Call it Gutenberg 2.0
Catching a glimpse of reading's future at Book Expo
Catching a glimpse of reading's future at Book Expo
Visitors pass new titles at the Chonicle Books booth at last weekend's Book Expo in Manhattan. (New York Times)
By Carlo Wolff writing in The Boston Globe
June 7, 2009 NEW YORK - Book publishing and reading are clearly amid sweeping transition. The industry has been struggling with sagging sales and is looking for cheaper and more efficient ways to deliver content to readers who want more flexibility in how they buy and read, whether on paper or a handheld device.
Nowhere was this more apparent than at the Book Expo America, the publishing industry's annual trade show, held last weekend in New York. A stroll around the convention offered a hint of what the future may hold for the industry as well as for book lovers.
At the gathering, industry insiders vowed not to repeat the mistakes of the music business. One said the recording industry shot itself in the foot by not releasing singles in compact-disc format, accelerating the shift to downloading. Being more flexible in its online offerings might spare publishing from the same fate.
June 7, 2009 NEW YORK - Book publishing and reading are clearly amid sweeping transition. The industry has been struggling with sagging sales and is looking for cheaper and more efficient ways to deliver content to readers who want more flexibility in how they buy and read, whether on paper or a handheld device.
Nowhere was this more apparent than at the Book Expo America, the publishing industry's annual trade show, held last weekend in New York. A stroll around the convention offered a hint of what the future may hold for the industry as well as for book lovers.
At the gathering, industry insiders vowed not to repeat the mistakes of the music business. One said the recording industry shot itself in the foot by not releasing singles in compact-disc format, accelerating the shift to downloading. Being more flexible in its online offerings might spare publishing from the same fate.
Michael Roux, senior publicist for the University of Illinois Press, used to handle publicity for independent record label Parasol. He said publishing is looking into making chapters available online, targeting penny-pinching students wary of paying to download a whole book. He also said business for his publishing house has been flat this year - which is good. Sales for most university presses are down 8 to 10 percent.
This is not to say that book publishers see their futures as completely online. Most agree that for the foreseeable future the offspring of Gutenburg are not destined for extinction.
Wired editor Chris Anderson, who was promoting his new book, "Free," quipped that the book is a "format" with "long battery life" and "high screen resolution." Anderson, who came to prominence with "The Long Tail," his book about selling less of more online, suggested books will survive in various forms.
How those forms nurture each other commercially is the main issue.
This is not to say that book publishers see their futures as completely online. Most agree that for the foreseeable future the offspring of Gutenburg are not destined for extinction.
Wired editor Chris Anderson, who was promoting his new book, "Free," quipped that the book is a "format" with "long battery life" and "high screen resolution." Anderson, who came to prominence with "The Long Tail," his book about selling less of more online, suggested books will survive in various forms.
How those forms nurture each other commercially is the main issue.
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