Bookishness A Model of Publishing in

the Age of Ebooks

Thad McIlroy

November 5, 2012

A Bit About Thad

Started in trade publishing in 1977

Consulting for 25 years on publishing and technology.

18 books; 300+ articles.

Our Session

Banish the bad news People have rediscovered the joy of

reading! A great time to forge partnerships

between print & digital I call it “Bookishness” – what makes a

book a book?

Banish the Bad News Bears

Shrinking markets Both chain and independent bookstores

in trouble Ebooks replacing printed books Premium production & printing moving

offshore

Banish the Bad News

Steady print markets; digital exploding Chain bookstores holding steady; solidly

profitable (except for digital) Ebooks augmenting printed books Premium production & printing moving

offshore. OK, that’s true: but let’s focus on what we do best...

There’s Gobs of Good News More readers than ever Book readers cheerfully pay for books! 293 new publishing startups since 2008

Smart people working on innovative ideas An explosion of new ereaders and tablets

hungry for good content Printing companies already have presses

in place

People have rediscovered the joy of reading

The Sales Report

July 2012: It doesn’t get much better than this! Trade sales of $523 million were up 12% Ebook sales at $138 million, up 62 percent

YTY Ebooks are 25% of trade sales

Yet Just a Fraction of the Total

Higher Ed Won By Best-Managed

Environmentalism You’ve lost the battle when you hear

people saying “well at least I didn’t kill a tree to read that book.”

Trees are just another cash crop like corn or carrots

No one ever says “Do you realize how many carrots were killed to make that carrot cake?”

Cory Doctorow Innovates

The Goon Squad

The Goon Squad + PowerPoint

Old Mr. Smiley

Mr. Smiley Reborn

Celebrating Book Covers

Reading at the Leading Edge

Craig Mod

Designing Books in the Digital Age

A Short History of Production

Magenta Stencil duplicator, 1880

Cyan Spirit duplicator, 1923

Black Laser printer, 1969

Yellow Inkjet printer, 1976

The Emphatic Bookshelf

Jonathan Safran Foer

The Concise Book of Visa Application Forms

Textbooks are Troubled

Look at tablet adoption rate both in K-12 and higher ed

Take a look at both Inkling Habitat and Apple’s iBooks Author and see what you think the future of textbook publishing is

Also delve into open courseware, MOOCs, state licensing and more

But Other Opportunities Abound As of last night on Amazon.com, 25% of

the top 20 bestselling books have no print equivalent (5/20)

Too many new/novice self-published authors have lost sight of how important the print version of their book can be 75% of sales Cataloging in publication Library sales

Many Motivations

Start Partnering

Writers’ associations Designers (AIGA) Independent publishers International publishers International retailers Paper and ink companies

Recommendations

Two-pronged: 1. Spur innovation 2. Teach book appreciation

Embrace digitally fully Awards, and cash Support independent bookstores

The chains may have to look after themselves

This is a great time for innovative book printers because the market for readers and book buyers is growing.

Thank you thad@thefutureofpublishing.com