Back to Main FaS Page
In 5T12, the Printing Guild made a strong presence for itself in the form of newspapers, which they marketed earnestly as a way to have the goings-on of the world available at-hand to read. Heralds that shouted the news swiftly became paper boys, selling Gazettes and Magazines by different companies, usually for as cheap at 1 coin.Oftentimes, companies will have a free newspaper day to help entice new readers into being regular subscribers.
During the Conduicy of Uaniria, the previous ruler of Arcea, a point was made to keep the public informed with free hand-outs of important information regarding changing tax rates and interest rates on loans. This was an effort by the Uaniria Conduicy to reduce surprises in sudden changes, which was a major point of upset for many Arcean citizens as well as the Illaminian businessmon Uaniria was trying to attract to Arcea after the lifting of the Arcea-Illaminamo embargo.
Thus, all Book Stores, even to this day, carry free informational documents on various political and legal structures of Arcea that can be give on request to anyone, even non-citizens of Arcea.
In the old days of Arcea, books and scrolls were a luxury of the wealthy. There was still something of a market for books but it was typically only among the highest class that could get a tome hand-copied. Even after the invention of the printing press, mass-market books were rare as the technology needed to produce them was scarce and there was obvious pushback by the nobility at the idea of an educated populace.
Books are more common than ever in 5th Turn but there's still a great degree of separation between those that read and those that don't. The most that the common citizen can afford is single-page newspapers. It wouldn't be until a century later, in 6th Turn, where printed books became more widespread and available to the general public, usually in the form of cheap paper booklets that only covered a single chapter.