The Book Publishing Evolution - Can we keep up?

The book publishing industry is currently teething its way through a massive change. Changing attitudes towards reading, in addition to the rising prominence of digital publishing has given the industry a lot to react to.  A PEST analysis reflects these changes.

Politically, the rise of digital publishing has raised new issues. These are apprehensions concerning copyright and piracy. Issues such as this may cause confusion over ownership and rights. It has been known for the publishing company to own the rights to the printed work, whilst the author keeps the rights to the digital version of the work, thus allowing the author to self-publish an electronic edition. Piracy and protecting digital copies of the book are also prominent concerns.

Piracy also raises the question of the economic factors. With digital media being so easy to replicate, ownership and rights will need to be considered differently. On a separate economic thought, the rise of self-publishing may also bring economic implications for the publishing industry.  

In Strategic Management in the Media, Kung relates that; due to generational shifts in attitude towards reading, books are being read for pleasure less often, particularly within the 18-24 age range. This declining market is, of course, a threat to the publishing industry. However, new products with new technology may entice lapsed readers.

Reading was usually a solitary pastime; however, there is an increasing social aspect evolving. The Goodreads website allows readers to socially interact with other readers, and even the authors themselves in a way that were never possible before. Similarly, Wattpad produces a social dimension to the writing process; readers can communicate and interact with the text and the writer, their feedback helping to shape the text as it is actually being produced.

The environment of change may spark new ideas, innovations and markets, or just improve existing systems. As digital media rapidly changes the industry, we need to ensure that we evolve with it. 

Issues impacting the business of the media

Issues impacting the business of the media.

Political- One of the Political issues that has affected the media is the pressure to be more economically friendly. Reading a book or magazine on an E-reader or tablet saves paper and the costs of actually paying for and producing the book (although digital publishing execs say it is just as expensive to produce an E-book). But apart from saving trees it has also lead the media businesses to be innovative which has resulted in great advances in technology and has made people realise how beneficial owning a tablet, smartphone or laptop etc. can be for consuming media in an environmentally friendly and convenient way.  

Economic- Today’s economy is not great and people have very little money so what impact does this have on the Media Business? Well the best way media companies are going to make money is if they make as much content and products accessible to as many people as they can for as cheaply as they can and then throw loads of advertising all over it. By offering a product like an E-book at half the price and embedding it with advertisements, say two 30 second adverts at the end of each chapter, or every 30mins the reader would be happy to sit through these if they paid £5 instead of £10 for the book.     

Social- Today people have greater expectations of the business media than ever before. Information must be readily waiting at any given time. News must be immediate and books and magazines have to be more than just artifacts to be read; they must be interactive and engaging. In a world where nobody waits, readers demand the ability to at the click of a button have instant access to a book, a magazine a movie or music.

Technological- Technology has had a huge impact on the business media in recent years. The internet has allowed innovation to take a great leap for example Wikipedia has not only replaced the encyclopaedia but it has surpassed it in terms of usefulness, quality, timelessness and convenience (Mod, Craig (2012) “Post-Artifact Books & Publishing”.http://craigmod.com/journal/post_artifact/). Amazon changed the way we buy books, music, films etc. E-readers and tablets have changed how we access them. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have changed as how a society we interact which in turn has created a grand place for advertisers to reach a global market, all without anyone leaving their desks. 

Has Digital Changed The Book?

Digital rights management has become of increasing importance as e-book sales have continued to rise. Originally, e-book royalty rates for the author stood at 25%. Little attention was paid to this decision, as sales were relatively low. (Bartlett and Bradley). The politics of selling books online needs to be re-evaluated if the author is to make the majority of their income through this medium. Copyright issues are increasingly linked to material shared online.

Piracy is a concern and there have been efforts to prevent the book being copied and sent to others for free. S. Wallis suggests however, that ‘lending’ people books and similarly borrowing books from public libraries has also always been free and that the majority of books have usually been circulated in this way for many years. Apple has gone some way to addressing this issue, allowing media to be shared between up to five computers.

Customers are increasingly in control of the book content that they are being offered, although they are offered it in abundance. The job of the publisher has been reduced as digital authorship removes the distance between the author and the reader. Contribution from the reader begins to influence the writing itself. Authors creating online books allow focus groups to comment on their material, essentially changing the content of the book as it is written. Craig Mod suggests that this digital impermanence changes the book from an “isolated vessel” to a “shared interface” but de-emphasizes the authority of distribution. In this sense, removing the publisher can in some cases mean that quality becomes lost within the vast digital landscape.

E-books are bringing an interactive community to the otherwise rather solitary task of reading via the Internet. Connected customers are given the chance to determine their own experiences with a book through “sticky websites deployed along with social media.” (Sam Hollander) They are able to engage with a related community and share notes and thoughts through the e-books themselves and through forums and websites. Digital technology also removes the sense of isolation by bringing the idea and the reader much closer together. Technology has a short life span, and this is one of the difficulties faced by companies attempting to innovate. To make money, money has to be invested in new ideas but with the ever-changing digital world, these changes need to be appropriate and easily accessible technology. 

Digital has not yet changed the book, but offered a different platform from which to read it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html

Self-publishing; a threat or an opportunity to traditional book publishers?

Recently I spoke to an old acquaintance who asked me the question you ask most people you haven’t seen in a while. ‘So Kirsten, what is it you do nowadays?’.

Well, I study book publishing.

Upon this reply I often receive a skewed look. Have I not chosen a remarkably poor subject? With the decline in book stores, the increasing popularity of self-publishing, the e-book, and Amazon, the popular belief is that books are dying out.

Nothing seems further from the truth. From 2009 to 2011 there has been an increase of 13.46% of ISBN registrations (The UK Book Publishing Industry in Statistics 2011). This suggests that every year more and more people decide to write a book. However, my audience is right that all these factors have put the publishing industry in an awkward position.

In days gone by there was only one way for an author to get published. They sent their manuscripts to publishers who separated talent from rubbish. From the talent pile a selection was made and converted into books. From this small selection readers chose their next book. However, with such an increase of writers the pile of content which needs to be divided into talent and rubbish has grown to a disproportionate size. Publishing houses no longer have time or resources to carefully sift through the pile – some have even gotten rid of this so-called ‘slush pile’ altogether.

As a result authors (who often have an unwavering belief in themselves) feel unheard. They have started looking for other ways to distribute their work, and the internet has readily provided for their needs. At small cost authors now self-publish their content onto the web, and to the surprise of the publishing industry they also found themselves a readership which even markets their work for them through word-of-mouth. As supply of small titles is growing, giving readers much more choice, the demand of the big titles is waning and book profits are going down.

Despite all this, the publishing houses remain. Only they have the marketing and distribution resources to reach the major audiences. Let’s not forget the real hype around Fifty Shades really only started when E.L. James was snapped up by Cornerstone and the big retailers starting selling her paperbacks and e-books. Instead of being daunted by this development, the publishing world should be excited. Let the reader dictate what they want to read, and closely monitor what is ‘trending’. It should be easy to spot a bestseller from a mile off.

Publishers may be set in their ways and slow to adapt, but they’re certainly not dying. They are simply changing. So a poor subject? Not so sure. An exciting one? Definitely.