Brave New World


Author : Martyn Daniels

Originally Published : November 2006

Digitisation and Internet access are neither new, nor bad for bookselling and publishing. They have already brought about significant changes and benefits to the booktrade. Sectors such as STM, Academic, Legal and Professional have already engaged with the digital market and created digital formats and, as a result, publishers such as Reed Elsevier have reported a 15% growth in digital income in 2005. The booktrade has also benefited from Internet sales, printon- demand technology, audiobooks, and significantly richer and more accurate bibliographic information. We now find ourselves at the dawn of a new digital era, one that will bring about the development and availability of a wide range of trade books in digital format. The impact and speed of change is highly debatable, but what is certain is that change will continue and its pace will accelerate.

What is fuelling the digital changes? What do we know about the potential impact on the booktrade? What can we predict about the future? How will these changes affect booksellers, bookselling and the way we do business today? If booksellers wish to align themselves to this emerging market, what should they consider doing and when should they do it?

Authors are engaging with the emerging market. Authors see digitisation as an opportunity to exploit and build their own brand. Midlist and backlist authors see it as an opportunity to gain greater visibility, renew careers and reach a new audience. New authors see it as an opportunity to be discovered. Are there things booksellers should be doing with authors that they don’t do now?