laws, royalties for authors and commissions for literary agents, new marketing techniques, pressures from advertisers affecting editorial independence, acquisition of independent publishing concerns by conglomerates, and the growth of competing media such as television and the Internet.