Entries tagged with “readership” from Tools of Change for Publishing

Guccione: Print Downturn Traces Back to Pre-Internet Era

Mac Slocum
September 18, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

Bob Guccione Jr. says the decline in print readership started long before the Internet arrived. From The Huffington Post:

I know the conventional wisdom: that readership is being lost to the speed and efficiency of the Web. But I think the decline of traditional publishing, especially magazines, is more deeply rooted in an arrogance and laziness that goes back 30-plus years. It was once so easy to make money from publishing -- paper, printing and distribution were so cheap and newsstand sales and subscriptions so profitable that advertising revenue was gravy. Then it got more difficult, imperceptibly at first, and gradually more complicated. But, for some reason, whatever other market realities they acknowledged, publishers refused to accept that the perfect magic formula had spoiled.

(Via mediabistro.com's Morning News Feed)

Related Stories:

• Media Magazine: "The Future Of Media Round Table"
• Vin Crosby: "Transforming American Newspapers"
• What Does Esquire's E Ink Cover Mean for Print Publishing?
• POD Opens Door to Magazine Experiments and Customization
• How Hackers Show it's Not All Bad News at the New York Times
• Lessons for Publishers in IDG's Digital Success

Open Question: Do You Re-Read Books?

Mac Slocum
September 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (8) | Listen

Proponents on both sides of the ebook debate point to the archival/re-read nature of their chosen format, but I'm curious to see if re-reading is a common activity or one of those things we'd all like to do but can't find the time. Here's a few questions toward that end:

• Do you re-read books?
• If yes, how often? (i.e. You re-read 1-2 titles per year.)
• Which titles or genres do you re-read?
• Does a book's format -- print or digital -- make you more or less inclined to re-read a title?

Please share your thoughts in the comments area.

Open Question: Will Genre Fiction Die Off With Traditional Readers?

Mac Slocum
July 8, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4) | Listen

In a recent Washington Post column, Jonathan Karp outlines a theoretical scenario where the convergence of technology, self-publishing and consumer taste will force traditional book publishers out of the "disposable book" market. Karp writes:

Many categories of books will be subsumed by digital media. Reference publishing has already migrated online. Practical nonfiction will be next, winding up on Web sites that can easily update and disseminate visual and textual information. Readers of old-fashioned genre fiction will die off, and the next generation will have so many different entertainment options that it's hard to envision the same level of loyalty to brand-name formula fiction coming off the conveyor belt every year. The novelists who are truly novel will thrive; the rest will struggle. [Emphasis added.]

On first blush this "generational" point makes sense: multitasking and abundant entertainment options don't mesh with the languid pace and time investment required to enjoy genre fiction. But -- playing devil's advocate here -- are hyperactive tastes a defining characteristic throughout a person's lifetime? Isn't it possible that today's texting teen will, at some point in his/her life, gravitate toward the long-form storytelling found in genre fiction?

Please share your thoughts in the comments area.

(Via Peter Brantley's read20 listserv)

The Importance of Viewing the World as Readers Do

Andrew Savikas
May 14, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

In the rush to experiment and innovate with technology for printing, selling, writing, and marketing books, there have been some recent and relevant calls to take pains to remember the reader in all of this.

For a publisher (and in particular an editor and especially an author), energy and effort is understandably often directed at the book itself. But echoing a point made during this conversation between Kathy Sierra and Tim O'Reilly, customers don't really care about you or your products -- they care about what they're trying to accomplish, and successful product marketers remember that.

At Friday's BISG Making Information Pay event, Michael Cader drove the point home nicely using the Alex Rider series of books as an example. "I want to buy my son the third book in the series, and he wants to read it." But just looking at the books on the shelf, "I can't figure out which one is the third one." These are books that are competing just fine with the Wii and MySpace and World of Warcraft, yet (at least according to Michael -- I should acknowledge I'm unfamiliar with the books) they don't include an easy way for novices to navigate from one book to the next.

Are You Ready for Free?

Mac Slocum
March 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

A recent post on ReadWriteWeb looks at the relationship between traditional publishing (newspapers, magazines, books) and teen readership. The results are hazy at best -- experts can't seem to get past the "digital reading" vs. "print reading" debate -- but a short passage in the article's magazine section touched on a topic that's popping up all over the place: the power of free content.

"MediaTel managing director Derek Jones said the [magazine] industry must find new ways of engaging with the teen market which has suffered a steady decline in sales. The problem, according to ShortList chief executive Mike Soutar, is that the younger generation like to consume media for free and they have come to expect free content through online extensions." [emphasis added]

The expectation of free isn't just the domain of teens; Web consumers from all generations are used to getting their information for free as well. This is a powerful trend that's gaining steam.

If you're intrigued by free models (or concerned), take a look at Kevin Kelly's essay "Better Than Free," Chris Anderson's article "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business," and coverage of Tim O'Reilly's TOC '08 keynote "Free is More Complicated Than You Think."