Publishers and retailers are exploring new ways to package and price digital book content and we can learn quite a bit about this by looking to other content industries. We’re talking more frequently about bundling and subscriptions, but there’s a little less chatter about paywalls and I think that’s because the jury is still out on whether it works for our counter parts in newspapers and magazines. But it’s worth examining now to stay on top and ahead of things.
Global Ebook Domination through Better Metadata
Kobo’s Ashleigh Gardner gave an information-packed workshop at Technology Forum 2013 that covered some important tips and trends for selling ebooks internationally. In this video you’ll learn some pricing basics and how to ensure your ONIX records have all the information necessary to sell your books into as many territories as possible. And you’ll also get country-by-country pricing trends and tax structure tips that will help inform the decisions involved in selling your ebooks worldwide.
The State of E-Lending in Canada
This year, at Technology Forum we spent some time getting to know our librarian partners better. We shared information and found new ways to collaborate. This is why I brought Susan Renouf and Ken Roberts in to give an information session on March 6th about the state of e-lending in Canada.
Future-Proofing Publishing
This year, Technology Forum 2013 closed on a particularly inspiring and energized note with Robert Wheaton’s presentation called “Future-Proofing Publishing: Lightweight Technologies Publishers Should Be Watching Right Now”. Robert is VP of Strategic Digital Business Development at Random House of Canada and the fearless leader of the Hazlitt team. His background in inventory management at Indigo and web development in the arts gives him a unique perspective. He has a vision for publishers and on March 7th, he had attractively packaged it in an Indiana Jones metaphor.
The Definition of a Bestseller
Learning to Be Truly B2C
We all know that publishing must become increasingly consumer-centric, but few of us really know how to make that happen. B2C marketing has become a priority for publishers but there is a lot more to becoming a consumer-centric business. While publishers have traditionally considered themselves taste-makers, if not gate-keepers, that dynamic needs to change as consumers are becoming an increasingly active participant in the retail environment. Consumers have a more powerful voice and the expectation to be heard. This is influencing many industries, and a market-driven approach is proving to be critical to the success of companies across industries. This is why, this year, I’ve focused the Technology Forum programming on B2C thinking. This is a vague term that covers a lot of ground as you can see from the programming confirmed so far.
From Digital Literacy to Digital Fluency
From The AtlanticIt’s a new year, and whether or not you believe in resolutions, this is still a great time to implement improvements, make changes and better ourselves.
I find professional resolutions easier to stick to than personal ones (I simply refuse to cut back on red wine) and given that January 1st more or less coincides with the start of the conference season, this is a great time for you to make a few promises to yourself, to better your skills and recommit to innovating in your business or department.
An Inspiring Example of B2C Marketing: blogInk
Pack Your Books We're Going on a Field Trip
Getting Editorial Insight from Consumer Data
As e-book publishing matures, the need for consumer insight becomes more urgent and the lack of it makes businesses increasingly vulnerable. The only analytics available with print were sales and reviews which didn’t make for a particularly enlightening post-mortem. Eventually with the web you also got customer reviews/ratings, blogging and social chatter, but we’re only now beginning to monitor these things systematically and they don’t always make it back to the editorial group.
