Clueless book publishers miss huge opportunity

Hit the nail on the head

You said it best with, "The book isn't the paper, it's the content." Just because paper has been around for centuries doesn't mean it will forever be the best method of delivering traditionally printed works. If you don't give the end user's what they want, someone else will. Learn from the music industry. The argument that it is better to have a physical copy of something makes a large assumption about the customer. We are trending towards a more all-in-one minimalistic society. If I have one thing that can do everything, I'm sold. Also, there aren't many people still buying CDs these days. Maybe hoarders.

Value on both sides

I think important points are missing on both sides of this debate.

First, publishers have made quite a number of new and bestselling books -- plus lots of niche titles -- available for the iPhone, through eReader.com, which has offered software for mobile phones for years now. Their selection doesn't quite match Amazon's paper book offerings but it's at least as good as Kindle.

The paper book vs. digital book issue in the comparison to the digital music model is really more akin to the analog or vinyl vs. digital debate. Afficianados of vinyl will cling to that medium just as bibliophiles will never give up their tactile experience of the written word. But that hasn't stopped the average person from choosing to go digital with their music.

eBooks have some advantages that appeal to people who love to read. They can be annotated and read repeatedly in perpetuity without sustaining damage from use, abuse (pets and kids anyone?), disaster (fire may eat a paper library but a digital book can be downloaded to a new device at any time) or restrictions on physical storage room. You can take a two-week vacation's worth of reading with you on your phone, no extra packing required and no booklessness when you finish a book quickly. They can be downloaded over the air (eReader or Kindle) to grab a sequel or new discovery at a moment's notice. Having one (or more) on your phone is even more convenient than toting a paperback. And they can make reading easier or workable for people with accessibility issues through text-to-voice and automatic scrolling. Plus, for whatever reason, I get fewer interruptions when I read eBooks (YMMV).

I've found eBooks so much more convenient that I've brought my reading numbers back up to my voracious pre-kid level, after years of only one or two a year.

Still, I hold a deep sentimental attachment to all my paper books (I have a dedicated library room), and I choose paper books for family reading. For cookbooks and photo books, too. And there's always a special book out there that has such a level of tactile value (like that special edition of J.K. Rowling's Beedle tale) that it has no digital equivalent. Such tomes have real value and likely always will.

But I've already found great value in eBooks, even without a perfect replication of the paper book experience. It's likely more and more people will come to use eBooks for everyday reading, especially as the technology improves and becomes more ubiquitous, like with the iPhone. No question, though, that publishers have often dragged their feet on this. I still regularly have problems finding some books I'd like to have as eBooks. But less and less often. And someday I think that won't be an issue.

Beautiful books and the book reading experience will always have value. And the benefits of eBooks have their own value, too.

Mike, I think the joke is on

Mike, I think the joke is on the public. If you purchase a physical book, it's yours. After reading it you can give it to a friend, or give it to Goodwill, or sell it at a garage sale, or just keep it on your bookshelf.

If you purchase a virtual book, after you've read it you can't do any of those things.

Want to check a book out at the library? Don't count on that ability if it's a virtual book.

Most of the cost of a book is not the paper and printing, it's the IP...and that's no less expensive in a virtual book.

You think the publishers "don't get it"...I think they get it completely.

the publishing industry is

the publishing industry is where the music industry was 6 years ago, what do you expect from people printing on dead trees.

Clueless book publishers miss huge opportunity

The points you raise are true. At the London Book Fair last April my small publishing company (Caffeine Nights Publishing)met mobile content publishers, Blackbetty. We entered into discussions and I signed a deal to have my titles published as mobile content. These titles are due to be published in 2009. As far as I am aware my company is the first publisher to go down this route in the UK. This is staggering. I also agree with comments that many traditional publishers are unsure of the market and many more are looking in the wrong area by investigating the Kindle and Sony's eReader among other electronic routes to market. Though I do believe ereaders have their place and also see that as a route to a new market.

With the popularity of the iPhone, Blackberry storm and other phones with excellent displays I beleive that if properly packaged, presented and marketed readers will add mobile phone publishing to the way they consume content. It is a natural extension and will not require further expensive outlay on new and let's face it rather primative looking hardware that is one dimensional. I have embraced mobile phone publishing and cannot wait to see my books marketed for this area.

Horses. Courses

The truth of this debate is that different people will want their content provided in many different ways.

I get my newspaper content online Monday to Friday as I'm at work anyway. At the weekend I like to sit down with the actual paper whilst I eat breakfast and swap sections with my girlfriend.

I like novels in paper form. I can read them anywhere, pass them to friends and furnish a room with them if I wish. I can also give them to charity to resell.

I wouldn't mind academic texts on eBook, as long as I could annotate, cross-reference, update and wiki content. So far the eReaders can't do this. They basically mimic a book, but with worse environmental impact (metal, plastics, electricity etc) higher outlay and less user friendliness.

Art books and gift books I'd rather have in physical form. When an eReader can show me Robert Sabuda's 12 Days of Christmas with holographic pop-ups, or reproduce the work of Goya in all its glory, I may change my mind.

Til then I absolutely guarantee that I won't want to read books on my mobile phone. Ever.

Cheers!
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Bookseller.

Innovative free book concept

Traditional book publishers are tied up in the old revenue streams and contracts, but there are new and innovative publishers out there. For example www.bookboon.com, who has grown from nothing to 2 million downloaded books in 3 years. Their ebooks are in PDF which I can download and print very easily. they specialize in books for university students, which are made free by advertisements from companies who wants to employ the students. I think it's cool and I've used many of the books in my studies. The great thing about the books them selves besides the obvious (free), is that they recap fx macro economics in like 120 pages instead of my text book which is like 900 pages.

ebooks suck

People who love books will NEVER move on to eBooks. ebooks have their advantages, but the feeling of holding a book, and turning pages, and the smell... you cant replicate those!

and what happened for music industry - there is no comparison here.

-Joe
http://sunnysiteup.blogspot.com/

Not sold on this argument

I have no doubt that eventually they will be able to produce some sort of book reader that is easy to read without hurting your eyes, but for now a computer screen doesn't cut it, and while I have yet to use the Kindle, I think it is a few years before it picks up enough steam to really start denting the physical book medium. I'm an absolute techno geek, I have an iPhone and a laptop that I can never get off of. I download most of my television content for later viewing or I use my PVR. However, I still prefer a real book when it comes to my reading.

Obviously the traditional media companies have been a little slow to accept what's happening, but I think that they have accepted it finally. I've done my fair share of bashing of these guys, but I'd say they're going to start embracing technology a lot more now, if not they'll be replaced by people who do anyway.