PUBLISHING TRENDS ANALYSIS

Companies involved in the publishing industry must analyze their core competencies based on rapidly changing market conditions. The changes underway are radical, and any company that is technology-adverse will not succeed. The industry is rapidly transitioning from a print-based to an e-publishing environment, where documents are born, distributed and accessed electronically. Perhaps even harder for publishers to balance is their need to make a profit in a world where users increasingly expect quick and easy access to free information. Often, users bypass or do not seek out information that is fee-based, and rely overwhelmingly on open access sources of information and resources they find on Google.

With Google entering the book digitization arena, book publishers are in a complicated situation. On the one hand, the legality of Google's book project is in question due to copyright disputes; at the same time, other Web companies like Yahoo and Amazon.com are digitizing copyright-free materials (Yahoo) or making parts of books, down to the page level, available for a fee (Amazon). Regardless of the project, publishers must understand how the Internet and Web technologies can benefit their industry and work with Web service providers like search engines to allow their publications to be found in a rapidly growing sea of information.

New products and services will be brought to market that will increase the usefulness of information. Pay-per-page efforts will be changing the ways we handle e-content and raise questions about the roles of libraries in providing such access. New devices are being developed that facilitate the digital e-book, including a device similar to the iPod that will allow for a pay-per-article model and help continue the decline of the paper book, journal, and newspaper. Publishers must follow the trend and create electronic versions of their products, including e-books and audiobooks, that maximize the visibility and usefulness of their content. Vendors are key players in creating a distribution scheme for these new media products that will allow authorized access to users from the library to the airport.

Controversial issues abound as publishers struggle to find a niche in an e-publishing world. Pricing models must change and publishers must figure out new ways to generate revenue from advertising and customers. For example, with free Web sites replacing revenue-generating classified ads in newspapers, it is difficult for newspaper publishers to avoid consolidation of operations and employees. Textbook publishers are increasing textbook prices to offset decreasing textbook sales, leading to a disgruntled student market. Companies must seek to balance profits and determine the best tactics to include digital content with the printed word. Copyright protection schemes must be implemented to protect the unauthorized use and duplication of audiobooks and e-books.

The Publishing Trends section highlights trends in the publishing world, and illustrates the promise as well as the pitfalls that face an industry that must change to remain viable in today's electronic world. This section also looks at the newest services and products that have already hit the market or will be coming to market in the near future, and includes some unique solutions to going from paper publishing to a digital medium.

GO TO OTHER SECTIONS

1. Publishing Trends Analysis
2. Publishing Trends
3. Publishing Trends Bibliography
4. Publishing Trends Subject Guide