Top book printers -- El-Hi, Trade Fuel Optimism

State departments of education prepare their adoption schedules far in advance, and tracking the schedules allows manufacturers to know what's in the offing a few years down the road, giving them time to upgrade as they see fit.

"In '03 and '04, those were sort of the trough years of the adoption cycle, [while] '05, '06, '07 look like very strong years in terms of states purchasing textbooks," contends RR Donnelley's Lane. "This is particularly true for California, Texas and Florida—which are big adoption states with large student populations."