First Advisor
Rachel Noorda
Date of Award
5-25-2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Business Administration: Marketing and University Honors
Department
Business Administration
Language
English
Subjects
Small presses -- Oregon -- Portland -- Marketing -- Case studies, Publishers and publishing -- Oregon -- Portland -- Case studies, Entrepreneurship, Small business marketing
DOI
10.15760/honors.566
Abstract
This thesis seeks to understand the influence of a publisher’s individual experience and background on the marketing functions of a small publishing press. In order to complete this task, the biographical approach was used. This approach requires interviews of small business owners in order to gain an understanding of their motivation, history, and background. Three Portland publishers of similar size but varying genre focuses were interviewed. The interviews were analyzed and treated as individual case studies. The results of the interviews and analysis was an understanding that the impact on a press from the owners’ knowledge, personalities, and backgrounds change the structure of the individual press so wholly that from one publisher to another nearly an entirely new service is being provided despite the same product being produced--books. The thesis describes the importance of the qualitative knowledge and expertise of small business owners, specifically small publishers in the Portland publishing market. Using the biographical approach revealed that some of the key components of marketing within a small press are the relationships within the publishing community, the impact of distribution, and the overall desire to make a quality book for readers and create a quality experience for the author.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/25334
Recommended Citation
Jay, Kate, "Marketing in Portland's Small Publishing Industry: Case Studies in the Biographical Approach" (2018). University Honors Theses. Paper 559.
https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.566
Included in
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations Commons, Marketing Commons, Publishing Commons
Comments
An undergraduate honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts in University Honors and English and Marketing.