2
2.1 Publishing & Technology
We now exist in an environment where technology allows anyone with internet access to become a creator and share their creative works with the world. The same conditions that enable creation at scale also mean that content consumers have more options than ever before in terms of where and how they access content. Attempts to adapt to this new environment, to lesser and greater degrees of success, have already been witnessed in music, film and television, journalism, and the magazine industry—those who have not adapted have perished. On the consumer side, Spotify and Netflix can be held up as two of the most successful examples of adaptation to content abundance. Both offer extensive access to content, as well as value-added features like personalised recommendations, content curation and, significantly, the kind of ease of use that has come to be expected by consumers who are immersed in a digital culture. On the production side, YouTube has benefited from the proliferation of video production and editing technology that allow anyone to produce a short film, music video or tutorial. It is inevitable that the same kind of challenge will be posed to publishing, and industry stakeholders must be prepared to adapt and move forward.
When it comes to book publishing specifically, little has been done to address the larger existential challenge posed by digital disruption. The introduction of the ebook format allowed some benefits of digitally mediated content to reach readers—mainly somewhat reduced costs, wide access to titles and the ability to access multiple books on a single device[1]—but the format is complex to produce, often unattractive[2], and essentially just “print on a screen”, with little effort being made to really advance what is possible with a network-connected digital format, which would come from proper integration with the web[3]. Despite the fact that ebook sales have begun to plateau, or even decline[4], major changes continue in parallel industries, indicating that it is likely that more is to come. Even though it is unlikely that print will ever be entirely replaced by digital books any time soon, there is still plenty more that can be done with books in a digital, connected world, both in terms of production and consumption.
One area where benefits such as lower barriers to entry have been felt is with self-publishing. Now that anyone can create an ebook or use a print-on-demand service and put their book on Amazon, anyone can publish a book. The result is an explosion of content. Bowker, the ISBN agency for the United States, reported in 2015 that ISBN registrations for self-published works had grown more than 375% since 2010[5]. Looking to publishing’s counterparts in film, music, television, journalism and magazine publishing, it is reasonable to predict that this growth in content from sources outside the realms of traditional publishing will accelerate. It is also more than likely that other