The print magazine apocalypse…
... has print made a comeback? Following the decline of the UK’s magazine industry in 2013, the total number of print magazines shrinking from 2,639 in 2011 to 2,639 in 2013 (Jasper Jackson, themediabriefing.com), the popular belief that the print magazine was coming to an apocalyptic end was born. Alongside the uptake and advancement of technology such as apps, virtual reality, wearable technology and enhanced e-books, it is easy to see where this belief has come from. With increased interactivity, high reader engagement, social media links, analytics and the ability to react faster, publishing quicker then print to big news there are many advantages to digital magazine publishing. However, as the years pass and print magazines publishers learn how to adapt to the new digital era with new innovative business models and numbers rising, can it truly be said that print is dead? With Mintel research showing 59% of people still preferring print magazines over digital with 50% having a subscription to a print magazine and merely 23% having a subscription to digital print magazines are proven to still be popular.
0 Comments
Is wearable technology the next big thing for the publishing industry?
Mixed views on whether wearable technology will be a profitable makes us question whether or not this controversial technology will be the next big thing for the publishing industry. With a forecast of wearable technology hitting $171billion (£135 billion) by 2015 (Insight Publishers report) and alternate information from the Forrester Research report stating a decrease of 7% of user usage (in US and Canada) people are unsure what to think. What is wearable technology? Wearable technology consists of gadgets you can wear that associate with you as a person, using smart sensors, web connection and Bluetooth. Some can monitor your bodily functions and location whilst others can help you to maintain digital social media connectivity easily and efficiently. Are digital writing communities viable publishing businesses?
Signing up to online digital writing communities for the everyday person is free and easy- but where are these businesses making their money? How do they manage to build up their community and masses of online free content, and how can publishing companies exploit this new platform? What is ‘Wattpad’? With new business models emerging in the publishing industry, the author is freed from the restraints of retaining literary agents and publishing contracts in order to get published. New digital writing community sites such as Wattpad, launched in 2006, with an audience of 45 million writers every month (Wattpad, Business) may possibly be the future of book publishing. To help monitor this huge platform, Wattpad has an in-house community unit and global team of ambassadors. Wattpad’s overall demographic consists of younger individuals such as Millennials and Zen G (13-30 years old) which make up 80% of their total audience. Though Wattpad earns its revenue predominately through advertising, sponsorship links with other businesses wanting to market their books to Wattpad’s readers is also another revenue avenue. 12/12/2016 0 Comments December 12th, 2016Augmented reality in medicine:
Is it a gimmick in the publishing industry? Teaching and learning about medicine is difficult as there are many complex physiological systems, adaptive expertise and multidisciplinary collaborative skills to be learnt, which is why augmented reality has such a potential in this market. AR enables its user to visualise information (such as in the form of an interactive 3D diagram) by overlapping computer created images with the real world on a digital device. In the educational sector, AR has often been used to enhance books and learning in a way that will help the user to engage with the content more easily, improving their understanding. Jacob Santoso who helped develop HoloCell, indicates at the potential for AR, “we can put a lot more information into a 3D space than into a 2D space.” “Medical students don’t have enough cadavers” publishers such as CEO Brian Mullins from Dacqri take note, noticing a gap in the market for anatomical augmented reality publishing material. But with the restrictions book based augmented reality has, will non-book based augmented reality be more successful in this industry? GRAPHIC BOOK COMPANIES… ...SHOULD THEY GO DIGITAL? With a restrictive e-reader fixed layout and lack of aesthetical value, it is widely presumed that readers of graphic books won’t buy into the digital transition of the print book into digital products.
But with the rise in digital sales across graphic books (such as comics) from $25 million (2011) to $90 million (2015) in North America alone; are UK graphic book publishers missing out by not investing in the digital? And if they do transition, how do graphic book publishers modify their business plans? 10/4/2016 1 Comment BEYOND EBOOKS?
Everyone knows of the struggle for dominance of the publishing market between the eBook and the print book.
The eBook comes cheap and offers an easy way to carry around thousands of books without ordering a van but some argue it doesn’t have the same feel as the printed book offering nostalgia and collectability. What is next though? Is it possible that a mutation of both the eBook and the print book could end the struggle? With publishing companies such as HarperCollins, willing to try new things, Charlie Redmayne, head of HarperCollins UK, insinuates during an interview with the Guardian, "Publishers have historically been the most innovative and creative of organizations... But I think that when it came to the digital revolution, we came to a point where we stopped innovating and creating. We thought, we've done an ebook and that is what it is." (2013) Some publishers are looking beyond the typical ebook for a new type of technology to revolutionise the industry and enhanced print book 'Elektrobiblioteka' could very well be this new technology. |
AuthorMy name is Victoria Bush and I am a Publishing Media/Fine Art student at Oxford Brookes. I'm 19 years old and I'm a self confessed bookaholic. I'm going to write 6 short blogs on this website on the realm of 'digital publishing'. I hope you enjoy them! ArchivesCategories |