Is the Publishing Industry Dead in the Digital Era?
Gone are the days when we had to go to the library to read a book or buy it at a bookstore just for recreational purpose. Thanks to digital technology, the rise of the Internet, smartphone, tablet and e-reader has shifted the ways we read and purchase books, the approaches to obtain new information, and the forms of entertainment. These changes bring opportunities for book publishing while posing some challenges.
Consumption Modes
Nowadays, books are usually available in various formats. A reader can switch between traditional hardcover copies and environmental-friendly e-books/audiobooks. While everything around us is becoming more and more digital, the print vs digital debate still seems never to end. Some analysts predicted that digital books would overtake print book by 2015, though the apocalypse of publishing hadn’t arrived by 2021. It is indeed that some readers migrated to screen, which boosted e-book sales. From 2008 to 2010, the sales witnessed a 1260% increase. At that moment, the publishers were seized by a considerable panic that the cheaper e-books and audiobooks could cannibalize their business of print books. But why we have to assume, there is only a rivalry between traditional and digital publishing?
That is, the development of digital books actually extends the product lines of the publishing industry. Both paper and digital book have their place in today’s market. Just as the CEO of McGraw-Hill mentioned: maintaining both print infrastructure and digital infrastructure means lower margins, or say a larger readership. It is unnecessary to fight one when both formats are profitable. Instead, the publishers should make some adjustments in strategies and try their best to create more high-quality and original digital books. For e-books, better use of illustrations or charts would be appreciated; and for audiobooks, producing a unique audio experience that differs from the physical book is a trend for the future.
However, digital publishing also has its downside. It is quite easy to share, plagiarize, or download pirated but free content online, making it harder for publishers to maintain copyright. The decreasing circulation figures also indicate a low willingness to pay for both offline and online publications. The reason for this situation is that readers now have numerous free news sources that they no longer depend on just one traditional print publication to collect information. Also, people seemed quite busy these days that they just want to taste a 500-page story in one bite. The classic text editing, which has the most detailed description of things, seems out-of-date in the digital age.
Business Models
So, who are the chief enemies of the publishing industry? I guess you are now having the answers in your mind!
Many distractions compete with book reading for our free time in this digital era. In the past, people might hold a book, magazine or newspaper in hand without scrolling Tiktok in another hand. But when social network sites, streaming services like Hulu, HBO Go and Netflix have been an inescapable part of our lives, it is undoubted that people spent less time with traditional media. Back in 2004, about 28% of Americans over 15-year-old read for pleasure the figure dropped to 19% in 2017. The fewer readers, the smaller profit a publisher can make.
Nevertheless, social media provide new marketing channels for publishers to get their books out there. Utilising the online platforms to share posts and stories can enlarge the publications’ exposure to certain groups of people who are actually interested in the content. Besides, cooperating with book influencers can also increase popularity. Reviews always affect the individual decision-making process. Getting famous book bloggers to post book reviews on their social media will get lots of attention. But if there were some negative reviews, sales of the books would fall on the slide.
Another threat to the publishing industry is the declining advertising revenues. Compared with traditional print advertising, online ones are more flexible and able to adapt to a changing market. Traditional print publishers need to reconstruct their marketing strategies to suit the online market’s demands due to the differences between the two markets. So, some publishers transfer their advertising business to the online market. Unfortunately, Google and Facebook are the domination of the online advertising sector. For the online publishers, it is almost impossible to compete against search engine advertising even though the publishers craved for their slices of the online media market. To address this problem, imprints would need to analyse the data of users and optimize their advertising strategies.
Self-publishing
In the digital era, the Internet is accessible to almost everyone. Without a literature agency, people can also public their works, usually online. One of the most common and well-known platforms for self-publishing is Kindle Direct Publishing. It simply means authors can sell their digital version works on Amazon.com. For the writers who already have a dedicated following, it would be a good idea to utilize the audience source to publish and sell books. In this case, self-publishing may present long-term challenges to book publishers, as they are now losing those potential and probably profitable works.
Self-publishing offers market opportunities for publishers as well. Markets will help the imprints to examine the quality of a book. Publishers can find what kinds of books are the most popular while enhancing the understanding of market trends. This could be a boon for the imprints as the markets had shifted the financial risks, preventing speculative investment. Based on data-driven methods, publishers can easily find the most success metrics. Setting up a new model of partnerships with the self-publishing authors will benefit the traditional book publishing industry.
So, to answer the question of the title, is the publishing industry really dead in the digital age? Despite all the obstacles and challenges that need facing, digitalization is still a precious opportunity for publishers during the second decade of the 21st century. Traditional print books will always be alive and accompany book lovers, and digital books will be helpful to revitalize the publishing industry. In short, publishers should develop innovative strategies that sustainably adapt to the digital world.
