A presentation first given to Pira (Print Industry Research Association) in Geneva and then to Clays, the UK's largest printer of trade books.

1. Are ebooks the future?
And what about the present?
Clays 08.11.2010

2. WELL....FIRST, THE PAST

3. • Ebooks have been around since the late
nineties – first time round they failed
• In 2007 things started picking up again
• Publishers began assembling their digital
teams, it no longer seemed mad that
someone might buy an ebook
• We started to think of digital publishing as
something beyond just books

4. Jeff Gomez (ironically) published this book.
Made the case that the market had finally
changed. This was it.

5. A small company called Sony decided to launch
an e-ink device and ebook store in the US,
supplied exclusively through Borders….

6. The Web 2.0 boom was in full flow
Investment piled in ($455.5 million into web
2.0 start ups in Q1-3 2006 alone) and the
poster boys- Youtube, Facebook, Flickr etc,
went from success to success
Suddenly the web was the future. Again.

7. But not that much really
changed.
Until....

8. 2010
(the year of the ebook)

9. What’s happened? This:

10. And this...

11. And this...

12. Not to mention these:

13. BUT WHAT DO WE MEAN BY AN
EBOOK ANYWAY?

14. • The main format is the .epub, an open
standard that is formed from XML
• Mobipocket (.prc) is another main standard –
Amazon converts files
• Books are also apps for mobile platforms
(usually Apple, but Android is also making
waves)
• Or even other formats (CDs, games, PDFs,
websites etc)

15. What does that mean for
publishers? And
printers?

16. Content is changing
• The model of DVDs is coming in to play- many
publishers looking at adding value
• Bundling and chunking mean that text will not
be tied to the length and format of a book
• Multimedia elements will start to come into
play
• There will be new interactions between print
and digital- like O’Reilly

17. Producers are changing
• Opens up new long tail, crowd sourced and
networked opportunities for content creation
• Publishers have to redefine their intermediary
role
• Retailer consolidation with the big players on
one side
• Grass roots distribution on the other

18. Marketing is changing
• From broadcast to conversation
• Viral possibilities opens up a new frontier
• Social media tools are free
• But are “owned” by their users
• Allows consumers to kick back as well as
appreciate

20. Readers are changing
• Want frictionless delivery
• Do not like industry measures like DRM
software
• Are increasingly expecting things for free
• Are talking to each other online
• Expect digital to be cheap and easy

21. New challenges:
copyright, pricing and retailer lock in.

22. The good news:
Books are going
nowhere fast.

23. We still need
the old
supply chain.

24. Copyright
darwin2009
This

25. Not
this

26. But with some of these on the way...

27. WHAT CAN BE DONE?

28. 1. Think like a publisher. Many of them
are panicking. How can you help?

29. 2. Ebooks create a market for new
kinds of print product. What will
they be?

30. 3. Digital has a supply chain, and it’s just as
difficult as the physical one. Where can you fit
in?

31. This is how the world
looks now

33. Michael Bhaskar
Digital Publishing Manager
Profile Books / Serpent’s Tail
michael@profilebooks.com
twitter: @ajaxlogos