E-book handicap?

I recently bought a fitness e-book, enjoyed reading it on my BlackBerry Fictionwise e-reader on the way to and from work, and then moved on to finishing the print book that I was simultaneously carrying around with me. I've limited most of my e-reading to non-fiction as of yet, and didn't think anything of it until I had a conversation with my mom.

My mom, unlike myself, enjoys cooking and trying out new recipes. Since she's only into healthy cooking, the recipes in the fitness book would have been ideal for her...but I had nothing to share with her, given that it was an e-book. As a publishing professional, I understand that we want to make sharing harder, but what if I wanted to try out some of those recipes? Should I have my expensive device sitting in my kitchen while I mix and match ingredients? And what if it wasn't recipes per se, but some other interactive book that required the reader to take a quiz? How can we do this with an e-book?

I came up with two options: the publisher should either allow certain pages--i.e., those with the recipes or the quizes--to be e-mailable, or have that information available for print/download from a companion website.

Any other ideas on how to get around this e-book handicap?

Bowker Reports U.S. Book Production Declines 3% in 2008, but "On Demand" Publishing More Than Doubles

NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ -- (Marketwire) -- 05/19/09

Bowker, the global leader in bibliographic information management solutions, today released statistics on U.S. book publishing for 2008, compiled from its Books In Print® database. Based on preliminary figures from U.S. publishers, Bowker is projecting that U.S. title output in 2008 decreased by 3.2%, with 275,232 new titles and editions, down from the 284,370 that were published in 2007.

Despite this decline in traditional book publishing, there was another extraordinary year of growth in the reported number of "On Demand" and short-run books produced in 2008. Bowker projects that 285,394 On Demand books were produced last year, a staggering 132% increase over last year's final total of 123,276 titles. This is the second consecutive year of triple-digit growth in the On Demand segment, which in 2008 was 462% above levels seen as recently as 2006.

"Our statistics for 2008 benchmark an historic development in the U.S. book publishing industry as we crossed a point last year in which On Demand and short-run books exceeded the number of traditional books entering the marketplace," said Kelly Gallagher, vice president of publisher services for New Providence, N.J.-based Bowker. "It remains to be seen how this trend will unfold in the coming years before we know if we just experienced a watershed year in the book publishing industry, fueled by the changing dynamics of the marketplace and the proliferation of sophisticated publishing technologies, or an anomaly that caused the major industry trade publishers to retrench."

(Editor's Note: Members of the news media who are interested in obtaining statistics from Bowker for specific industry categories are invited to email Daryn Teague, Bowker's public relations consultant, at dteague@teaguecommunications.com.)

"The statistics from last year are not just an indicator that the industry had a decline in new titles coming to the market, but they're also a reflection of how publishers are getting smarter and more strategic about the specific kinds of books they're choosing to publish," explained Gallagher. "If you look beyond the numbers, you begin to see that 2008 was a pivotal year that benchmarks the changing face of publishing."

Among the major publishing categories, the big winners last year were Education and Business, two categories that might suggest publishers were seeking to give consumers more resources for success amidst a very tough job environment. There were 9,510 new education titles introduced in the U.S. in 2008, up 33% from the prior year, and 8,838 new business titles, an increase of 14% over 2007 levels.

By contrast, the big category losers in 2008 were Travel and Fiction, two categories in which publishers clearly saw less demand during a deep recession in the U.S. There were 4,817 new travel books introduced last year, down 15% from the year before, and 47,541 new fiction titles, a drop of 11% from 2007. Moreover, the Religion category dropped again last year, with 14% fewer titles introduced in the U.S., and that once reliable engine of growth for publishers is now well off its peak year of 2004.

According to Gallagher, the Bowker data reveals that the top five categories for U.S. book production in 2008 were:

    1. Fiction (47,541 new titles)
   2. Juveniles (29,438)
   3. Sociology/Economics (24,423)
   4. Religion (16,847)
   5. Science (13,555)

Methodology

The book production figures in this news release are based on year-to-date data from U.S. publishers and include traditional print as well as on demand titles. Audiobooks and E-books are excluded. If changes in industry estimates occur, they will be reflected in a later published report. Books In Print data represents input from more than 75,000 publishers in the U.S. The data is sent to Bowker in electronic files, and via BowkerLink(TM), Bowker's password protected Web-based tool, which enables publishers to update and add their own data.

