"Worldwide information production has increased by 30 percent each year between 1999 and 2002." ~ Peter Lyman and Hal Varian
Publishing involves six major functions:
Although we often associate publishing with particular formats as in book publishing, map or periodical publishing, increasingly publishing is not tied to a particular format or a particular physical container. Publishing is becoming a media neutral activity. The product of publishing is the intellectual content and not the container. Thus, the same intellectual content might appear in a variety of containers. For example, the intellectual content might appear in a hard cover book, a soft cover book, an audio book, an ebook, or as a digital file on a server. While this course continues to focus on the hard and soft cover book, publishing is gradually moving away from that. More and more publishers now see themselves as content providers.
Content provider is much related to the notion of synergy, the notion that intellectual content can be recycled and appear in a variety of containers. For example, Time-Warner-AOL could use the same intellectual content for book publishing, films, cable TV, periodicals, and Internet sites, among other possibilities. With manuscripts created as digital files, it is much easier than before to transform content from one format to another.
We are familiar with the broadcasting model where the same intellectual content is delivered to many people at the same time. Cable TV created an opportunity for narrow casting or delivering the same intellectual content to smaller, targeted audiences at the same time. The VCR and now digital recorders allow viewers to watch a show at a time of their own choice and skip content that does not interest. The Internet, especially the World Wide Web (WWW), allows intellectual content to be broadcast to large and small groups via discussion lists, blogs, and news groups. It also allows publishers to reach very small and specialized audiences throughout the world and deliver digital intellectual content quickly and often economically. Like the broadcaster, the publisher can now engage in prompt delivery of intellectual content to a scattered audience. With the Internet, the publisher may also participate in two-way communication and develop relationships with those who are interested and purchase books.
Many of those involved in the information or entertainment business, believe that content is the essential ingredient in success. Book publishers have ample supplies of content, both informational and recreational. This means that the book publisher could well be the cornerstone of success in the information/entertainment industry.
Identified roles are important in viability. Railroads in the U.S. almost went bottom up before they realized that they were in the transportation business and not the railroad business. In fact, this remains a problem for them today. If book publishers define themselves as in the book business, they may miss opportunities and perish. If book publishers define themselves as in the content, the information or entertainment business, they may lose their character and attempt to compete in an unfamiliar and perhaps inappropriate arena. What does it mean for a publisher to drop the "b" word and even the "p" word to become a content provider?
Content does not just happen. Content requires creators. Content may be created by individuals for their own purposes or it may be developed in-house as part of a product research and development operation. Traditionally, publishers have had little to do with creation and hoped that those who created products, wrote good manuscripts, would contact them. Today, there is more interest in developing content or at least content specifications in-house. Acquiring good, that is good quality and excellent sales potential, content is the primary responsibility of the publisher.
Those who create intellectual content may begin with what they want to see or they may begin with what they believe that customers want or need. Often, there is little connection between what is created and what customers will buy. That is why in-house content development is more rational and business-like.
In the past, a manuscript was often seen as a whole. While there might be some subsidiary rights potential for excerpts in a newspaper or magazine, those possibilities were usually limited. With a digital manuscript, it is relatively easy to consider the work a database. That means that the publisher could sell as a separate item a chapter, section, an illustration, a page, or even a paragraph. Pages from different works could be combined into a collection to meet a particular user need.
The traditional model for book publishing is to print a relatively large number of copies and hope that they would sell. When warehouse stock was gone, that book became OP or out of print. If there were enough orders, the book might be reprinted but it would take some time. Today, with digital manuscripts and quick copy printing technology, it is possible to print single copies of a work quickly and economically. There is no need for the publisher to carry a substantial inventory or for a book to ever go out of print.
The medium is how the content is stored and displayed. The traditional medium for the book has been the paper codex. However, the audio book has certainly gained popularity and the ebook may become popular soon. While the paper codex book medium seems to have been around forever, it replaced the parchment codex which replaced the papyrus roll. New media appear and older media often continue to be popular with some audiences.
When a new medium, such as the ebook appears, it usually goes through these stages:
F. Caldwell adds three important sub-stages to the introductory and market reaction phases. The first is the "technology trigger" when new hardware/software bursts on the scene and begins to receive attention. The second is the "peak of inflated expectations" when a variety of unrealistic claims and predictions are made for the new medium. The third is the "trough of disillusionment" when the claims and predictions fall by the wayside.
Publishers would usually have little or no role in the introduction of a new medium. However, there may be an opportunity to create a market and dominate it. Microsoft and its Encarta encyclopedia are often used as an example. MS was one of the first to issue an inexpensive digital multi-media encyclopedia and it dominated the market before the traditional encyclopedia publishers reacted. Even today, Encarta has dominant market share.
The second phase, market reaction, usually takes some time. Often, a "killer application" needs to be developed before the market for the new medium really takes off. There is a difficult tension between product and hardware, if that is required. The ebook is a good example. Most people will not buy the hardware until there is considerable content available. Content providers often provide minimal content until there is a relatively large number of consumers with playback equipment. During this stage, some publishers will issue trial products. Others will sell subsidiary rights for the new medium to others. For example, in the beginning, audio book rights were sold and audio books were produced by others. When the medium became popular, publishers began to issue works in the format and rights were no longer sold.
The third phase, market growth, is when publishers begin to issue a variety of works in the new medium on a continuing, regular basis. Often, this is when the publisher discovers that the best use of the new medium may be different than expected and different from earlier media. Caldwell calls this stege the "slope of enlightement" which may then become the "plateau of productivity" associated with the next stage.
Maturity is the phase when publishers are likely to develop and issue a reasonably large number of products in-house or from a wholly owned subsidiary. The new medium is now accepted and common place although there will always be some late adopters.
Decline is often gradual and is rarely total. Even vinyl phonorecords have a following and are still being issued. Generally, the new medium steals some consumers from the older media but the older media continues to thrive. Television certainly did not destroy the market for paper codex books nor did it destroy the market for radio.
Each medium has its own strengths and weaknesses. Here is a short list of attributes often used to evaluate a new medium:
Increasingly, content will appear in multiple forms. Ken Burns' Civil War epic is a good example. It appeared in broadcast TV, a print book, video and audio tape formats as well as a music CD. Media co-exist and reach different audiences at different times.
Content may be delivered by a variety of means. One delivery model is inventory based. There is a list of tangible, stand alone products with durable content. Items are delivered upon request. The periodical model features a regular distribution cycle. Time sensitive material, often accompanied by advertising, is distributed on a regular schedule. Some book subscription programs and book clubs use this model.
Last major revision: August 2007.
