Here are two businesses that will probably do quite well during recession: ebooks and print-on-demand book publishers. There is such huge waste in the traditional publishing industry, which gives authors such a raw deal. Why should the writer of a book get only 10 percent of the revenue? Why should students pay thousands of dollars a semester to lug around heavy textbooks when they could download these texts onto their laptops for a fraction of the hard-bound cost? Mike Egan in Computer World has the scoop on the "six trends that are conspiring to drive electronic books into the mainstream."
The move toward ebooks could also help forlorn newspaper companies develop new revenue streams, if they think of themselves as in the information business rather than in the dead tree /pulped wood business. Their archives are rich sources of local and community history that could be shaped into interesting e-books for people looking for in-depth information on specific topics.
I predicted this trend several years ago. Now it may actually come true.
Previous:
- Are Books, Newspapers, Encyclopedias and Magazines Produced from Pulped Wood Facing Demise?
- Open Source Revolution
- How to Get Published: Video About Lulu.com and Publishing on Demand
- My Blook, Teacher of Our Town, Is Now Available
- New Author's Nightmare
- What To Do With All My Books?
- Only About Half of Americans Read Any Books At All; And What Do Those Who Do Read Choose?
- Attention Deficit Reading
- Web-based Book Publishing on Demand: Up and Coming Trend
- Unsold Books (Returns) Represent $801 Million Annual Loss to Book Industry
Buie on Publishing
