Business Models in Digital Book Publishing: Some Insights from Australia

This interpretive study of change in Australian book publishing, included a survey of book publishers and the conduct of 14 case studies in five categories of publisher: general trade, academic, professional, specialist and university. This paper reports in detail on the experience on one general trade publisher as it sought to face the challenges of globalization and of organizational and technological change. The major finding was that digitization is indeed, impacting on business models for book publishing, with current models comprising something of a hybrid between the traditional and the innovative. Reflecting the presence in Australia of similar trends and issues that are affecting book publishing around the world, the findings are of relevance both to book publishers and to researchers. The work is original in that relatively little recent academic research has been conducted into book publishing in Australia, particularly as regards the implications of digitization for business models.     

Business Model Sustainability in Book Publishing

In an earlier paper (Tian and Martin in Publ Res Q 27(3):230?C246, 2011) we identified ongoing developments in business models for book publishing consequent upon changes in such areas as those of organizational structure and culture, technology, publishing and the marketplace. However, it was already clear that book publishing, like every other industry would have to face up to the incipient challenges posed by the growing global phenomena of organizational sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Clearly this would require a response of a different order than before, not least in view of the greatly expanded range of potential factors involved. Our treatment of sustainability addresses two main themes: sustainability in the context of global concerns about resource depletion and destruction of the biosphere, and organizational sustainability in the at times adversarial relationship between profit seeking and good corporate citizenship. This paper begins with a look at some of the key terminology around sustainability in order to reinforce its relevance and applicability to the publishing industry. This necessarily limited treatment is confined to four key concepts namely: corporate sustainability, corporate social responsibility, corporate governance and corporate measurement and reporting. We then present some evidence for industry response to the principles and practical challenges of sustainability and relate these to implications for the design of appropriate business models. Finally we model the ongoing process of business model innovation for sustainability in book publishing.     

A Publishing Education Report

Notes about the February 2016 PubWest Conference (Santa Fe, New Mexico) and a panel discussion about the relationship between academic publishing studies programs and publishers. PubWest is a regional publishers’ organization in the U.S., with Canadian members. The 2016 conference—“A Passion for Books”—included keynotes, intensive sessions, and panels on making publishing more profitable. Per Henningsgaard, Portland State University, chaired the panel “What Publishers and Academics Who Study Publishing Can Learn from Each Other.” Co-panelists: Sybil Nolan, University of Melbourne; David Emblidge, Emerson College. Henningsgaard gave an overview of publishing studies programs worldwide, what they teach and how they serve students interested in entering the publishing business. Emblidge presented a publishing studies student project from Emerson College—a book proposal for an illustrated nonfiction trade book. Nolan commented on broader research interests concerning the book business and its history, shared by academics in publishing studies. Similar conferences for publishing industry professionals and publishing studies courses at various universities are noted here, as is a research project aiming to build a comprehensive database for publishing studies teaching and learning materials.     

Self-Publishing: Opportunities and Threats in a New Age of Mass Culture

Developments in vanity presses, electronic publishing and social media have led to outstanding growth in the publishing industry. Eighty percent of people believe they have a book in them and the opportunities provided by new technologies are responding to their needs. This raises important questions: What effect will these developments have on the industry? In this environment, is quality control feasible? How will potential readers find their treasure? Will book publishing remain a cost-effective activity? We will examine the publishing industry looking for the answers to these questions and may just find that things are not as bleak as we initially thought.     

Conditions and Survival: Views on the Concentration of Ownership and Vertical Integration in German and Swedish Publishing

This paper compares publishing in two European countries with fixed respective free book prices: Germany and Sweden, when it comes to the phenomenon vertical integration. Concentration of media ownership is a central issue in today’s global publishing industry and large international media groups are consolidating at a fast pace, taking over more and more links in the value chain of books. One of the foremost examples is Amazon—established in Germany and fast expanding in Europe, but not yet present in Sweden. This paper presents a broad overview of the two markets and interviews with several actors in the German and Swedish book trades are analyzed and compared. Amazon’s impact on the respective book markets as well as strategies for independent publishers are discussed. The question whether concentration of media ownership in the book trade affects publishing and distribution of “quality literature” is also raised.     