Books In Print is the only bibliographic database with more than 8 million U.S. book, audiobook and video titles. It is widely regarded throughout the publishing industry as the most authoritative and comprehensive source of bibliographic data available worldwide, and has been a trusted source of data in North America for more than 50 years.

More Things Digital

Mobifusion Releases New Cellphone Content Viewer

(Publishers Weekly, 5/11/2009 6:20:00 AM)

Mobifusion, a software developer of applications that deliver book content to handheld mobile devices, is releasing Mobiviewer 2.5, an upgraded multimedia platform that improves viewing and reading content on mobile phones. Mobiviewer 2.5 is a graphic user interface for mobile phones that can deliver photos, audio and graphic content from publishers (among them Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Avalon, Simon & Schuster, and Penguin) to a wide variety of handsets and OS formats, including iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Mobile, Java, Symbian, iDEN, Palm and other platforms.

Pavan Mandhani, founder and CEO of Mobifusion said the new application, “raises the bar” for mobile entertainment viewing and reading. “We're giving consumers a new made-for-mobile experience of the content they know. By delivering 'snacks' of the mobile content wireless users want, Mobiviewer 2.5 will transform the way people use and see their mobile handsets.”

E-Reader Pilot Program at Princeton University

Princeton is using the Amazon DX electronic reader to pilot the use of an e-reader in a small number of classes during the Fall term of 2009. The project is sponsored by the Princeton University Library, the Office of Information Technology at Princeton, and the High Meadows Foundation, whose mission is “to support environmental sustainability; and to support a community of human interest through collaboration, inclusiveness and common values.” A major aim of the pilot is to help determine if e-readers can cut down on the use of paper at Princeton, without adversely affecting the classroom experience.

Amazon Launches Kindle DX

(Publishers Weekly, 5/6/2009)

Amazon introduced the third edition of its Kindle this morning, a version that, in addition to offering trade books, will now display textbooks, computer books and cookbooks on a 9.7 inch electronic display screen that includes 16 shades of grade. Magazines and newspapers, already available on the Kindle, will increase their presence on the new device. Price for Kindle DX is $489 and Amazon will start shipping the device in the summer.

Amazon hopes the larger screen and improved display will entice students to use Kindle DX and Cengage, Pearson, and John Wiley have agreed to make textbooks available through Kindle DX. Arizona State, Case Western Reserve, Princeton, Reed College, Pace and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia will launch trial programs this fall in which they will distribute Kindle DX to students across a range of subjects. "We look forward to seeing how the device affects the participation of both students and faculty in the educational experience," said Barbara Snyder, president of Case Western.

To induce newspaper readers to use Kindle DX, Amazon is teaming with The New York Times and Washington Post in a program that will let would-be subscribers who live in areas where there is no home delivery to buy the Kindle DX at a reduced price if they agree to subscribe to a long-term subscription to the paper via the Kindle DX.

Defining Publishing Today

I will be explaining my job--and publishing--to my son's second-grade class Monday afternoon. Once a year, his school invites parents to come in and speak to the class about their jobs, and this is the second year in a row that I have volunteered to do so.

Last year, I brought Aliki's How a Book is Made and a magnifying glass for show and tell: the former to show some colorful visuals of printing presses and how colors combine; the latter to let them see for themselves that everything printed is made up of dots. The class enjoyed the show-and-tell and had several questions about publishing. Although I mentioned online trends, it was an addendum at the end of my "presentation."

Since publishing has changed that much in a year, I was going to focus on that change and how its evolved from a print-only industry to one where print is only one of the many platforms offered. But my son told me he had been looking forward to my show-and-tell, and I don't want to disappoint him, so I now need to figure out how to present all of that in fifteen minutes or less.

Even though I've been aware of the changes going on in the industry, and reading about them, it honestly still surprised me that last year when I spoke to my son's class, e-books was not a major part of my discussion--nor did I feel it necessary to make it so. This year, I would feel remiss not to mention it, and may even pull out my BlackBerry with its Fictionwise e-reader application as part of the show-and-tell.

How would you define and explain publishing to a child...or even an adult who was not familiar with the process? How do you define it to authors?