Archive for the ‘Trends and statistics’ Category
Why are digital readers reading more?
26 August 2010
2010 has seen a great deal of statistics and trends being released about digital media and publishing. We’ve read with great interest the developments in reader habits and behaviour as digital publishing surges.
What is interesting aside from the figures of growth is that digital reading has made us enjoy reading again. Amazon, reported that customers buy 3.3 times as many books after buying a Kindle. Whether this figure is enhanced in the early days due to the novelty factor of readers having a new gadget is not known, only time will tell. Another finding published on Fast Company seems to complement this figure by finding that 40% of ebook reader owners read more than they did prior to their purchase. So why?….
Seth Godin to move on and away from ‘traditional’ publishing
23 August 2010
Seth Godin, the well known and bestselling author and marketing guru, has spoken out about his future plans for publishing, and in particular his move away from ‘traditional publishing’.
Godin has written 12 influential books including bestsellers ‘Permission Marketing‘, ‘Purple Cow’ and ‘Tribes’ he is also no stranger to digital ebooks…. Seth’s ebooks including free ebook ‘Unleashing the Ideavirus’ are among the most popular ever published.
Seth announced today in a blog post “Linchpin will be the last book I publish in a traditional way.” Seth says he has been seeking and sharing thoughts about the future of publishing with various industry experts this year in order to come to plan for his publishing future. He says ‘It’s been years since I woke up in the morning saying, “I need to write a book, I wonder what it should be about.” Instead, my mission is to figure out who the audience is, and take them where they want and need to go, in whatever format works, even if it’s not a traditionally published book.’
Latest survey results predicts positive future for publishing
17 August 2010
It’s been a busy and positive first half of 2010 for digital publishing. Apple’s iPad has certainly had a huge impact on the digital publishing market since it’s launch and eased to a huge 3 Million sold – in just 80 days. The competition to the iPad is also set to heat up – see our recent post on the future devices that will compete with the iPad. There’s also been a number of iPad Apps released that have been classed as ‘sozines’ – dynamic publications that are populated based on a readers preferences such as Flipboard and Pulse. So a lot of developments in the last 6 months alone which has sparked a number of reports and studies that given interesting insights and predictions.
News Corp to launch new digital newspaper for iPad
16 August 2010
News Corp. is set to launch a new national newspaper which will be distributed on mobile devices, via a paid for App according to a recent LA Times article.
It is believed that the new digital newspaper is likely to compete with the other national publications including USA Today and The New York Times and will be marketed towards those readers wishing to consume their news ‘on the go’.
This latest news may not come as a great surprise to many, and has perhaps been on the cards since Rupert Murdoch CEO, News Corp. voiced his opinions for the potential success of the iPad recently “We’ll have young people reading newspapers,” he said during a recent conference call. “It’s a real game changer in the presentation of news.”
Digital Publishing approaches to Apple’s ban on nudity
12 August 2010
Steve Jobs and the iPad’s rules of ‘no to nudity’ has been well documented this year, first there was the removal of 5000 apps from the from the App Store, including many that were claimed to feature “overtly sexual” content. Then there was the famous exchange of words via email between Jobs and Valleywag’s Ryan over “Freedom from porn”.
Steve Jobs has stated “If we find these apps contain inappropriate material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in order to be distributed by Apple.”
Now as more Publishers look to make their content available on the iPad we’re looking into the various approaches publishers are taking….
What type of people read digital publications on the iPad?
10 August 2010
Sideways, the first magazine exclusively designed and written for the iPad, recently surveyed readers as part of the Magazine’s July Issue (June 2010 was the debut issue) and garnered an impressive 20 percent response rate with 93 percent completion rate. Sideways takes full advantage of the iPad’s capabilities to present stories that are immersive and engaging in ways that print alone is not.
Many of the survey responses were in line with the typical early adopter demographic. Results include the following: (more…)
Is Digital publishing under threat from Social Magazines?
9 August 2010
Over the last few weeks I have been watching the rise of social magazines or ‘sozines’ with great interest. For any of you who are not familiar with social magazines, they are dynamic publications that are populated based on a readers preferences rather than the content that the publishers decides to insert into that issue of the magazine.
A ‘SoZine’ is a publication that is of that moment, dynamic, updated on every launch . A digital publication or digital edition is an online recreation of a print publication, in which the content is (normally) static or fixed. (more…)
Digital Newsstands in the Sky?
4 August 2010
It seems that nobody can hide from the digital publishing revolution. It now appears that airlines could emerge as a serious contender in getting your publication in the hands of your targeted consumer base, especially for publishers in the travel industry.
Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that they are to replace their in-flight print magazine with a digital edition that can be viewed through their in-flight entertainment system. The airline has a total of 3 magazines: SilverKris, KrisShop and KrisWorld, all of which will be made available through their in-flight monitors. Not only will it save the airline the cost of printing the physical magazine but they will also save on overall weight and fuel expenses.
Are ABC audits needed for digital editions?
28 July 2010
After concerns were raised that publishers were excessively promoting the use of their digital editions to fatten up their circulation figures, ABC have decided to further define their definition of a digital newspaper edition.
While the digital editions phenomenon has been around for a number of years, the arrival of the iPad has catapulted digital editions into the limelight. What is concerning advertisers is that some newspapers are showing increases of 70% over a one year period.
Under the new regulations if a newspaper has a paid for print edition, in order to have the circulation figures from their digital editions added to their overall circulation figure then the publisher will have to provide proof that digital readers paid to read the digital edition.
Digital Publishing: A war is coming
27 July 2010
In any gold rush, there are always ones that knocked over or forgotten about in the rush. And in the race to monopolize the ebook sales channels it looks like traditional publishers will be pushed to the side. This was highlighted last week by the Wylie Agency’s announcement that they are to sell eBook editions of its modern classics exclusively through Amazons kindle store.
The Announcement (which was made at the launch of Odyssey , a new digital-only imprint set up to publish beautiful and digitally native eBook editions of some of the modern literary classics that TWA represent) has drawn severe criticism from their peers, no more so than Random House who also publish titles by the same authors. Upon hearing the news they forwarded a letter to the Amazon challenging their right to even sell the titles which are meant to be “subject to active Random House publishing agreements”.