Publishing education of China faces the challenge of development

The paper investigates the development of education for the publishing industry in China in the past twenty years, with a focus on the middle and late 1990s. In the introduction, the overall situation of the publishing industry and book sales is presented. The author discusses the current situation of education for publishing, consisting of higher education, mid-level education and professional training. In the sisting of higher education, mid-level education and professional training. In the main body of the paper, he also describes publishing majors in various universities and courses they offer, and analyzes the problems with the courses as well as counter measures from the publishing industry. The concluding part of the paper explores the influence of the World Trade Organization and the application of new technologies on education for publishing.     

Recent Trends and Developments in Publishing in Croatia

Abstract

Croatia considers the book a priority cultural product. Today various forces, both positive and negative, affect publishing in Croatia. A survey of traditional publishing in Croatia based on statistical data collected by the author in the Croatian ISBN Agency over the past 8 years introduces the main topic. The author then reports on the results of a survey of 1,000 publishers, aimed at establishing which medium publishers used for their books between 1993 and the beginning of 1998, the period when book production passed from printed to digital form. The research results show that modern electronic book forms have been gradually developing in Croatia in parallel with traditional publishing. The number of publishers producing books in electronic format is not great. However, the fact that nearly a quarter of the publishers who returned the questionnaire do produce electronic books, shows that Croatian publishers accept new technologies as they appear in countries with a developed publishing industry, onlyin amuch more modest scope. The author mentions electronic books published by as many as forty publishers, and gives a survey of online-bookstores in Croatia. Special attention is paid to book legislation in the country. As a conclusion the author proposes an incentive for electronic publishing.     

Australian Book Market: An Overview

In this article, Andrew Wilkins, the former publisher of bookseller+publisher magazine, provides an annual overview of the Australian book marketplace, offering statistics on the market and analysis of the key publishers, retailers and consumer habits. The second half of the article concentrates on international rights sales, an important aspect of the Australian publishing industry. This article was originally published in 2007 as part of the annual Think Australian magazine, which aims to support Australian publishers and literary agents at the Frankfurt Book Fair (see ).     

Electronic Books: How Digital Devices and Supplementary New Technologies are Changing the Face of the Publishing Industry

This paper explores the topic of electronic books (e-books) and the effect that these digital devices and other new technologies has on the publishing industry. Contemporary society often claims that the publishing industry is dying and that the innovation of the e-book will eventually sentence the printed book to death. But this study will show that such is not the case. While it is true that the world is undergoing a digital revolution, publishers today have not been left in the dust, because these firms have embraced electronic publishing (e-publishing). The invention of e-books opens a world of opportunities and since the e-book market is still in its growth stage, there is much work left to be done. As with any new venture, the industry faces certain challenges, such as piracy, but with tools like encryption, digital asset management (DAM), digital rights management (DRM), and digital object identifiers (DOI), publishers are well on the way to a solution. While it is safe to say that the digital revolution has forever changed the face of publishing, e-books could actually revitalize the industry. No one knows what the future of e-publishing will hold, but developments affect publishing houses, authors, and consumers alike. And while the ultimate fate of the printed book is yet unknown, for now, it is here to stay.     

The Future of Book Publishing: Seven Technology Trends and Three Industry Goals

The Publishing Industry, as many other ones, is facing all the risks and opportunities linked to a digital transformation. This text provides new dimensions for analyzing seven technological trends and their potential impacts on the book publishing industry. The key consideration is that book publishing is totally dependent on Open Web Platform future. In such an agile environment, the publishing industry should focus on three key objectives in order to keep or even extend its influence on the internet world.     

The Integration of Technology and the Publishing Industry in China

With the continuous progress of technology, the publishing industry is in the important period of accelerating transformation and upgrading, integration of traditional media and developing new media. We have to face that the traditional book market has been strongly impacted by the e-commerce, on the other hand also respond to the new technology to bring the needs of the reader changes to the publishing process. Opportunities and challenges coexist. In this tide, Winshare based on years of traditional publishing and book distribution, is rapidly advancing and upgrading the digital publishing transformation. This article will focus on the four aspects of the integration of technology and publishing industry development, from the market environment, new technologies to promote industry changes, to meet the new needs of consumption, and the changing Winshare practice.     

