Print publishing's digital challenge
- By Zhang Junmian
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, May 16, 2013
"People especially seem to read in electronic format certain kinds of books, such as frontlist bestselling fiction, romance, science fiction, fantasy and crime," Feldman explained. "They just read it, like a cheap paper-back. While other books, especially ‘serious' non-fiction, such as history and biography, are still delivered in print, and there are still people who just prefer print." Feldman also predicted that paper books would, in future, continue as a higher-end more exclusive product.
There is no question, though that the world has been gripped by the digitization trend. China has also seen great growth in its digital publishing sector over the past seven years, raking in total revenues of 137.8 billion yuan (US$21.9 billion) in 2011, up 31 percent compared to 2010, according to an industrial report published by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication. Its e-books segment alone generated 1.65 billion yuan (US$ 266 million) in revenues in 2011. In South Korea, reading materials in all public schools will be digitized by 2015.
The France-based tech researcher Idate Digiworld predicts that the global digital books market will grow at an average annual rate of 30 percent between 2010 and 2015 to reach 5.4 billion Euros in 2015, accounting for 12 percent of the total book market.
Digital books, despite their increasing popularity among readers, do not dominate the market (although in certain genres, like romance, that may change soon). Feldman believes that diversity is the key to survival for publishers. "For now, publishers have to maintain the traditional format as a main business area while continuing to invest heavily in electronics. E-book revenues are growing and in the long term, e-books will dominate, but for now publishers' revenues are still mainly from print books," she said.
She stressed, however, that during this process, publishers should figure out ways to help readers discover e-books they want to read, as well as improve publicity and marketing for e-books and provide better ways for readers to experience e-books. She also commented that publishers need to tag e-books to get more information for further strategic analysis and to help retailers and wholesalers improve sales. Publishers are also paying more attention to the hugely increasing ranks of the self-published as they seek to identify potential long-term bestselling authors, especially within the romance, S-F and fantasy genres.
"It's a very, very fluid, interesting and challenging time," said Feldman. "People are experimenting with things like price, format, etc., and the market will decide the choice. There are all kinds of experiments, and the experimentation will go on for a long time."
Feldman's comments and insights appear to be reflected in the efforts made by Bertelsmann's Random House and Pearson's Penguin, two of the U.S.'s six biggest trade book publishers. The two, which together account for 25-30 percent of all trade book revenues in the United States, had their proposed merger approved by the European Commission in April this year.
Feldman commented that the merged business, combining the competitive strengths of the two enterprises, will be both a formidable force and the world's largest trade book publisher.
The founders of Random tried to buy Penguin's American operation some sixty years ago, but it took the digital revolution, massive economic benefits of scale in today's marketplace, and the clout of Amazon to bring them together.
Random, an active and proactive publisher, made preparations for entering the digital publishing marketplace some 20 years ago, including signing digital copyright agreements into authors' contracts and transforming paper books into e-format to establish its own data base. Bertelsmann and Barnes & Noble invested in Rocket eBook, the world's first dedicated ebook-reader created by Palo Alto-based NuvoMedia in 1998, previous data shows. Penguin UK was the first of the major UK trade publishers to put all its new black and white titles simultaneously into print and e-book format in 2008, according to previous media reports. It also bought one of the largest self-publishing operations..
Feldman, who is currently writing a biography of Random House founder Bennett Cerf, believes a publisher's greatest responsibility is to enable the dissemination of culture, whether past, present or future, for the benefit of current and future generations.
Cerf demonstrated such qualities in abundance by understanding where culture is going, the connection between high culture and mass culture, and the connection between books and television, reflected by his appearance in a popular weekly show in which he was able to make the Random House name more widely known. Feldman also commented that he had an extraordinary ability to spot talented authors and editors; understood what different authors wanted and needed; and believed in leaving capable editors alone to do their job.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)