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.     

Impacting Forces on eBook Business Models Development

As eBook and related technologies continue their relentless advance, book publishers face a veritable digital siege. Nevertheless, technology remains an enabler, a set of tools and facilitators, albeit linked to the potential for new entrants to the market and indeed, disintermediation. However, the fundamentals are to do with markets, organizational strategies and structures, and with finding answers to hard commercial questions about cost and profit, infrastructure management and sustainability all as reflected in appropriate business models. Underlying these is a range of internal and external forces, not all of which are negative in their effects, as witness signs of improvement in an eBook market faced with greatly reduced planning horizons and the need for dynamic product and marketing mixes. This paper addresses a range of responses by book publishers to such challenges and concludes by reviewing the resulting several business models currently in place for eBook publishing.     

公益公司：实现出版企业文化属性的2.0版本

出版业作为文化产业,兼有意识形态属性与产业属性。作为出版企业实现文化属性1.0版本的公司社会责任,在我国呈现虚化之现实。美国的公益公司制度为盈利性企业实现公益目标确立了法律标识和法律框架,对于以社会效益为首位的出版企业尤其具有借鉴意义。我国应当对其进行改造式引进。以公益目的为首要目的的公益公司是对公司社会责任的实质性超越,是实现出版企业文化属性的2.0版本。     

The business of library acquisitions: A consumer action model

Librarians'concerns for ethics, management, standards, and evaluation of service performance reflect a concern for the business operations of a library. While libraries serve social, educational, and cultural needs in society, they are also non-profit business organizations. It is, therefore, necessary that a library be managed as a professional business. We are large bureaucracies and major consumers, but we find ourselves striving for recognition as professional organizations by the public and the book industry.In Acquisitions, as conscientious consumers of the publishing industry, we have a responsibility to evaluate the trade standards of the products we purchase and the performance of the service for which we have contracted. This paper presents a model of trade standard guidelines for a specialized area of the publishing industry and advocates a broader application towards trade standards for the entire publishing industry.     

Digital Technologies for Book Publishing

This paper is based on an Australian government-funded research project looking at the implications of digitization for the book publishing industry, which was originally completed in 2008 and later extended to cover up to the present day. Although Australian-based the project and subsequent research has wider implications for application elsewhere. The paper initially provides a snapshot of Australian book publishing in a global context, and then summarizes our findings on the current and potential future impact of digital technologies. The original research employed an interpretive research paradigm, using a mixed methodology design, including an online survey of book publishers and the conduct of 14 case studies. The extension of the original research project led to its being given a more global dimension. In reporting this new research, the paper discusses in detail the diverse range of technologies, their limitations and the risks and opportunities they offer to the book publishing industry. This includes insights into the business as well as technical issues confronting the industry.     

阿歇特出版集团全球化发展战略

文章研究阿歇特出版集团的全球化发展战略及对我国出版集团实施“走出去”发展战略的启示。通过分析阿歇特出版集团在实施全球化发展战略中坚持多样性、独立性、责任感的特色,构建出版业务全球化、出版平台全球化、出版内容全球化的发展战略,论述我国出版集团在实施“走出去”发展战略时,可从中获得启示和借鉴:坚守阵地,立足本土发展,勇于创新;发挥自身优势,构建优势出版物矩阵;构建发行网络,实现资本优势;吸纳国际人才,承担社会责任,实现可持续发展。     

The Nonprofit Business Model: Empirical Evidence From the Magazine Industry

This article seeks to shed some light on the nonprofit business model by considering empirical data from one area of the media industry where nonprofits make up a sizable segment: periodical publishing. The primary context for this study is the body of economic research into the effects of organizational structure on firm behavior, which is used to propose hypotheses about nonprofit periodicals. The results highlight management challenges that nonprofits face.     

国外开放存取期刊的盈利模式探析

开放存取出版已成为期刊出版的重要趋势,而在其发展过程中保持资金链条的畅通,对期刊的可持续发展至关重要。在考察国外典型的开放存取实践的基础之上,介绍国外开放存取期刊的各种盈利模式,总结这些模式的经验及其对国内OA期刊的启示。     

Challenges Facing the UK Book Industry

This abstract examines the challenges facing the UK publishing industry, as well as the opportunities brought by the advent of digital. The article makes reference to key facts and statistics which illustrate the value of the market, and the publishing market is discussed in terms of its categories: consumer publishing, academic and STM publishing, and children’s publishing. The importance of copyright to the business and the developing role of the publisher are examined, as are industry initiatives taking place in the UK to help raise awareness of the diminishing bricks and mortar retail sector. The work performed by publishers and authors participating in initiatives tackling illiteracy and encouraging reading for pleasure as an activity is discussed.     

