FutureBook

Less than a year ago, every publisher wanted to make apps. Because tablets were (and still are, in fact: they are even more) hot, and people with tablets use apps. Apps for books as well. So there lay golden opportunities, they thought. But, not even one year further, many publishers now will think twice (and hard) about going into the app business. Because, if they made one (or more), it was most often not successful, and if it actually did manage to be successful, it was either very expensive in terms of investment or it was just one of a kind (and therefore not reproducible). Read more »

Every now and again there are stories in the media (mainly traditional media: newspapers, TV, radio) that doubt the capabilities of the publishing world coping with the shift to digital. That there is truth to be found in this subject is clear, but what stings me (and many others in the publishing world), is that almost all of these stories are poorly justified, blunt and only seem to be made to cause a stir. And none of these traditional media seems to be interested in the side of the publishers. What about hearing both sides? Isn’t that what journalism is all about? Read more »

There will be no fixed price for electronic books in The Netherlands. Secretary Halbe Zijlstra from the Department of Culture wrote this to the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

Early last year, former Minister Ronald Plasterk announced a study on the impact of the e-book on the book market. According to him, the e-book could develop into a serious alternative to the physical book, and therefore it had to be seen whether a fixed price would be desirable. Read more »

The end of this four-part series is really why it all started: the differences between the digitization of the music industry and the world of books. This series is beautifully summed up in one big illustration, made by Esther Gons (@wilg). Click for big. Read more »

Two days ago we did a brief history on the digitization of the music industry, yesterday the digitization of the book world. Today: the similarities between the two industries, tomorrow the differences. Read more »

Previously in this series: how the digitization of the music industry went. Today: the world of books, tomorrow the similarities and the day after tomorrow the differences between these two worlds. Read more »

This series of blogposts originated on Twitter, when a few people from both the book world and the music industry came to the conclusion that there has been written a lot about the developments in both worlds, but never before in one big comparison.     Read more »

Digital reading is growing in popularity and e-readers and tablets are becoming more popular by the month. Until now, this is entirely the domain of the retailers. Who are, logically as you can conclude, able to lure the customer into their stores and bind them to their brand (draw this line a bit further and you're talking about Amazon, wanting to claim the complete the chain). And here is where the opportunity looks around the corner: why shouldn’t publishers do the same? Read more »

Once again a blog on this topic, because this is an issue that many are increasingly concerned about: piracy. Now that e-books (worldwide) occupy an increasing share of the total book sales, the urgency to put the piracy issue on the table grows. Logical. But do come with the right arguments then. Read more »

The digitization of all media means that more and more organizations are coping with difficult times. Including the book world. The book world is just experiencing the transformation from analogue to digital, where the music and the film industry have for years. From record stores to video rental services, from big record labels to film studios, they have all had to change their businesses in some form to stay alive, if they were able to. And now it is our turn. Read more »