The Seybold
Scuffle
FROM PUBLISHING
TRENDS (MARCH 2002)
As
panelists brandished tablet-sized, next-generation Nokias
(“wireless ebooks will be a reality in 2002,” one e-prophet
intoned) and others dusted off vintage ’90s web nostrums
(“go where the traffic is”), there was also some refreshing
digital realism on hand for the Seybold Seminars
at the Javits Center on February 21. While much
time was spent pondering the “intellectual property
supply chain,” and scheming to use digital workflows
to boost productivity (or, as it was baldly put, “We’ve
got to start thinking of ways to turn those brains into
money”) some publishers have thrown caution to the bitstream
— and wound up with impressive results.
Barbara Kline Pope, Director of the National
Academy Press, brazenly offers free online browsing
of the complete texts of 2,500 titles (though there’s
a charge for printing a copy). The press is now taking
a whopping 40% of its orders over the web, the bulk
being scholarly titles; the Joseph Henry Press
trade imprint is still mainly sold via brick-and-mortar
stores. In an attempt to answer the e-riddle of the
millennium (i.e. “Will they pay?”) the press has mounted
an elaborate online survey project in association with
the Smith School of Business at the University
of Maryland. The findings? “Unbundling” books and
offering each chapter as a separate download got the
big thumbs up. “If we unbundled our content we could
have a major market expansion,” Pope said, adding that
consumers were willing to pay for such content at a
110% premium of the printed book price. Now, armed with
a Mellon research grant, the press is looking
extensively into free online browsing and other print-vs.-PDF
conundrums. Check it out at nap.edu.
Meanwhile, free content was the mantra of the day for
Jennifer Gold, Director of New Media for Rough
Guides. “We figured out how to actually make money
from our site,” she reported, “without alienating users.”
That holy grail was conquered after a site relaunch
late last year (see roughguides.com)
which posted the full content of over 50 titles online,
plus a whole host of reader-contributed features such
as personal travel journals and photos. Throw in partnerships
with travel goods purveyors — call ’em “contextual commerce
opportunities” — and you’ve got profits. “We note sales
of our print books have gone up,” Gold added. “They
haven’t been cannibalized by our free content.”
There ensued a vigorous scuffle among ebook vendors,
with Franklin President Barry Lipsky boasting
that he’s shipped 27 million devices to date, and adding,
“We’re one of the few companies that pays publishers
in excess of $500,000 a year in royalties.” For her
part, Microsoft’s Julie Blackwell Stamstad
plugged Microsoft Reader 2.0, noting that the program
fixes a litany of bugs and has an installed base of
6 million. Then Mike Segroves, Director of Business
Development for Palm Digital Media Group, deemed
Palm “the leading ebook platform” with 21 million Palms
in use today. The company currently offers 4,000 titles,
and sells to about 100,000 customers, who download 10,000
volumes per week. And they keep coming back: 49% of
first-time Palm ebook buyers become repeat customers
within 30 days. Meanwhile, they are getting into the
e-galley business, thanks to a chance meeting at the
seminar, where conversion service provider Publishing
Dimensions introduced the new site DigitalGalley.com.
Segroves was so taken by the idea of supplying advanced
reader’s copies that he offered Publishing Dimensions
the necessary DRM to ensure encryption. Contact Ken
Brooks (kbrooks@pubdimensions.com),
or Kathleen Doody (kdoody@pubdimensions.com)
for more information.
And for a final take-home message? When you’ve got to
compete in a virtual world, it pays to keep your overhead
low. “The goal for me and for any proper publisher is
to be as close to virtual as you can be,” said e-reads’
honcho Richard Curtis, noting that his e-publishing
firm outsources everything conceivable, including scanning,
conversion, proofreading, and e-tailing. “The average
trade publisher’s profit margin is 2% or 3%. Our profit
margin is 40%,” he continued. “I would tell publishers
to strip down to their underwear.”
©2002
Publishing Trends