Student participation in a DEI audit as High-Impact Practice

During Spring 2021, eight students at the University of the Pacific participated in an internship where they performed a DEI audit of the library's book and music score collection. An internship is one documented type of High-Impact Practices and research studies show that High-Impact Practices lead to higher retention and graduation rates. Deep learning occurred as student interns participated in developing the methodology, evaluating book and music score collections, reading assigned articles pertaining to DEI in librarianship and publishing, and providing recommendations on closing identified collection gaps. To evaluate their learning, the interns were asked to complete three surveys at the beginning, middle, and end of the project. These surveys were evaluated by a mixed methods research approach to incorporate qualitative and quantitative data in assessing the student interns' understanding of library collections, the publishing industry, and academic DEI issues. This study contributes to the literature on High-Impact Practices in academic libraries by describing a unique and valuable way to involve students in diversifying the library collection.     

数字时代出版产学研协作模式中的共性问题与对策分析

数字时代背景下出版产学研协作,关系到出版教育的人才培养、出版行业新技术研发与应用、出版信息与资源共享,也是加快推动我国向新闻出版强国迈进迫切需要解决的重大问题。本文通过剖析出版产学研协作的动因、主要模式,揭示产学研协作存在的共性问题,并简要提出对策。     

Green Publishing in Germany: A Passing Trend or a True Transition?

Greening the German book industry is a large-scale task. This article, based in part on the results of a one-day conference titled “Bio im Bücherregal?” (Engl. translation: “Eco-friendly products on the bookshelf?”) that was held in Mainz in January 2013, considers different perspectives on green publishing in Germany and presents the status quo as well as an outlook. After a brief historical and theoretical overview on the media and the environmental movement, the article presents current developments such as the initiative “Nachhaltig Publizieren” (“Green Publishing”). Initiated in 2011 by the publisher Oekom, the project has become a catalyst for the green publishing movement in Germany. In addition, this contribution introduces publishers and imprints, in particular of children’s books, that strive to fulfill the highest possible criteria for green publishing in certain project areas. Finally, the close connection between green publishing and green content is discussed.     

明代图书出版体系探析

明代作为我国历史上文化高度发达的时代,其重要标志之一即图书出版业呈现出相当繁荣的图景。文章从图书出版主体、图书发行渠道、用于出版的图书类型、图书价格、图书发行宣传、图书出版管理等诸方面,论述了明代的图书出版体系,力图为今天的图书出版业提供一些可借鉴的思路。     

Children’s Book Publishing in India

Very, very little is known about the children’s book publishing industry of India. This paper looks at book production aimed at a predominantly young readership base and attempts to identify the success areas and the gaps. The absence of statistics within the industry is particularly telling: it indicates the existence of a non-traditional book business and also points to alarming levels of piracy. At the same time, the growth of the traditional publishing industry has been seen as spectacular and unlikely, and growth patterns are proving to be unpredictable. This paper attempts to map trends with the limited resources available. The scope of the study, given the geographical and demographic nature of India, is broad. The focus is on both quantitative and qualitative aspects of the industry.     

延安出版业(1936—1947)研究评述

从六个方面,即出版史的总体观照、发行史的专题开掘、报刊史的点面结合、图书业的散点透视、出版机构和人物的双重变奏、出版史料的搜集整理,全面梳理和总结近三十年来有关延安出版业(1936—1947)的研究成果。     

我国图书出版市场的外部性及其矫正途径

自20世纪90年代以来,市场这只“看不见的手”在激发我国图书出版业巨大活力的同时,也导致了我国图书出版市场的外部性现象,使得我国有限的图书出版资源的配置效率较低,影响着我国图书出版业的持续健康发展。本文拟从经济学角度对这一现象进行深刻的剖析,揭示其对我国图书出版业发展的负面效应,并提出相应的矫正思路。     

Romance and Innovation in Twenty-First Century Publishing

The twenty-first century has been decidedly unkind to most sectors of the book publishing industry, yet romantic fiction is somehow more popular and profitable than ever before. What could account for this critically marginalised category’s consummate commercial success in the digital era? This paper makes the argument that contrary to the stereotype of romantic fiction as conventional and change resistant, contemporary romance publishers have proven themselves to be consistently forward thinking and progressive, utilising industry innovations in content, technology, branding and business practice to cement their genre’s status as an exemplary model for twenty-first century book publishing.     

基于三方博弈的图书盗版问题分析

盗版一直是制约我国出版业发展的瓶颈,图书盗版贯穿于出版产业链的各个环节,盗版者、出版社和作者三个利益主体之间在图书市场竞合,形成典型的三方博弈。政府的介入改变原有均衡,且政府在打击盗版力度上的差异会达到三种不同的均衡状态。只有当政府打击盗版的力度足够大时,图书盗版三方博弈才能达到最佳均衡。