The shift to digital of the editorial industry seems inevitable. On May 19, 2011, Amazon declared that they sold more ebooks than printed books, including hard covers and paperbacks. Since, April 1, 2011, it has sold 105 Kindle books for every 100 print books. In 2007 they launched the Kindle, a tablet for reading digital books. Apparently, the sale of ebooks is on the rise!
Will this ebook trend bring changes to the editorial industry? The answer seems obvious... Yes! First, the value chain is going to change. For example, publishing is not as complicated as it used to be. Today, authors don't need to go through the approval of powerful editorials to publish their work anymore. Thanks to the Internet they can make their own website and upload their work for anyone to download it digitally.
Second, there also new players on this arena such as Lulu.com, a website that offers open publishing, authors can publish their work on the site and stay with 80% of the revenues. Since their founding in 2002, 1.1 million creators from more than 200 countries and territories have signed up. This way Lulu.com facilitates the interaction between creators and buyers. Creators can publish their work in multiple formats (ebook, Ipad, CD's...) and buyers can look for the content they need.
Third, new hardware has been created for this new way of reading, as a result, the developers of these gadgets are also new players on this industry. Fourth, printing companies won't be needed as much as before, as the content will be provided digitally. Therefore, the players of the production phase will have to adapt to this new model, in order to keep with the "book business". For instance, they can offer printing on demand. However, no more mass printing of books seems to be required, on demand seems to substitute this vanishing need.
Second, there also new players on this arena such as Lulu.com, a website that offers open publishing, authors can publish their work on the site and stay with 80% of the revenues. Since their founding in 2002, 1.1 million creators from more than 200 countries and territories have signed up. This way Lulu.com facilitates the interaction between creators and buyers. Creators can publish their work in multiple formats (ebook, Ipad, CD's...) and buyers can look for the content they need.
Fifth, another player of the value chain that is affected by this new trend are the distributors. Now, the game has changed for them as well. Thanks to the Internet the distribution process is almost unnecessary, as their is no need to allocate books among retailers, as everything is online on the same website, just a click away.
For sure there are some other variables that can be analyzed on the digital shift of the editorial industry. However, this is just a sneak pick so reflect on where will you buy your next favorite novel and in which format will you be reading it.
Based on the article "Amazon now sells more eBooks than print books" from the Washington Post (Click Here)
For sure there are some other variables that can be analyzed on the digital shift of the editorial industry. However, this is just a sneak pick so reflect on where will you buy your next favorite novel and in which format will you be reading it.
Based on the article "Amazon now sells more eBooks than print books" from the Washington Post (Click Here)
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