| Information technology has been successfully incorporated in innumerable sectors of the industrial world, in businesses large and small---sometimes as a subsidiary function but many times to revolutionize the way processes had been done before. Technology has frequently been implemented for the specific purpose of cutting costs, reducing the amount of time a process takes, or being able to make something better, faster, or both. Technology implementation has sometimes been welcomed by the workforce, but sometimes, when met by a reluctant workforce, technology has not been adopted. It certainly is considered good business if one can make something faster, better, and cheaper while maintaining quality and meeting consumer demand.;One industry that appears to have problems with technology adoption is book publishing, specifically trade book publishing, the producers of fiction and nonfiction books for the general reader. The book publishing industry may use technology in their back-office departments, such as accounting, sales, and payroll, and may have implemented it in the creative area known as the editorial process, but to a great extent technology has not been adopted; that is, it is not being used throughout the process. The editorial process consists of the tasks necessary to prepare the interior parts of a book so that, after they are combined with the tasks in the design and manufacturing processes, the result is the transformation of an author's manuscript into a volume that is ready for distribution and sale.;This study shows that the factors affecting technology adoption in the editorial process can be divided into the four categories of traditions and culture of trade book publishing, its business practices, and the issues involved in technology implementation and utilization. By addressing these factors, adult trade book publishers may be able to solve the problems that exist so that technology is adopted in the editorial process and they obtain the benefits resulting from its use. |
