Report Says Kindle, Nook, Other eReaders Wrecking Publishing Industry

eweek.com:

Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and other e-readers might dangle the prospect of convenience for millions of bibliophiles around the world, with their light weight and instant access to whole libraries of e-books, but a new analyst report suggests the devices could eventually prove bad news for the publishing industry as a whole.

Read the whole story: eweek.com

Comments

[TheresaMMoore]

09:19 PM on 06/09/2011

I have not been here for a while because I have been too busy writing and publishing 3 books, both in print and ebook formats. As you will probably read among the many comments on the article, I don't see the need to rely on a bunch of strangers to decide how my work is to be written or published. If I had, after a long bout of trying to obtain a decent agent, my first book would never have been published, and to date I have 15 on my current list. The fact is that sometimes the "gatekeepers" go a little too far in determining what constitutes good literature and shaves off the good authors with the bad. When we find so many publishers going after spurious content by celebrities gone bad or controversial, there is potential for many good books to be totally ignored and passed up. Some of the greatest writers in classical literature started out to self-publish and only gained notoriety when a publisher picked them up for reprints. That is no longer the case today, when many notable authors have chosen to self-publish after a disappointing stint with a major publisher. The freedom to write and publish has never been greater than today, in whatever format will put the information in readers' hands. The stigma against self-publishing is no longer effective, and publishers would do well to adapt or fall by the wayside.

[FGlaysher]

09:08 AM on 05/08/2011

Papyrus, cuneiform clay tablets, rice paper, palm leaves, tree bark, vellum, deer skin, decorative gilt leather, chiseled marble, copper plates, silk scrolls for fastidious delectation, and so on…. ebooks will find their role and level, which I too think is inevitable.

One thing all these FORMS of reading demonstrate is that the nature and experience of reading has through the centuries assumed numerous physical shapes. Not everyone will want to make the transition, and not for every type of book. Literary and artistic, cultural works, especially, will continue to preserve and honor the exceptional qualities of high weight and exotic papers. Under all the forms, Platonic, the experience of the Archetype, if you will, prevails and will continue.

Those who worry about the demise of the book should take heart from history....

eReading
The experience of eReading.
http://fglaysher.com/eReading

[umbrarchist]

02:01 PM on 05/07/2011

Paper media, books, magazines and newspapers are just a means of communicating information. What matters is the information not the paper. But printed books are so old they have become cultural artifacts. Many people are emotionally attached to them.

Really cheap portable von Neumann machines have been around for less than 15 years. But what really matters is the information, not the paper or the von Neumann machines.

How many people loved horses in 1900? What was happening to the horse population in the US by 1915? Paper publishing could be like horses. But books don't need to eat or produce manure so the decline will be slower..

[hairydodger]

10:14 AM on 05/05/2011

As soon as I heard about the iPad I realized there could be a whole new type of book available. An enhanced ebook with imbedded video. I set out to design what I thought would be this new century's version of a children's enhanced ebook. This is not a commercial post as the book is free and contains no advertising. It is a cute story with matching videos. From your iPad go to the iTunes ebook store to download Box Head Man. Once again, this is not a commercial post as I don't make a penny and it's free to you.

[SF TKF]

11:47 AM on 05/06/2011

Why would I want an "enhanced" ebook? The whole point of a book is that it's NOT a fricken video.

[RGKahn]

01:30 PM on 05/04/2011

"Kindle, Nook, Other eReaders Wrecking Publishing Industry?" Maybe there is something wrong with the industry that can be so easily be wrecked. The readers have give the publishers a paradigm chnage that they may not be able to solve or handle or take advantage of. The is an old Persian saying that rules here. "All this shall Pass" says it all.

[maatpublish]

11:24 PM on 05/03/2011

Is digital technology changing the face of publishing of traditional books forever? You bet it is and it's about damned time, too.

Traditional publishers appointed themselves judge, jury and executioner on who gets published and who doesn't. While some of that makes sure that substandard product is not flooding the marketplace, that old business model is long past its expiration date. Writers were making pennies on the dollar for their creative works. Now writers and small publishers can make more of their own money and consumers have access to more materials at more affordable prices. We saw similar changes in the face of the music industry a decade ago. While there are challenges, artists have a more direct link to their audiences that are no longer contingent on getting singed and distributed on a record company's say-so.

Will the print book, like the 8-track, the cassette and the 8 track go into extinction? No. There are far too many books to be digitized and it is unlikely in our lifetime that we will ever see everything that is now in print offered in a digital format as well. Nevermind the fact that there is a tangible pleasure to a print book of turning pages, smelling the scent that accompanies a book, whether new or old and the fact that many of us like to line our walls of our homes from floor to ceiling with the inviting warmth of shelves filled to overflowing with books.

[JoeBlough]

02:00 PM on 05/03/2011

New technology is always difficult for the old technology vendors. But change will always happen.

[cheo]

06:08 AM on 05/03/2011

I've never tried one. I researched it, but came to the conclusion I would still be need to be sitting with something in my hand and with an exterior light. Yes, I know you can instant dictionary, instant new book w/o going to bookshelf or store.
But if it's going to be like that, I'd rather smell the print, paper and ink...and sometimes cover art is cool....

