Textbooks: An Overview of Textbook Publishing

Textbooks are print books or ebooks that accompany a specific class or subject at the school or university level, and suggest a curriculum--that is, a course of learning--for that particular subject. The textbook market generally differentiates between school textbooks (meant for elementary schools or high schools), and higher education textbooks (meant for colleges or other post-secondary schools).

In most cases, the choice of elementary school subject textbooks and high school subject textbooks are agreed upon and purchased in bulk by an entire school or school system for use and re-use in the classroom, where they remain after purchase.

Higher education textbooks are most often chosen--or "adopted"--for a particular course by the professor or instructor for the course. The school's bookstore then makes the textbook available for individual purchase (and, therefore, ownership) by the students taking the course. After the applicable class is over, some students choose to sell their books to a reseller who specialized in used college textbooks.

In addition to print books or ebooks, textbook publishers produce ancillary materials to aid in the teaching and learning processes. These ancillaries might include teacher's manuals, presentation slides to aid instructors, student workbooks and online study guides, and the like. Depending on the nature of the ancillaries, they may be sold separately or made available with a textbook purchase.