Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Perseus Books Group Launches Mobile Editions

(Book Business Magazine, 1/30/09)

The Perseus Books Group (PBG) announced its first mobile book editions. Working with Incelligence, a mobile phone application provider, PBG now will offer mobile editions of the following titles: "Wine Enthusiast Pocket Guide to Spirits," "Quit: Read This Book and Stop Smoking," "Your Pregnancy Week by Week," and a Spanish-language version of the pregnancy guide, "Su Embarazo Semana a Semana."

The new Perseus mobile editions will be available to millions of mobile users worldwide through Incelligence’s distribution network, which includes major carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile, as well as independent mobile application distributors such as Thumbplay, Jamster and ClickApps.

“At Perseus, we are always looking for ways to reach readers wherever they are with books that matter,” says Rick Joyce, chief marketing officer for PBG. “Mobile editions put must-have content always in reach …. Relationships with mobile innovators like Incelligence are all part of helping independent publishers succeed in the digital marketplace.”

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Books Unbound

Saturday, January 17, 2009

O'Reilly and XML

I was fortunate enough to attend O'Reilly's StartwithXML Conference at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium. The focus of the conference was how publishers can get on the xml bandwagon, with pointers from publishers already doing so.

Since PW posted a great article on the conference, I won't repeat what they've covered, but I will mention the few points that stand out in my mind:
  1. To save costs, xml is only one of three necessary steps a publisher takes; the other two are offshoring and using standard, automated templates.
  2. To have xml be the most useful, you need to start with an xml-first workflow--not an xml-last one--and this means that the authors and editors need to be trained in xml tagging and taxonomy.
  3. The more "chunkable" and repurposable your content, the more important it is to get an xml-first workflow going.
  4. XML allows easier updates and synchronicity of multiple files.
  5. XML allows for simultaneous deliverables that can be adjusted to any medium since it is content-centric and design-agnostic.
Overall, it was great hearing how many publishers have embraced the new technology and realize that it's all about the content--and not its container--anymore.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The Terrible Burden of Destiny

(By Bob Sacks)

6 guidelines publishers need to consider while pondering their futures.

As we move forward in this economic recession, it is important to remember that while some processes may be slowed, others will continue to fling us forward and create both unexpected opportunities and, depending on your perspective, unfortunate struggles to simply survive. We are faced with, some might say, “the terrible burden of a digital destiny.” As an industry, we will adjust and adapt to the conditions at hand, not necessarily because we want to, but because we must.

The following is a series of guidelines or propositions that we must be aware of and be prepared to deal with as we move forward.

1. Advancements by the digital universe will never retreat, and will only improve and become more ubiquitous.
Digital publishing will continue to become a stronger platform that is easier and easier to use. The print-only world has not been able to hold its own, nor will it be able to do so against such formidable odds. If you can’t accept this as a truthful premise, you will continue to struggle with your own destiny.

2. Our competition has been totally redefined.
While our publishing competitors used to be easy to identify, today almost any company, group or individual can become a future competitor. New technologies empower this and enable it to be done anywhere on the planet. There is a new and increasingly lower threshold of entry, which means new competitors are in abundance. They can come from anywhere and will come from well below the radar screen. They will be online, global, fast-moving and smart.

3. Content remains important.
A critical concept to understand is that content is more important than the delivery vehicle. This is a new concept for publishers rooted in tree fibers. The digital delivery of news, information, instruction or fiction has just as much validity as pulp-delivered products, and in many cases it has more creditability—the creditability to be timely and immediately fact-checked for accuracy.

4. New revenue models are required.
The new technologies of information distribution offer endless options to reach a world full of future customers. The shipping cost to reach this global market is exactly the same as it is to reach the girl next door. This empowers a style of publishing that I call “universal niche”—an idea, concept or hobby enjoyed by a few on a global basis. Basically, the scale of the available readership redefines small as big.

5. Our audience will increasingly demand to be treated as individuals.
Despite the growing trend of individualism in society, mass media continues to offer the same message to everybody while new media opportunities have the power to offer individual content based on our uniqueness rather than our sameness. This concept combines very nicely with the power of citizen journalism. The “screenager” generation wants to be involved and take part in news reporting. They have grown into a generation that has the ability to be in touch with each other immediately at earlier and earlier ages. This from-birth experience is fostering a new generation of readers who are naturally adept with technology and comfortable with having virtual access to friends, family and the world at large.

6. Advertisers will demand accountability more than ever.
Advertisers increasingly want to reach their customers directly. They want a one-to-one relationship that heretofore was not possible.

Today, that kind of science is not only possible, but perhaps mandatory as a part of doing business. Simply put, digital media offers improved measures of success. Digital publishing has an increasingly important advantage of being able to measure the impact of advertisements, clicks, transactions, etc. As the economy goes through the current parabolic curve of dipping south, flattening out and then starting the climb to profitability again, publishers need to adapt to the inherent changes before them.

Will publishing survive? Definitively yes. Will it survive with the old-school business models of our fathers? Categorically no. Every aspect of publishing has to be reevaluated and reexamined against the digital criteria outlined above and be reconstituted as an advanced publishing formula for the 21st century. It is never going to be the way it was, and sure as the sky is blue, it is not going to be the way it is. Your future is in your hands.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

The Future of Dedicated eBook Readers

(Joe Wikert's Publishing 2020 Blog, 12/30/08)

BusinessWeek recently published an insightful article called Move Over Kindle; eBooks Hit Cell Phones. After reading it I feel I need to make a confession: My enthusiasm for the Kindle has dramatically shifted to the iPhone. There. I said it. It feels good to come clean.

Don't forget that I'm the guy who was so bullish on the Kindle that I started a separate blog dedicated to it. I'm not suggesting Kindleville is going away, but I do wish I would have jumped on the Apple bandwagon earlier and created iPhoneville instead!

Think about it. Amazon is the 800-pound gorilla but their numerous missteps (e.g., proprietary model, poor inventory management, no brick-and-mortar presence, high price, lack of an innovative pricing model, etc.) have prevented them from shutting the door on Sony. Sony, for cryin' out loud...the company that completely dropped the ball in the consumer electronics world!

So now while Sony is still hanging in there just fine, thank you very much, quite a few prospective customers are starting to realize the smartphone they already own is a better alternative to a $300+ dedicated e-reader. I was a skeptic till I got an iPhone a couple of months ago. Even though the book selection is very limited in the AppStore, I'd be hard-pressed to buy a Kindle now that I have an iPhone. In fact, I had been planning to buy the next generation Kindle that's rumored to appear next year but I doubt I will now. Again, this is coming from one of the Kindle's biggest advocates!

I still don't agree with Steve Jobs and his comment that "people don't read anymore." But wouldn't it be ironic if his platform turned out to be the winner in the e-content battle? After all, he's the guy who's shown the least interest in this sector and yet he now seems to have all the momentum.

Why do I get the feeling Amazon has implemented the equivalent of a "prevent defense", playing "not to lose"? Both those approaches often lead to upsets and that's exactly what it will be if the Kindle fails at the expense of the iPhone.