Book Publishers Continue To Fall For E-Readers

Are book publishers finally seeing the potential in e-readers? News that Random House have launched their own reading app suggests they might be. The app, which can be downloaded to an iPhone or iPod Touch, allows the user to customise the size and colour of the text, the font, the look and feel of the electronic page. In short, the app aims to make e-reading an easier, more enjoyable experience, while also imitating the real thing – allowing readers to ‘turn’ the page and even to write notes.

But what makes this app really interesting is the option to download several titles from Random House’s recently launched ‘Book and Beyond’ project, a select group of titles which carry ‘rich media content’ – videos, games, quizzes, photos, author interviews, interactive graphics and the option to read or listen to the text at the start of each chapter. Readers who download Lee Child’s thriller Nothing to Lose, for example, will be able to watch an animated graphic novel featuring the book’s protagonist.

Director of Random House Group Digital Fionnuala Duggan explains the publisher’s motivation: “The development of the ebook presents a tremendous opportunity for us to create new reading experiences. We are experimenting with ways to create new interactive content which will not only appeal to traditional book lovers, but will also reach out to a brand new readership.”

The fact that this additional content might be able to attract a whole new breed of reader is exciting stuff for the publishing industry – assuming that a workable solution is eventually found to the already very problematic issue of digital rights, it could be a massive boost for business. Crucially, the use of rich media has the potential to attract people who may have previously dismissed reading as boring.

This weekend, the director of the 2009 Book Expo America Lance Fensterman argued that publishers are no longer “just printers of books”, but content providers. Admitting that the any excitement currently surrounding the book industry is down to “anything digital”, he pointed out that digital publishing is actually an opportunity for publishers to cut costs: “Electronic support presents an opportunity to deliver your content in a much cheaper fashion. You don’t need to print something, you don’t need to ship it, you don’t have to worry about refurnishing, or restocking or returns.”

Publishers such as Random House envision the new breed of digital reader existing alongside the traditional book lover, but with the likes of Oprah, Jennifer Aniston and Cameron Diaz fuelling the ebook love, it looks inevitable that sales will continue to increase, and publishers – benefitting from reduced costs – will increasingly focus on the digital.

If America’s Expo is anything to go by, however, publishers are still determined to make the traditional book work – even if they don’t know how yet. “There will always be people to consume content in a printed book form,” said Fensterman. “The question is what percentage of the population would that be? Would it be three per cent or 75 per cent? We don’t know, but we have to offer an option as an industry.”

Posted by Ruth Stokes in Creative Economy | June 2, 2009 11:48AM |