Publishing and the Internet: How the Internet is Changing the Face of Publishing

Consumers watched the music industry change models to downloadable music, MP3s and streaming audio. Later, the television industry changed, with analog television nearly extinct and on-demand Internet television the wave of the future. Entertainment has been drastically changed by our on-demand digital society--some say for the better, some say for the worse. One thing no one can argue is that the face of entertainment has changed because of the Internet. The publishing industry is likely next to see major changes.

The Digital Publishing Shift

Online content and media aside, readers today have a large selection of print books from which to choose, because of print/publish on demand technology (POD). This allows anyone to publish with just a few keystrokes and upload to the printer via a website offering POD services.

The downside is that POD services have led to an overall decrease in writing quality. While quality declines, prices increase. Many books retail for more than a meal out for a small family, and with a sluggish economy and high gas prices, consumers aren't inclined to shell out bucks for a book when other entertainment is readily available on the Internet for free.

Publishing Shift for Consumers

On the internet, advertising paved the way to free entertainment to consumers, while the advertisers bear the brunt of the cost. It's impossible to provide pay per click advertising in a print book, making it virtually impossible to shift the burden of cost away from the consumer.

Publishing Shift for Writers

Writers who would otherwise submit manuscripts to traditional publishers are opting to self publish through PODs, and the quality break-out authors are bypassing the traditional publishing molds. With the help of the Internet, authors who choose to print on demand have avenues for free advertising using the most effective means of selling: word of mouth.

Blogs and book reviews, video book trailers, online book groups, etc., all make it easier for self published authors to sell books. If this trend continues, traditional publishers will have no choice but to change their antiquated ways and come in line with the newer models for entertainment, or they will begin to lose readers and writers alike.

Are Digital Books the Answer?

Digital readers, such as the Amazon Kindle, are one possible shift in publishing that could stick. While digital readers aren't cheap, publishers can provide digital books at a lower cost than print books, while profit margins increase due to lower overhead for printing, storage, shipping and returns. At the same time, digital readers are hand held, about the shape and size of a book, and portable, so avid readers still have the 'feel' of holding a book.

When traditional publishers offer more affordable reading entertainment to the consumer, more books are sold, more money is made, and PODs will not be able to compete. Readers can turn back to reading, and writers can once again submit to the traditional publisher, while writing quality increases and cost to the consumer declines.