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.     

Sustainability in open access publishing: The ecancer case study

• Innovative business models to complement or replace traditional models of funding academic publishing are currently proliferating.
• Not relying solely on one source of funding is a key factor in sustainability.
• Pay what you can afford (PWYCA) is a new model for article processing charges (APCs) providing both a revenue stream and an opportunity to raise awareness of the cost of publishing amongst authors.
• Treating a journal as part of an overall enterprise rather than as a stand‐alone business contributes significantly to its sustainability.

     

German Book Publishers’ Barriers to Disruptive Innovations: The Case of E-Book Adoption

To succeed in a period of change, German book publishers need to adopt innovations, e.g., implement e-books into their product portfolio. Yet, in the book industry, the adoption of new technologies is not commonplace: Despite being the second biggest book market worldwide, only 1.2 % of all published books in Germany are available as e-books. This problem leads us to investigate the factors that determine whether publishing companies decide in favor or against entering the e-book market. Based on a standardized survey of more than 240 German publishing houses, barriers to innovation adoption are examined from a micro, meso and macro perspective. Our main findings show that individual characteristics of management and the company’s corporate culture strongly predict adoption. Also, organizational communication seems to be critical. Taking this into account, the key resource to enable innovation seems to be information underlining the necessity of communities of practice.     

英国五所高校电子教材出版项目运作及启示

文章以JISC资助的英国五所高校电子教材出版项目为研究对象,重点从出版项目的商业模式与可持续性、出版阶段、技术运用、评估工具四个方面对电子教材出版项目的运作进行比较与分析,由此得出对我国高校开展电子教材出版的启示:确立开展电子教材出版的战略目标、创立适合本机构的独特有效的商业模式、建立能有效开展电子教材出版的团队、重视新技术的利用与出版的灵活性。     

论出版产业链的延伸与新业态的形成机理——基于投入产出方法的分析

出版业正处于传统出版与数字出版相互结合、相互交叉和相互促进的转型期,出版业技术层面的变化导致出版业在内涵、外延、组织形式、出版流程、盈利模式等层面发生了深刻的变革,传统出版业正面临前所未有的挑战和机遇.本文依据投入产出表,从上下游产业间需求与供给关系的角度研究我国出版业产业链的延伸以及新业态的形成机理,认为出版业向下游制造业延伸既有利于提高我国制造业的竞争力,也能扩大出版业需求,促进出版业发展;而建立与载体和渠道相一致的商业模式,是促进新业态形成的关键.     

A Different Way to Get to a Better Bottom Line in Publishing

Considerable changes are taking place in the publishing industry, and to survive publishers cannot sit back and wait for the changes to take effect. With e-books supposedly pulling ahead in the publisher’s race, the publishing industry must revise its business models to adjust to new demands. While e-books are attractive, print is still the major revenue engine within the world of publishing, and digital print is the future. Considering the entirety of the supply chain, it can be seen that digital book printing books saves money, supports more titles and increases efficiency. There is a different way to get a better bottom line, and publishers must consider the whole value chain, not just the unit price.     

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.     

Electronic publishing: trends and responsive strategies

Corporate publishing organizations face a major practical task in deploying electronic publishing systems (EPS), with little strategic guidance. In response, this discussion focuses on large-scale trends at work in electronic publishing, their impact in a corporate environment, and strategies to address those trends. Specifically, the discussion begins by defining electronic publishing; continues with trends affecting document workflow, components of a situation analysis, and three potential organizational responses to the situation; and ends with a responsive strategy to compete for business in five dimensions: cost, convenience, timeliness, quality, and capability. Jay E. Gillette has worked as a senior technical planner at Bellcore since 1987. Previously he was a consultant in documentation and technical planning and served on the technical communication and humanities faculty of the Colorado School of Mines. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.     

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。     

Copyright,E-books and the Unpredictable Future

The shift to e-books and digital publishing is challenging the basic models of copyright and contracts that underlie the functioning of book publishing—a mature business with 500 years of history—making it hard to predict what shape the business will take in the years to come. This article looks at two of those challenges: first, the tension between a fast-changing technological marketplace and the standard book contract that locks in book rights for life of copyright; and second, the specific complications presented by image rights. There are, however, first steps being taken to allow books to make the transition to the digital marketplace with all their rights information intact and easily accessible, facilitating future transactions between agents, publishers, and new trading partners. The final section looks at the work begun by the Book Industry Study Group to create a standardized rights framework for this purpose.