The impact of digital books upon print publishing

This paper examines the concrete impact of digital publishing upon print publishing. The remarkable growth of the Internet is at the core of this impact, as the Internet forms the backbone for much of the digitization of print publishing, from commercial promotional efforts to e-book readers to alliances with education. Additionally, this paper offers short-term speculations—grounded in specific current developments—of the continuing effects of digital publishing on print publishing. Some of the views offered by this paper are quite speculative. This is unavoidable, as digital books are of course quite new in the context of publishing generally. Notwithstanding, the effects of digital books upon print publishing are real, and we will provide concrete examples of these effects. Additionally, we will attempt to make judicious predictions about these effects in the future. In our view, the 800 pound gorilla in the room of this discussion is the Internet. Obviously, it makes little sense to discuss digital books outside the context of the Internet. Therefore, it’s worth noting that in the year 2001, Internet usage, according to the United States Commerce Department, hit 54 percent. In other words, 54 percent of Americans were using the Internet. As we’d likely expect, younger people represent the largest fraction of this upswing in usage; in fact, the report states that 48 million Americans between age five and age 17 use computers (the figure represents 90 percent of that population group) The upswing in usage represents an increase of 26 percent from the year 2000. Additionally, the so-called “digital divide” narrowed substantially. For instance, Internet use by the nation’s poorest citizens (an income of less than $15,000 a year) rose 25 percent a year from December of ’98 to September of 2001. By comparison, the most well-to-do Americans (in this study, defined as earning more than $75,000 a year per household) went up during the same period by 11 percent a year. This general rise in usage is visible through other measurements, too. The Commerce Department stated that between August 2000 and September 2001, Internet usage use for Hispanics and blacks rose at respective annual rates of 30 and 33 percent. For whites and Asians, the growth rate was 20 percent. Americans living in rural areas are using the Internet in greater numbers, too. From 1998 to 2001, rural users went up 24 percent each year, and as of 2002, 53 percent of rural residents use the Internet. There is little question that the numbers will increase steadily for several years to come. Economic realities no doubt play are large role in this matter. According to some reports, fully half of all jobs held by non-college graduates require the daily use of the computer. These figures—quite impressive by any rational measure—should be borne in mind in the midst of pessimistic talk about the so-called “dot-bombs” and the general (alleged) cooling of interest in the technology sector of the economy generally. The fundamental point here is that Internet usage has grown very dramatically. The relevance of these figures becomes clear when we take a look at one concrete example of the digital books effect upon print publishing. According to a February 6 report posted on Yahoo! Finance, print publishers have embraced the Web as a promotional tool in a new (for the print publishers, that is) way: posting sample work online. This development is hardly shocking for those familiar with digital books: typically, the only way to obtain digital books is through Internet usage, and of course the Web is virtually the only publishing channel epublishers have. And of course, some print publishers have offered full titles, in fits and starts, for the last few years. However, the print industry has seized upon the Internet’s especially strong promotional potential, and this recognition was without doubt hastened by the development of e-publishing itself. Quoting from the Yahoo! Finance report: “Posting of excerpts began around five years ago with online book retailers like Amazon.com requesting them from publishers to help stoke sales in the then brand new medium...‘Prior to the Internet, there really wasn't any good mechanism to get portions of a book, interviews with a particular author or a look at the table of contents,’' said John Corcoran, an analyst who follows the Internet for CIBC World Markets in Boston...links help steer readers to “marketing candy” like excerpts or biographies and question-and-answer interviews with the author. It's marked a dramatic change from the time when many books were sold by bookstore browsers. Web browsers are becoming a much bigger part of the industry's pitch.” The report goes on to note that publishers and “even authors themselves” are embracing the Web’s unique promotional activities. With a few well-placed