Assignment 1 Presentation Wattpad

Inspired by the technology and community-focus of Youtube, Wattpad is the most popular self-publishing community with a membership of 15 million. Its mobile application allows its content to be accessed anywhere including emerging markets, such as in Africa and Vietnam where there is little access to books.

Venture capital is essential to the business as it does not monetize its literary content. Currently, Wattpad capitalizes on banner advertisements but its co-founder, Allen Lau, does not view this as a long-term business model and hopes that as its writers are discovered by traditional publishers, Wattpad can take a cut. Wattpad has recently partnered with Lulu to enable its writers to have their books professionally published.

Aspiring authors can treat Wattpad as an unpaid internship where they have the opportunity to hone their skills before approaching a traditional publisher. Literary agents and publishers utilise Wattpad to discover new talent. Essentially Wattpad precipitates the publishing process by assuming a role undertaken within the marketing department of a publishing house.

Wattpad is disruptive to the publishing industry because it presents self-publishing as a viable alternative to traditional publishing. Publishers such as Penguin and Simon and Schuster have adapted to this by offering self-publishing services.

Please see below my presentational slides:

The London Book Fair 2013

This year’s London Book Fair was my first experience of the world famous event; I was lucky enough to spend two days at the fair, one accompanying a publisher, and one as a student. The experience allowed me to examine the recent developments in the industry from two different, but equally interesting, perspectives.

I spent the first day accompanying a publisher’s digital department, and sitting in on their meetings with a number of major eBook distributors. An issue that came up in each meeting was whether the distributor had plans to produce a device that will read ePub3; an eBook format which supports JavaScript, and which would enable the publisher to create interactive eBooks. This question was generally answered with another question: ‘When will you be selling ePub3 eBooks?’ This chicken-and-egg scenario suggests that the world of digital publishing is still finding its feet; nobody is sure how much to invest in this new phenomenon.

I spent the second day looking around the book fair with fellow students, and had more time to explore the different stands and seminars. I realised that the digital section was large, whilst there were very few printers present.  This is a strong indication of how much presence the digital world currently has in the publishing industry. I also took note of the major campaign of this year’s book fair, ‘Books are my Bag’, the aim of which is to encourage people to buy physical books from bookshops, and to help prolong the life of this experience.

It was interesting to be in one room which completely encapsulated the prominent standpoints in the industry at the moment. Some are embracing the inevitable change and trying to get ahead of it, whilst others are trying to encourage people to cling on to tradition.

Reflection on Mondays class 22/04/13

During Monday’s lesson we applied our second assessment ideas to different marketing strategies and business plans. One of these was the 9 elements of a business model. I applied my women's film magazine idea to this model which helped me to assess which areas are in need of more detail or improvement. We also looked at the Three Intensive Growth Strategies: Ansoff’s Product/Market Expansion Grid and tried to fit our business ideas into one area of the grid.  Initially I wasn’t sure which box to put my idea in because, as a magazine, it is an existing product, and it is also catering to an established audience, women. But as the first film magazine targeted towards women it makes it a new product in an existing female/filmic market. And so mine fits nicely into the third box of Product Development. This is because it is a product being produced for an existing market, but for is an entirely new idea.

Ansoff’s Product/Market Expansion Grid:

	Existing Products	New products
Existing Markets	1.       Market Penetration	3.       Product Development
New Markets	2.       Market Development	4.    Diversification

London Book Fair

during the visit to the london book fair i spent the majority of my time within the digital zone. here i saw what new digital innovations would be entering the publishing domain within the next 12months. Much of the new technology was focused upon the increasing demand for E-books and the necessities to host, download and sell these products online. Metadata was the buzzword of the convention and how it was essential for the continued success and development of digital products, during a key note speech I noted the varying methods of classification which is used for digital devices such as dewey or ISNI alongside ISBN etc.

Self publishing and the needs of self publishing authors was an area of interest for me, due to this i sat in a amazon self publishing seminar and took note of the variety of tool available, such as publicity features and pricing models to gain success. The Amazon representatives were very secretive towards revealing further plans for this sector of their business however I got the impression that further developments were ongoing.

Digital Zone: The London Book Fair's glimpse of the future

During my short time at the London Book Fair, despite the phenomenal variety of exhibitions, stalls and discussions available - particularly from the increasing international markets - I spent much of my time in the Digital Zone, where the exhibitions focused not just on the ebook, but also on how to market, sell and create this new wave of digital literature.

Multiple topics were covered, such as the importance of classification and metadata within the ebook world, and the development of the app as an important feature in marketing oneself. A report displayed there stated that, in the US, tablet PCs had overtaken ereaders as the platform of choice for ebook downloads - emphasising the shift towards multi-functional items over dedicated ones. As a result, with tablets being able to browse the internet for ebooks (compared to e-readers being linked to certain stores), independent and niche authors and booksellers are finding that selling through their own sites is becoming easier - essentially allowing the long tail model to triumph over the conventional model and become the norm.

However, the spectre of Amazon did loom over the proceedings somewhat - nearly every talk in the Digital Zone did touch upon the complications Amazon was inflicting upon the digital industry. From the 99p book skewing statistics to the refusal to release sales figures, there was a vague sense that Amazon was an elephant in the room. Given the growing rate of the ebook industry, it will be interesting to see next year how things will have changed.

Reflection on the London Book Fair

Visiting the London Book Fair proved to be a fascinating experience which gave me an interesting insight into the book industry. Simply walking through the vast Earl’s Court arena provided a really good visual representation of what the book business is now comprised of. Instead of just being aisle after aisle of publishers, it was instead a diverse mix of publishers, printers, distributors, author services, software companies, electronics companies, and more, all operating under the general umbrella of “book business.” From an entrepreneurial perspective, it demonstrated just how much opportunity one product can provide and it was fascinating to see just how many products, services and businesses have sprouted from one original 500 year-old product – the printed book.

It was also interesting to see that despite the huge number of companies present, there was still a whole host of new businesses attempting to stand out and get their products noticed, in a sea of heavyweight competitors. What will be particularly interesting is to go back again next year and see how many of these businesses have survived to make a return visit.

Reflection on Levitt’s Marketing Myopia and Yankelovich’s New Criteria for market segmentation

In his Marketing Myopia, Levitt explains that a successful industry focuses on their customers’ needs rather than selling their product. For instance, he believes that the oil industry is convinced that there is no competitive substitute for gasoline, or if there is that it will continue to be a derivative of crude oil. However, more than a dozen non-petroleum companies are working on advanced model systems which may, in future, replace the internal combustion engine and eliminate the demand for gasoline and the need to refuel.

Yankelovich suggests that demography is not always the best way of looking at markets. He uses automobiles as an example. People purchase cars based upon either where the biggest savings can be found, where they can buy the best product for what they can afford, or for the personal satisfaction of owning a fine car. Some customers will be loyal to Chevrolet, for example, and will only buy from them. Others may have just preferred the style of the Chevrolet or got a good deal but they could have just as easily purchased another make. Whereas some customers may be predisposed to Chevrolet but they can be persuaded by purchase another make if the persuasion is strong enough. Competitors must try to break through the Chevrolet predisposition.