Impact of Technology on Books

Technology has brought about a number of disruptions in the way various products are manufactured, distributed and consumed, book is no exception to this. Technology has transformed the way books were published, marketed, circulated and read. The discussion here will focus on how technology has changed and continues to change the book publishing landscape through several distinct trends.

Trend #1: Digital books continue to gain acceptance

Digital formats (e-books, pdf files, kindle versions etc.) have helped the reader to carry a library of her choice while she is travelling. Some of the digital books provide additional benefits of tracking reading speed, bookmark options, deciding font sizes, provision to highlight or comment etc. And since the digital books cut down the additional expenses incurred on printing, demand forecasting, stock keeping, distribution, book shop related expenses; the consumer many times gets digital books at a much lower cost. This low cost combined with ease of reading and carrying has acted as growth driver for the digital books. And this is obvious that the digital books market has grown at the expense of printed versions.

Trend #2: Self-publishing is emerging as an alternative to established publishers

Traditionally, the publishers and authors were separate entities, while the author used to focus only on writing while editing, proof-reading, marketing, distribution etc. were the job of the publishers. However, in the recent times many authors prefer to self-publish their books. They hire editors, proof readers, marketing agencies etc. to get the publisher’s work done. Though the self-publishing space is still at a very nascent stage, it is evolving at a very rapid pace. It is expected that as self-publishing progresses on its path to maturity, some of the hurdles associated with it will vanish.

Trend #3: Technology has armed publishers with the option of print-on-demand

Gone those days when a publisher had to ready to accept unsold copies from retail shops. Evolution of printing technology has helped publishers to first wait for demand and then print in a very short notice period and small order quantities. This has helped publishers to tackle issues with unpredictable demand associated with new authors and/or new publishers.

Trend #4: Number of physical book stores are reducing

Newspapers across developed and developing countries carry news articles on deaths of various popular bookstores that are finding it difficult to sustain their business. The reason can’t entirely be attributed to digital formats of books, skyrocketing real estate prices have also added to the owes of book retail business that has a fixed margin and is facing increasing competition from technology as well as fashion products.

The exclusive bookshop have also started increasing their product basket by including categories like cosmetic and toys in order to increase their share of consumer’s wallet.

 Trend #5: Consumer review of books are being taken seriously

Both the publishers and authors get feedback, review and rating on their books in social media or online platforms. This is true for both for books in digital format and printed copies. Consumer feedback helps them to relook at cover page, extracts, flow etc. Consumer feedback also help authors and publishers who publish book in different volumes. For examples while the Volume I is in circulation, the author, who is probably working on volume II, could incorporate the constructive feedback in his work.

Perspectives on Trends

Though many experts consider these trends are disruptive and will cause radical change in the way books will be written, published and read in future, the fact could actually be far from this.

Perspective 1#: Printed books are going to stay despite increasing share of digital books

With the introduction of digital format, readers were armed with a different alternative to read books, many times, the experience was far superior to that of a physical book. However, many still prefer physical format due to its convenience. Parents are increasingly trying to keep their kids away from screen and thus are more comfortable in purchasing printed books for them.

In America e-books contribute only 30% of the total book sales (source: Economist), the corresponding number for Germany is 5%. Many research and consultancy firms have notice slowing down of the growth of digital formats. The initial fear that the high speed proliferation of digital formats shall make print formats unwarranted, now holds no ground. Printed books are going to remain and contribute a substantial share to the total book sales at least for a few decades to come.

Perspective 2#: Authors will consider all possible avenues to reach to readers

 Despite the debate on self-publishing and publisher’s route, many authors will consider all possible formats to reach their readers. So, if for a certain type of book, they feel publisher can reach a wide section of readers and has better experience to launch and market the book, the author will prefer the publisher’s route, at the same time preferring self-publication for some other book. In fact, some authors see writing as their job, not publishing. Hence, to believe that self-publication will dominate the market in near future would be underestimating the knowledge and experience of publishers in book industry.

Perspective 3#: Market will continue to witness innovative pricing structure to lure consumers

Both the printed and digital books have witnessed innovative pricing structure that attract consumers to share books, get unlimited access to books, seek library membership with a subscription fee etc. This trend will continue in both print and digital books with online portals and publishers relying more of dynamic pricing to get more of consumer attraction.