Vanquishing the book appears to be as difficult as getting Dick Clark to retire. Technology has yet to best the printed page - and that resilience may account for the steady flow of entrepreneurs getting into publishing.

Even with an iffy economy, decreases in book buying, and plenty of small publishers calling it quits, some people find publishing an attractive option.

The financial details of starting a business can be nerve-wracking, but newcomers are undaunted by negative industry trends and threats from the now de-fanged e-book.

"A book is a book is a book, and contrary to what people were saying a few years ago, they're not going away anytime soon," says Stephen Hull, founder of Boston-based Justin, Charles & Co., which specializes in mysteries and eclectic nonfiction and debuts its first books next month.

Independent publishing is persevering in an industry that's presented fewer and fewer opportunities for entry in recent decades, as consolidation and corporate ownership have reduced the number of publishers and bookstores. More than ever, small and midsized publishers are valued for the variety they bring readers and the outlet they provide for writers who can't get the attention of the industry giants.

Those are two reasons some newcomers are drawn in - the product and the people. Others, like those who self publish, do so to add heft to a résumé, or to establish the viability of their work so they can shop it to larger publishers.

"There are more and more people entering this world. I sometimes wonder why," says Jan Nathan, executive director of the Publishers Marketing Association, whose members deal in print and other media. "The one nice thing about publishing is people always think they will be different."

For Hull, it was a natural next step after years in the industry as an editor. "I actually started thinking about it seriously during the tech boom, when it seemed like everybody started a company," he says. "Part of my motivation is this is something that's mine.... The decisions are mine, and the success and failures are mine."

The exact number of new people getting into the business is difficult to determine. Unlike Hollywood, the book industry doesn't keep track of its sales and its players, especially the smaller ones. The number of new publishers applying for a sales-related tool called an ISBN number did increase in 2002 to 10,653, up from 9,786 in 2001, according to R.R. Bowker, the company that sells the numbers. But those figures include not only print publishers, but those selling software, e-books, educational videos, or a combination of different media.

For print publishers, starting a company today is both easier and harder than in the past. Computer equipment is cheaper and manufacturing fairly easy.

But while it's technically easier to publish, it's harder than ever to get noticed. Many independent publishers concede their editorial impact is small, because companies with deeper pockets can snatch good writers away. Others say they are a haven for niche topics and offbeat authors. For any small company, it can take decades to become viable.

"In general, I think a small publisher may succeed more easily than a big one, because he starts out with less baggage, he doesn't have a huge overhead to deal with, he doesn't have a lot of accumulated bad habits," says Jason Epstein, former editorial director at Random House, and author of "Book Business."

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