BookExpo America 2009: Book Publishers: Please Don’t Be Like the Music Industry!

Here's an interesting post from Publisher's Weekly:

By Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 5/30/009 7:09:00 AM

The case could be made that Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson, author of the new book Free and the Long Tail, the seminal work that outlined a new paradigm of Web-enabled book searching and selling, is the patron saint of this year’s digitally focused BEA. At last night’s panel, “Jumping Off a Cliff: How Publishers Can Succeed Online,” Anderson was joined by Scribd cofounder Jared Friedman, New York Times digital guru Nick Bilton and the moderator, PW/LJ’s Andrew Albanese, in a conversation that can be heard all around the convention floor: What can the book industry do to avoid the unfortunate fate of the music industry? 

The short answer to book publishers is: don’t act like the music labels and turn your companies into a disruptive force that comes between  readers and the real product—writing and writers. Anderson began by describing a book industry dominated by “costly, monopolistic supply chains” that seemed much like the ill-fated music industry. But Anderson went on to say that unlike the music CD—described as the wrong unit for music, sold at the wrong price—“There’s nothing wrong with the physical book,” he said. “Long battery life, high resolution pages, easy to read, you can give it away—it’s a superior format,” he continued to some laughter. “The digital formats are great but they enhance the physical book rather than replace it.”

Read the rest of the article here.

I just finished reading a wonderful book (an advance copy) that the publisher sent to me in digital format. I don't want to read a bound ARC or, even worse, a bound manuscript anymore. For that matter, I'm resistant to reading a trade paperback or hardcover — especially fat ones. I want to use my very comfortable, light-weight Kindle 2. It is so easy to balance on my book pillow with just a couple of fingers of one hand while I read in bed and perfect for reading when I'm riding my exercise cycle.

However, there are still books that I want to own in physical form, reference books and research books chief among them. While I can "highlight" and make notes in my Kindle, sometimes I want to see the yellow and pink and blue colors on a page. It helps me remember the passages better.

While I am a bona fide fan of ebooks on my Kindle, I agree with Mr. Anderson: “The digital formats are great but they enhance the physical book rather than replace it.” In fact, there are a few books that I have liked so much on the Kindle that I've purchased the physical book too so I can have on my shelf. Such is the life for a lover of books.

~robin