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The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Publishing History

Publishing History

First Published Book in America

By Dan Balowon June 26, 2025
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The publishing industry in the United States is about $30 billion per year, covering all kinds of books and materials. Traditional book publishers account for about 10% of the total number of books published in the US and about 95% of the revenues.

Where did it all start?

Two hundred fifty years ago this week (June 23, 1775, to be precise), the first book printed and published in America was available to purchase in Philadelphia. It was the beginning of a self-sufficient American publishing industry. Before that, books were either created overseas (mainly in England) and printed here or printed overseas and exported here. The publishing industry was dependent on and controlled by England, like every other part of society in the Colonies.

The Impenetrable Secret, a novel by an unknown author, was advertised in The Pennsylvania Mercury newspaper by the publisher Story and Humphreys, who also operated the newspaper. That’s all we know about it. No copy remains, and there is little or no information about the author or story. Some books with that same title were published later, but they are not this one.

June of 1775 was still before any independence declaration from England, but there were rumblings. Within a week or two, the Continental Congress was taking steps to avoid an armed rebellion, but it wasn’t looking good.

I would guess that being identified as a book writer who broke the shackles of the governing authority wasn’t a good thing to do, career or healthwise! Hence, the “anonymous author” label isn’t a surprise.

The book publishing industry is not very old in the broad scope of world history. If we hold to Adam and Eve showing up in the garden about 6,500 years ago, the less than 600-year age of the printing press accounts for about 9% of that time. Mass printing of books wasn’t a thing until much later.

One of the oldest publishers is the Christian company Thomas Nelson, founded in 1798 in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s a long way to Nashville, Tennessee, where it is now part of the HarperCollins Christian Publishing conglomerate, which also owns Zondervan.

The rest of the major Christian publishers are much younger, with some starting this century but most in the 20th century.

Christian publishing in its current form in the US has existed for about 1 percent of the time since the Genesis account.

If we look at the ability to distribute Christian content broadly by digital means, it is even less, like one-half of 1 percent of human history.

With satellite internet, no corner of the earth is out of reach of the Gospel.

All this could be explained by the Daniel 12 prophecy of knowledge increasing as the end of everything nears, or the natural growth of technology and progress. Still, when you consider the opportunities we have now to affect the world for Christ through the written word, we are at the apex, with tools no one had for 99.9 percent of human history.

No pressure.

 

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Category: Book Business, Historical, Publishing History

My Book Life Began in the Library

By Steve Laubeon March 10, 2025
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In many ways, my life in books began in elementary school. I discovered our city’s public library with the help of my mom. I soon began walking there regularly after school. While there, in what seemed to be a massive building, I would explore the rows and rows of books. Plucking one off the shelf here and there and skimming pages. One day, I discovered a complete section of books on …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing HistoryTag: Library

What Entered the Public Domain in 2025?

By Steve Laubeon January 27, 2025
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I try to post something about this every year. This year is no exception. In the United States, under U.S. copyright law, works published in 1929 and earlier are now in public domain. One can publish them or use them without securing copyright permission. In case you are wondering about the specifics, the Copyright Term Extension Act (passed in 1998) gave works published from 1923 through 1977 a …

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Category: Book Business, Copyright Issues, Publishing History

Book Birthdays: 2025 Edition

By Dan Balowon January 23, 2025
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Significant books are published every year. Here’s a personally curated list that I hope sparks some good memories and honors the work of the past: Radical, by David Platt (2010) – 15 years Bonhoeffer, by Eric Metaxas (2010) – 15 years Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand (2010) – 15 years End of the Spear, by Steve Saint (2005) – 20 years Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, by David Gregory (2005) – 20 …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History

A Year in Review: A Look Back at 2024

By Steve Laubeon January 6, 2025
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It is a healthy exercise to reflect on the previous year’s events. The culture around us is ever-changing and ever-sliding into darkness and debauchery. But the goodness of God remains unchanged despite attempts to proclaim otherwise. The following is an attempt to review some things in the industry, our agency, and a few other areas. The Industry The longer I’ve been in this industry, the …

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Category: Agency, Publishing History

Teamwork Makes the Publishing Work

By Dan Balowon November 21, 2024
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One hundred years ago today, Christopher Tolkien was born to Edith and John Ronald Reuel (JRR) Tolkien. He was the third of four children and the youngest son. Christopher was deeply involved in his father’s work, editing it and drawing the maps used in the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) books. At one point, his dad invited him to join the famous writer’s group The Inklings. Here’s an interesting …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History, The Writing Life

Happy Birthday Winnie-the-Pooh!

By Steve Laubeon October 14, 2024
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On this day in 1926 the book Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne was published by Methuen in London. Our household has celebrated this day each year with my wife baking Winnie-the-Pooh shaped cookies. (Yes, it is a scary thing to be a man in a house of Winnie-the-Pooh celebrations.) Some say the real birthday is the day Christopher Robin Milne was given his stuffed bear (August 21, 1921). But since …

Read moreHappy Birthday Winnie-the-Pooh!
Category: Publishing HistoryTag: Birthday, Publishing A-Z, Winnie-the-Pooh

Christian Books Are Not Special

By Dan Balowon September 12, 2024
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Two weeks ago, I outlined some thoughts on why Christian authors are special; but today, we will look at ways Christian books are not special at all. Since the mid-1990s when Internet commerce began eroding sales at Christian bookstores, the uniqueness of the Christian bookselling market has declined to the point where now, for the most part, Christian books play on the same field as every other …

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Category: Book Business, Publishing History

Best-selling Books This Week, 75 Years Ago

By Dan Balowon July 24, 2024
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When we look at a snapshot of best-selling books at any point in time, we see a picture of our society and what it values and thinks. I am unsure whether book publishing is a light or a mirror; but looking back, I see insights to be gained. Spoiler alert: Book publishing did not begin when Amazon was founded thirty years ago. The New York Times Best Seller lists, July 24, 1949 Fiction POINT OF NO …

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Category: Publishing History

Happy 20th Anniversary

By Steve Laubeon May 20, 2024
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I am in awe that this week marks twenty years since I made the decision to open The Steve Laube Agency. Serving in this capacity in such a vibrant industry has been a privilege. The numbers are staggering. Through the grace of God, the agency has helped secure contracts for over 2,500 new books. The ones published so far have sold over 35,000,000 copies. Think of all those people whose lives have …

Read moreHappy 20th Anniversary
Category: Agency, Publishing History, Trends
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