[Information Technology] Overview of the internet publishing business

When Amazon unveiled its visionary product Kindle, I was at first very suspicious whether this will change the way people basically absorb information; with the benefit of hindsight, I was very wrong. The market is ballooning every year with several new entrants entering into the market. The big players are currently Amazon and Apple. But, now the search giant Google will launch its new “Google Editions” service this summer. Disregarding the price issues, the company has several distinctive advantages compared to its entrenched rivals. First off, while the Amazon and Apple provide its contents through its proprietary platforms and devices, the contents that are offered from Google could be viewed at any devices. Second, the company has been amassing huge amount of contents through digitizing print versions; this includes scores of out-of-print books. According to a source familiar with the matter, the firm has 12 million books already in its digital shelves. The future is left in question, and we will have to see the proceedings how the competitive landscape changes.
But right now, at least I want to talk about the general trends regarding the E-books industry.
First, let’s consider some facts about E-books. It is known that Amazon has been selling 35 books out of every 100 books sold thus far. It will “gradually” replace print versions, but not completely. As television has survived through the disruptive innovation age, print books will survive the coming era due to its natural appeal. Besides, while televisions have been only existent in our human lives for a century, books have been around us for dozens of centuries.
Second, there are new businesses emerging from this breeding ground of innovation. Print-on-demand (POD) business is starting to flourish. Especially, for those who have been desiring to publish their own stories can now easily publish their own books by using LuLu or other online agencies. Those authors are called self-publishing authors.
Third, this trend has also fueled new ways to create contents. One can now incorporate audio, image, video, and other tools in the “book”. In other words, it is becoming more interactive.
Then what are the implications for the stakeholders involved in this industry?
First of all, bricks and mortar book shops are in trouble, deep trouble. Many stores are forced to be closed, as they cannot compete with the bigger ones. But, even the bigger ones, like Barns & Nobles, are finding it hard to compete with technology companies.
Second, publishers are facing problems as well. Online agencies like LuLu are replacing the traditional routes for book publishing and POD trends are eliminating the needs of hard copies.
Lastly, books and authors will be alright. Actually, for the authors, as distribution costs are shrinking, it poses a great opportunity for them to bargain for higher stakes on the overall revenue streams of selling a book.

Again, it is very hard to predict the latest market trends and how the industries will branch out into new things. Consistent observation and creative ways of thinking seems to be the only way to earn money in this industry.