Elizabeth Weiss
I’m not too good at estimating numbers based on a raised-hand count, but MWF’s The State of Digital Publishing session attracted a predominantly publishing-industry crowd. Bob Stein, Victoria Nash and Elizabeth Weiss gathered to discuss the issues currently affecting publishers, booksellers and authors. For those interested in the incarnations that traditional books will take in future, all-day chair Kate Eltham announced the 2010 launch of The Institute of the Future of the Book.
Nash and Weiss bravely set out to summarise topics ranging from digital rights management, ebooks, self-publishing and piracy. Weiss suggested that we are at the tipping point for ebooks becoming an consumer-accepted format for reading material, with the US as the ebook hotbed. However, ebook reader technology is still expensive and not well developed enough for anyone other than early adopters to take them on. Australia in particular has little access to electronic readers, but Weiss predicted that when the Apple Tablet comes out, technology and price will have hit the consumer sweet spot.
Changes foreseen by Nash, who works in marketing at Macmillan, include publishers and authors dealing directly with consumers and subscription models being keen options, particularly for educational and reference publishers. The latter is a particularly exciting and radical concept, with Weiss chiming in that if a large facilitator of electronic reading material such as Google or Amazon were to offer a $20 ‘all-you-can-read’ crime subscription, for example, that it would be a tempting and exciting option for the reading public.
Bob Stein, who was impressed with the depth of inquiry and preparedness he saw regarding the future of the book at the Lonely Planet offices and Trinity College classrooms yesterday. He’s glad that he doesn’t work in a commercial publishing company, as he’s aware that the squeeze of commercial imperatives and the deep nature of the changes to reading and writing cultures must sit very awkwardly together. Weiss’ sentiment that ‘it will be a shock how quickly old forms will stop being as compelling as they have been’ was somewhat of a caution for the trade publishing sector, based on his perception that the reading public – those who purchase and read books – is probably shrinking.
There will be several more opportunities for those interested to learn about in the digital future of the book throughout today’s Digital Publishing Program, which ends with Stein’s Big Ideas: The Future of the Book session at RMIT Capitol Theatre.
Estelle Tang, 3000 BOOKS
Festival Blogger
27 August 2009 at 3:07 pm
Great summary, Elizabeth – on behalf of those of us who can’t be there, thank you!
Two quick comments, I agree that there is limited access here to DEDICATED ebook devices, but it worries me how focused the publishing industry is on the Kindle and Sony Reader. I’m a voracious reader and an absolute ebook lover – I buy and read 3-4 ebooks each week – but I have zero interest in lugging around a dedicated device. Personally, the appeal of ebooks is that I can read them on my smartphone which is always with me (and hence, I am always carrying a selection of reading material). Was there much discussion about the role that mobile phones will play in ebooks?
And secondly, an increasing problem for me as an Australian is that I’m being turned away at the checkout because of territorial rights restrictions. For example, 2 nights ago I had a $60USD ebook transaction declined because 4 of the 5 books in my shopping cart were restricted for sale outside the US and Canada. It worries me enormously that Australian readers, like me, are being denied the right to PURCHASE ebooks! Was there any discussion about territorial rights? Would be great to see some constructive movement within the industry to get more content legitimately available to non Americans with funds flowing to the right people!
27 August 2009 at 3:08 pm
Apologies – Estelle! That should be a thank you to YOU for the summary :)