BUT, what I like is downloading Audible books on my iPod with some very good earbuds, and be told stories. I love it. I can go anywhere, walk, bus, bike, knit (easy stuff only), do dishes, dinner, vacuum...it's sooo great. I am hooked. Now my son and husband are hooked.

I didn't get read to as a child like I did with my son; and once I was grown, I've always been the storyteller in the family on trips, at night, before naps. So getting read TO is a big treat.

A lot of the readers really bring the book to life (unabridged versions only).

[DarleenMB]

12:37 AM on 05/03/2011

Oh please. I have had my Kindle for 2 years now and I still buy print books. My take? The greedy publishers want it all and are afraid they're going to lose some of their megabucks. When they're charging MORE for an ebook than for the physical, printed book you know somethings rotten somewhere.

[Blarg]

04:49 PM on 05/05/2011

Yep, that they do that is crazy absurd and galling.

[FGlaysher]

07:47 PM on 05/02/2011

The sooner writers and readers get rid of the corporate publishers the better. Ebooks are exactly the technology that is required to do it, along with Jason Epstein's Espresso Book Machine and worldwide POD through Lightning Source.

Right now almost any writer on the face of this earth can publish and market his or her books worldwide for a few hundred dollars. Here's the proof:

Earthrise Press® eBooks
http://boo­ks.fglaysh­er.com/

Printed Books Available Worldwide
http://www­.fglaysher­.com/order­_books.htm­l

The corporate six, since their take-over of the publishing industry in 1980s, have in fact done much to destroy literature­. It's time for writers to move on. I doubt that William Blake and many writers of previous generation­s would have hesitated to join the revolution­. They would have been delighted to get rid of the exploitation of publishers.

[hairydodger]

04:56 PM on 05/02/2011

Yes, the publishing industry is in trouble but it'll be years before the people that like paper books die off. They love the smell and feel of ink on paper. When I first heard about the iPad I specifically designed an enhanced children's story just for the iPad. It is only one of the directions electronic books can go. I feel it is a large part of the future of books. This is not a commercial post as the book is free to anyone with an iPad. Please take a look at what is in the publishing future. From your iPad go to the apple iTunes store and search Box Head Man. Once again, it's FREE. There are no advertisements. I make no money and you spend no money. It'll take a few minutes to load as it has videos that match the text on every page. Enjoy Box Head Man.

[garyd63]

04:29 PM on 05/02/2011

Another ONLINE analyst touting, hmmmm, online books. The bright side of the mess publishing has made for itself is that internal reforms (pay for quality work, promote quality work) and new types of reader initiatives will be put in place. Publishing (not copying material to a screen) will survive and find a large slice of the market when the industry recognizes 1.) readers want to own books, 2.) large segments of the international market do not want and/or cannot afford, ebook machines. In the meantime, and on the downside, we have this race to the bottom in terms of quality book choices. Publishers of print books can't compete with gum drop genre fiction. Look at the stuff being downloaded from Gutenberg. Duh, any hint here of what a large class of serious readers want from a book?

[Noetic Hatter]

04:26 PM on 05/02/2011

Common sense tells me people would buy more books on Kindle, iBooks, Nook, etc -- because it's easier to make the impulse purchase. Just like people buy far more singles on iTunes, Amazon MP3, etc than they ever did on CD. And distrubution cost for publishers is practically 'nil compared to printing and shipping hardcovers.

[GreatRedShark]

02:53 PM on 05/02/2011

nook and kindle won't replace publishing.

who needs to carry moby dick and finnagins wake everywhere?

[Blarg]

04:56 PM on 05/05/2011

I'm going to be an even more angry and bitter man when college kids can carry their textbooks around on an e-reader. I used to have to backpack 30 pounds up and down the campus and sometimes carry much more in my hands besides! Oh, those tired shoulders! Oy vey, that sweat-drenched shirtback! Oh the panic to get your understocked textbook from the campus store before the last ones ran out!

Damned rotten little punks ... (of the future)

[John Rybock]

02:50 PM on 05/02/2011

What wasn't clear, and what I would ask, is what exactly is meant by "revenue" - are we talking gross or net? Because costs can be made much lower with e-books, and financial risk is much less. If my publishign company had revenue of $12 million last year, and it cost $8 million in printing, editing, advertising, etc..., and only brought in $10 million, but did it at a cost of $5 million since I don't have to print and ship books, revenue is down, but profit is up.

The business model is indeed changing, but only if you stick to the old model does that have to mean doom. Right now, there is no issue with guessing how many copies you have to print. You can make deals, based on percentage of sales, with more writers, because to "publish" them vs publishing the last Harry Potter book means the same cost.

I say this as someone without an e-reader, someone who has no plans right now to get one, someone who loves getting a paper copy. Start thinking outside the box, start looking at where the market is going and be there. To quote hockey great Wayne Gretzky's advice from his dad - don't go where the puck is, go to where it is going to be.