Chapter closed: Dymocks exits e-book publishing after 15 months

Published 04 March 2013 - BRW

Dymocks chief executive Steve Cox. Dymocks has closed its nascent e-book publishing business after just months. Photo: Sasha Woolley

Dymocks is shutting its publishing venture at the end of the month after just 15 months in the business.
The retailer started D Publishing in December 2011 in the hope it could use the Dymocks brand to gain a foothold in the growing e-book market.

The business offered authors the opportunity to self-publish both printed books and e-books and sell their work via the Dymocks website and Google eBooks. Selected titles were also sold in Dymocks stores.
Dymocks managing director Steve Cox told BRW that D Publishing was an “innovative” experiment but the challenges were too great.
“We learned a lot about that market and those customers but unfortunately the constraints of the platform and business model meant we couldn’t fulfil the vision,” Cox says. “It was a difficult decision but we’ve decided to focus on areas that are core to what we do. The investment required to left the site to the next level at this moment in time is not an investment that we think it’s right to make.”
The “exciting” projects that Dymocks has on the agenda for 2013 include redeveloping its website and mobile payment technology for the shop floor, but both are still in early stages.
A notice on the D Publishing website says it is “closing its doors as a business” on March 25.

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