Printed book positives
School still prefer physical books to the cheaper online alternative
How do you get a signed copy of an e-book? Value/unique
A luxury book, we added wider margins to make type appear more elegant. We also removed the essays from the front to make it feel less like a school book.
There is an emotional resonance to a physical book.
The' tree of codes' – individual die cut pages to create a new story, publishers are Visual Editions. I tired to buy one but they had sold out.
‘Two Sides’ is an organisation devoted to extolling the virtues of print.
Print has value without being invasive.
Print has tactile techniques, it can shine and sparkle.
The unique sells an example of this is the PS3 Eyepet games box. It was designed to look like a pets carry case. It has been massively successful as packaging.
Catalogues are on the rise, ASOS a purely digital company have now commissioned a catalogue. Consumers like to have something tangible.
Print works in a more meaningful way that digital has achieved.
Print is a more trusted media.
E-book positives
Augmented reality – great for non-fiction particularly sciences. There is no budget for this in the UK however. The market in the UK for this is mostly gifts not for schools.
Allow people to dip in and out of non-fiction, under 35’s are used of having a series of small screens with different content – apply to design books.
Quality in digital publishing is getting much better, this is making an impact on sales.
Digital offers a multilayered experience, if you don’t change you will loose customers who are getting more from your competitors.
Money
Large gift books defy the recession.
If the consumer can see the quality they will pay more.
Amazon – In July of 2010 e-book sales took over hardbacks for the first time.
E-books are priced to be the same as paperback editions.
Readers are perceived to be the group that gains the most from digital.
A printed poster is more cost effective than digital advertising.
Tech Advances
Devices have many difference, a standard format is needed.
You need a reliable online space.
Social media is a great way to find out first hand what is working.
When creating the book publishers now use the XML format first in order to speed up printing and digital publishing. Both can be controlled with CSS.
New printing techniques mean you can now create a relief at the same time as printing. This is more cost effective.
Libraries and E-lending
E-book lending is not a threat. It enable people who can’t physically come to the library to have access.
There is a law proposed to stop libraries from charging fines to late returned e-books.
Should we charge? Or does not doing so go against the business model for public libraries.
Legal issues
Penguin have the print contract for some books without also having the digital one. This highlights a problem we currently have with publishing rights, old deals do not include digital rights.
Richard Mollit – head of Publishers Association was first a politician, this allows him to better steer legislation so it benefits the publishing industry. He believes creative industries are vital for the recovery of the economy.
We need people to be in the habit of legal publishing, not like the music industry where people are in the habit of using Limewire even when they don’t have to.
Attitudes/statements of feeling
Most opinion on digital is North Amercian www.futurebook.net seek to change this.
We can use digital positively despite its threat.
The way we read and digest content has changed dramatically over the past 5 years. Publishing nolonger equals print it equals print, online, e-reader and mobile.
E-books are the present not he future.
We outsource digital work in publishing right now, this is unsustainable we need to train people to work within the industry.
Print has more longevity and resonance with the consumer.
We are suffering from a media overload.
Value of content
“publisher markets the content the consumer decides on the format” Suchomel, Mark president of the US Independent Publishers Group.
¾ of people interviewed felt that print will not disappear.
Books will remain only as specialist object.
It needs to be fresh and original to compete with what’s already on the web.
It is the brand which sells the book not the format. It’s a case of quality of writing over design.
We should use print and digital together not in opposition.
Digital Monopolies
The agency model needs to protect the price of e-books so that authors get a fair deal and Amazon doesn’t gain a monopoly.
Publishers are not retailers, how can we sell you the product if you are controlling the price?
It’s painful transferring to an agency model but it’s worth it to stop an Amazon monopoly.
Enviroment
Data centres for the internet require a lot of energy. In some cases as much as you would need to produce some direct mail.
Print doesn’t have to be environmentally damaging, we can use vegetable inks etc.
Marketing books
New staff in publishing will be digital natives.
Waterstones works as it has quality control, it has been selected to be in the shop. We don’t get this with Google and Amazon as people are self-publishing.
App’s can be used as a marketing tool for books, one version of this would be the CriBaby app, where a game is sold with the first chapter of the book included.
E-books should be just as audience targeted as their print counterparts.
62% of buyers and marketers believe that print is a more effective communication than email.
Print is the medium of choice in Direct Marketing it is more effective.
There is an increasing dominance of the digital form, less money is being spent on
print marketing and more on email.
Non Fiction and Schools
They buy the books and online service, the online allows the parents to share in the learning at home.
Academic books still sell, the coalition has protected sciences which means sales in this area in particular should remain stable.
I have had a look at some Apps in Computer Arts Magazine, a lot of the influences from this journal are accounted for more in the more Practice led area of my work.
