The bookselling industry has made a mark in American history for a number of years. What developed into a leisure activity and then into an international past time, books have become a booming industry. The beginning of the mass production of books can only be accredited to none other than Johann Guttengurg and his printing press. (Ashley). Revered by some as the control to mankind this device transferred to the colonies of America. Coming from England it is of no question that these colonies had great attribution to the influences of the Elizabethan Era which concluded with an increase in the popularity of the arts, such as literature and painting. "The first fifty years of our colonial existence coincided with a period of singular barrenness in England, so far as creative literature was concerned. (Boynton). Books though, had an evolution of there own, which started with the art of storytelling. Story telling was an art established before America was even born, as a type of way that people would share their stories and experiences with people of their same interest. Story telling became important to people's growth and learning, which can also be said as the importance of bookstores. People started writing down their experiences and would try to get them out to general public. Bookselling as an industry saw it development in the 17th century. A bookseller, which was called a publisher, was an important job that was established early in the 16 hundreds. "If the bookseller chose to back a book, he paid the author a lump sum, or perhaps a share of the profits. If the author kept his ownership, he would sell editions of a certain number of copies, or rights of publication for a certain number of years making his own arrangements, very likely with the printer and the binder."(Boynton) Today, this trend of books and publishing, still work the same way, an author would try to publish his or her book and then try to get it on the market for sales at a bookstore.
