Contrary to the frequent claims of those who defend them as a durable and long-lasting medium, printed books are very difficult to produce and are quite fragile. The vast majority of books published in the 20th century were of poor quality with acidic paper, weak bindings,  and difficult-to-read printed text.

Published in 1998, David Knight’s Science in the Romantic Era betrays all the markings of a challenging commercial proposition, in a word, a troubled publication. Widely published with a distinguished career, Knight is an historian of science and a professor at the University of Durham. Comprised of a collection of previously published essays, Science in the Romantic Era was brought out by Ashgate, a British publisher of scholarly books. For a commercial publisher like Ashgate, Knight’s book represents a number of challenges, both technically and financially.

Knight is a specialist in the field of Romantic science,

How does a publisher like Ashgate estimate the postential sales for such a book? 145 library holdings in Worldcat

Included in the costs calculations for the book, Ashgage had to also work in the long-term availability of the book.

Publishing e-textbooks

This paper argues that the evolution of e-book technology is related to the penetrating impact of networks and information technology on society. It defines the concept of e-book and describes some aspects of e-book technology. By focusing on book production processes, the paper examines what probable consequences the development of e-books and a global network economy will have for publishers and book industries. E-books, along with other electronic formats, will trigger major changes as the digital products and distribution channels will force the logic of the network economy on the book publishing industry.