Mausumi Mukherjee
COIN 51
HTML Project
Fall 2006
In recent years, the publishing industry has seen the emergence of eBooks. Books that were once only printed in tangible format are becoming available electronically. Not only were people able to read books on their computers, but many eBook readers were becoming available that made it possible to view and read books using a PDA or cell phone. In the past, traditional print publishers have always found good reason not to get involved in the eBook market. However, since we live in a society that values convenience, traditional print publishers have come to grips with the fact that eBooks and ePublishing are facets of the industry that the public demands. Here are some numbers for 2005 that the publishing industry reported for eBook sales (1):
| 1,692,964 eBook units sold |
| $11,875,783 in revenues |
| 5,242 eBooks published |
This web page will address new issues that traditional print publishers are dealing with as a result of the emergence of eBooks. Topics to be covered are:
One of the most appealing aspects about entering the eBook market for traditional print publishers is the prospect of cost-cutting. When publishing a hardback or paperback book, there are usually many costs associated with the process. Costs include:
According to InformationWeek (2), analysts are saying:
"Going completely digital would eliminate those costs,
as well as shipping and distribution costs, which
could produce savings of almost 40%".
Another attractive money-saving option for publishers is the print-on-demand option. At the moment, publishers print more copies of books then they actually sell. With eBooks, a publisher can print out a copy of a book only when there is a request for it. This will ensure a 1 to 1 relationship between what is published and what is sold. This will eliminate the problem of printing more than what is necessary and the cost of unsold, returned books.
A very large and important issue that traditional publishers will need to deal with is Digital Rights Management (DRM). Protecting an author's copyright is important to both authors and publishers of eBooks. Publishers will need to put finding ways of avoiding unauthorized distribution of intellectual property as a priority (3). The main purpose of DRM is to ensure that only the people that pay for a particular piece of information have access to it. This can be quite difficult in a time when duplication of electronic content is so common. For example, it took less than 48 hours before pirated copies of Stephen King's eBook, Riding the Bullet, were being distributed (4). Companies such as Adobe and Microsoft are working on technologies that will help aid in the prevention of eBook piracy.
A change that traditional print publishers are currently experiencing in the marketplace is the growing competition with companies that strictly ePublish. With the popularity of the convenience of eBooks, big companies such as Microsoft are already in the works to create convenient software that will ensure that eBooks on people's cell phones and PDA's will be at the optimum readability level. To see an example of an ePublisher, go to booklocker.com.
To see a list of references I used to find information for this web page, click here
A Mausumi Mukherjee Creation
Copyright, 2006
