April 10th, 2010 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPublishing
Of course these past couple of weeks people have been talking about the iPad. If you haven’t seen it for yourself I’m sure you’ve read or heard your share of reviews. In relation to the publishing world, a good thorough review was done over at BookSquare.
The overall response seems to be very positive. Most reviewers have basically pointed out that a device that allows you to read what we’ve been reading on computer screens for years in a more comfortable way is something people want. It’s true that to a certain extent the Kindle did this first, but it seems easier to make that transition to something else with a screen the way a lot of people have been doing with their mobile devices. Plus the iPad has the cool factor people are looking for in technology now.
All this talk around the iPad seems to have changed people’s perspective on reading as they now have a way of reading digitally as another form of leisure. Apple has indeed created a new line of technology products. Your computer is now for Email and maybe researching something, your phone is for communicating (Email, Twitter, etc), and your iPad or tablet device, is for reading news, articles and books. And more people grasping this concept is what will expand the audience for ebooks. Because now there is a device designed specifically for reading them.
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March 5th, 2010 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPublishingSales
In a recent New York Times article, the author tries to make sense of the math for the cost of a traditional book versus an ebook after the recent $13-15 price tag set for ebooks. Based on their numbers, I’ve attempted to compare how the old retail model compares to the new ebook model in a couple of simplified graphs:
Retail Bookseller
Average cost: $26 (Hardcover)
Digital Bookseller
Average cost: $13
Author
Publisher
Bookseller
Printer
In the Retail model, on a $26 hardcover book an author would get $3.90 (15%), the publisher would get $6.80 (30%), the bookseller would get $13 (50%) and the printing and shipping would cost around $1.30 (5%). In the Digital model, the retail bookstore is essentially eleminated along with the printing and physical shipping costs and in their place are online shops like Amazon.com. In this model, the author gets $3.25 (25%), their publisher $5.85 (50%) and the online shops $3.90 (30%). These are rough numbers, but they give us a good idea of how costs breakdown.
Ultimately, the biggest difference in cost is for the customer which will greatly incentivise digital sales in the years to come as the technology for reading ebooks becomes more accessible. And while the amount made by authors appears to be about the same, a lower cost to the customer means more sales longterm and more going to the author. The biggest thing to take out of this is that the author’s piece of the pie has increased and as the market continues to evolve there’s opportunity for it to increase even more!
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February 21st, 2010 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPublishing
The recent announcement of the iPad has once again sparked talk about digital publishing. Although it’s been somewhat misguided by focusing on print media going away (which people have been saying since the early years of the Internet and it’s still not really true), the common point made is that devices like the Kindle and the iPad make ereading more accessible for people in a similar way that the iPod made downloadable music more accessible to a wider audience. The Kindle has already proven this based on its sales success during this past holiday season.
What does this mean for independent artists and writers? Well, consider what the music industry is like now since the iPod came out and how independent musicians have been able to get their music sold better than ever before through the use of online tools for distribution and promotion. Additionally, the advent of podcasting which came directly from the iPod’s online marketplace, iTunes. It’s allowed anyone to share their ideas in a new way and immediately gather a niche audience.
In a lot of ways, digital publishing is at a point where music downloading was just a few years ago. Which means that now is the perfect time for independent storytellers to self-publish their work and seek out their audience via the upcoming distribution mediums that put them on the same playing field as large publishing companies. Amazon already offers a way for writers to self-publish their work on their online store. Soon Apple will as well through its iPad. Even Microsoft has plans for releasing its own software that will tie in with its upcoming device.
It’s an exciting time for people who love to read to enjoy media like never before, and for storytellers out there, it couldn’t be a better time to reach an audience!
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