Entries tagged with “independent publishers” from Tools of Change for Publishing
Perseus Targets Small Publishers with Digital Services Suite
Mac Slocum
September 4, 2008
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Perseus Book Group's new Constellation service offers independent publishers a conduit to digital formats and platforms. From the New York Times:
The companies involved in the deal include Google, for its Google Book Search feature; Amazon, for its Kindle electronic reader; Sony, for its Sony Reader; Barnes & Noble, for its "See Inside" feature on its Web site; and Lightning Source, a print-on-demand company.
Publishers who use the new service can provide a single digital book file to Constellation and specify how they would like it to be used.
Ingram Digital, OverDrive, LibreDigital and the non-profit Caravan Project provide similar digital services, although the tools, formats and distribution channels vary across firms.
Open Question: What is the Best Use for Print on Demand?
Mac Slocum
June 11, 2008
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PublicAffairs Books recently used POD services from Lightning Source to manage demand for Scott McClellan's What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.
From a Lightning Source press release (pdf):
PublicAffairs' experience with this title demonstrates how POD can be used to supplement offset printings in specific cases in which demand exceeds supply for a short term. In this instance, the POD copies of the book will supplement large scale conventional offset reprints, which are underway.
PublicAffairs used POD as an insurance policy, and panelists in a Digital Custom Publishing session at BEA also noted POD's use in short runs, niche titles and its importance as a Long Tail tool.
But do insurance policies, niche books and Long Tail plays represent the extent of POD's opportunities? What options do you see for POD? How have you used it in your own organization? How will POD evolve? Please share your thoughts in the comments area.
Targeting Small Companies with Small Products
Mac Slocum
June 5, 2008
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Bill Taylor's short profile of 37 Signals looks at the upside of building small products for small companies:
Most technology companies are obsessed with the "enterprise" market -- Fortune 500 giants with complicated problems and big budgets. 37Signals builds software for entrepreneurs and small companies where the executives who buy the product also use the product -- a market that they call the Fortune 5,000,000: "We solve the simple problems and leave the hairy, difficult, nasty problems to everyone else," the company likes to say.
Software and publishing aren't completely analogous, but with ebooks, digital delivery and print-on-demand, there's certainly an opportunity for book publishers to serve smaller markets with smaller publications.
Path to Web Retail Getting Easier for Independent Music Labels
Peter Brantley
May 9, 2008
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This is an interesting story from the music world. The implication is that the barrier to retail is dropping in music, which has different hurdles than publishing.
The Independent Online Distribution Alliance, better known as IODA, launched itself in 2003 to help independent labels, artists and others in the music industry make the leap from physical to digital. One of its functions has been to act as a conduit to online retailers, such as Apple's iTunes Store, eMusic, Napster and Rhapsody. Now it's giving its members the option of being retailers, too.
Specifically, IODA is supplying labels and artists the technology to plug downloadable music stores into their websites. Unlike some earlier efforts to sell downloads, the stores integrate seamlessly into the sites with other e-commerce efforts ...
Amazon POD: Friend or Foe to Indie Publishers?
Peter Brantley
May 5, 2008
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An interesting editorial by Lloyd Jassin from the NY Center for Independent Publishing relating to the Amazon print-on-demand (POD) move:
Physical distribution of books is largely the preserve of large conglomerate publishers and a handful of large independent distributors. It’s not a pretty business. It employs the equivalent of Yankee peddlers who hand-sell books to brick and mortar stores, with full return privileges for oversold books. If we extrapolate, the BookSurge gambit may be seen as a relatively painless first step in managing the digital distribution of titles to e-tailers and licensees. Amazon has the amazing ability to manage and organize content. It also offers a painless online experience for the consumer.
Instead of Amazon merely being the recipient of digital assets, it’s easy to imagine Amazon providing comprehensive consultancy services to our members, helping them prepare their content for digital distribution for and beyond the traditional Amazon platform. Is the Book Surge gambit a disguised opportunity for indie publishers? Perhaps. Indie publishes are the small furry mammals scurrying around the legs of large dinosaur publishers. The digital meteor has hit. To survive, indie publishers need to be able to present content in a variety of digital formats. Is Amazon a friend or a foe? Only time will tell.
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