Publishers link up with
techies to ‘renew the book’
1st October 2015
E-readers, tablets,
blogs and even online video have shaken up book publishing over the past
decade.
Esther O’Toole has been
finding out about a Dutch competition that seeks to drive innovation in the
industry and is backed by publishers themselves.
It seems almost
unthinkable that it was less than 10 years ago that the first effective
e-readers came on the market, followed swiftly by the first iPhone and other
smart phones with e-reader capacities. Now, reading on your phone, tablet or laptop
comes as naturally to many people as picking up a book.
However, the question
of whether digital books and magazines mean the end is nigh for traditional
print media has still to resolve itself. As smart phones have become bigger and
better, e-reader sales have begun to slow. The number of e-book sales in
comparison to hard copy sales is still steadily increasing though, with 7% of
the Dutch consumer market being in e-books at the end of 2014.
Traditional publishers
are aware of the need for innovation in their industry and have now teamed up
with the start-up gurus of Rockstart to stimulate further change.
‘Everywhere in the
world publishers, whether in news, music or books, struggle with the internet,’
says Wiet de Bruijn, chairman of the Dutch publishers’ association GAU. ‘With
the Renew the Book project we say we want to stimulate change and we are not
afraid to admit that the best ideas might come from outside the publishing
industry.’
Challenges
Digitised reading has
affected the business models of publishers, book marketeers, libraries and book
shops. The global book market is worth in the region of €89m annually, so
there is plenty at stake and a big incentive for rejuvenation.
‘The first big wave of
disruption has hit its peak, so this is a good time for Renew the Book and to
start looking for new, long term, sustainable methodologies in publishing,’
says Rockstart’s Christoph Auer-Welsbach, who is running the competition. ‘It’s
clear from changes in the music industry that a lot can go wrong if you’re not
prepared to innovate.’
‘Publishers need to
re-examine their value proposition and think where they can improve upon it for
the industry, authors and readers. The experience of reading a book needs to
shift. I want different reading experiences for different times in my day, in
my life,’ says Auer-Welsbach.
Rockstart is putting
its very best publishing gurus and years of experience in the hands of the
Renew the Book winners. In turn, the publishers are providing a €15k
non-refundable grant to allow the winning team to build a solid and sustainable
foundation for their new business.
So, what are they looking for?
Renew the Book aims to
be low risk for entrants and thereby as accessible as possible. The aim is to
find ‘revolutionary ideas’ so the scope is wide open.
Ideas might range from
new forms of marketing that help book stores reinvent themselves and encourage
in-store purchases, alternative ways to manage the publication process from
start to finish or how gaming could be used to encourage children to keep reading.
‘While the ways we
publish and consume books are changing due to technology, the stories
themselves help us understand the world we live in,’ says Auer-Welsbach. ‘We
strongly believe books have been and will stay important for us as human
beings.
For more information,
visit www.renewthebook.com
Deadline for
applications October 12.
Read more at DutchNews.nl: Publishers link up with techies to ‘renew the book’ http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/10/publishers-link-up-with-techies-to-renew-the-book/
Read more at DutchNews.nl: Publishers link up with techies to ‘renew the book’ http://www.dutchnews.nl/features/2015/10/publishers-link-up-with-techies-to-renew-the-book/
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