The wave ahead: Digital Content on 200 Million tablets
In one of my previous postings, I talked about the amazing growth of digital content fueled, as of late, by tablet devices. One industry that is being forced to change leaps and bounds is the publishing industry.
Just last week, it was leaked that two major player in this space, Random House and Penguin, were “negotiating a merger”, and I am sure this is just the beginning. According to the New York Times, it is
…an effort to stave off the challenge from online retailers in a rapidly changing market…
It is very obvious that tablets have been a crucial element, previously missing, to the growth and popularity of digital publishing… From music, to movies, from books to magazines and many other types of digital content, customers are flocking to these devices so they can consume digital content on the go.
Facts abound, just a few follow:
- According to BookStats trade publisher e-book revenues in 2011 were $1.97 billion, comprising almost 16% of trade dollars which is considerably higher than the 2010 stats of $838 million in 2010, accounting for 6.7% of trade sales. [other interesting stats can be found here ]
- PC Magazine, PC World, Newsweek and well as many newspapers and several others magazines, have announced their intention of moving to a digital-only format.
- 2012 marks a pivotal year in self-publishing with statistics
The traditional book publishing channel is not going to go away, but it is definitely in a downwards trend. The appeal of paperback or hardbound publications for some people, is strong. To take a “real book to bed with them” is the only way to have a good read. The importance is to reach that desired demographic would be interested to e-books publishers.
Wide open space for publishers
Google is currently running a commercial where a single father tried to go the traditional route but was unsuccessful. Once he put his book on the Internet, it became a worldwide sensation.
Normal books are pricey to print, market, circulate as – particularly to overseas purchasers. It is even really challenging to have them included in the catalogues of on-line booksellers if they are not conveniently offered for circulation overseas.
Digital publishing permits you to create, shop, offer and read your book without printing it, or printing “just-in-time”. Rather than putting in money which can be a substantial outlay at the beginning in physical print runs, books might now be created and also delivered electronically to a computer near you.
The mechanics of self-publishing and getting folks to pay for your book are fairly straight-forward these days. With the increased demand for today’s society for instant info and electronic books will continue to be incredibly prominent.
[ Add the idea of long shelf life! ]
A good snip on eBooks vs Paper Books
