Opinions, experts, formats, ebooks, books and trying not to yawn

I know I haven't put up a post for ages.  That's because why read me when every man and his dog is now an expert on ebooks?!  Opinions about ebooks are everywhere - on the online news sites, industry web sites, e-newsletter services.  The twitterworld is full of ebook profiles and there are tweets-a-million about all things digital.  Whether it's on social networking or media sites, comments about ebooks are everywhere you look.  There is no other news in the publishing world anymore.  We've lost sight of so many things and I'm seriously wondering if we've forgotten what to say.  What else is happening out there?  Take away ebooks and digital strategies, there's a long pause.  Occasionally someone reverts back to metadata and bibliographic workflows.  Perhaps physical distribution.  Outsourcing maybe?  But where are news stories about service, responsiveness, account management, promotions, content, the people that make this industry (other than the usual suspects).  No, it's all ebooks, ebooks, ebooks.

You listen to a podcast or an interview with an author, and it's almost the headline after the story.  "Oh, and it's also available as an ebook."  Yippee!  Congratulations to you, dear author, and wow dear publisher, I'm so impressed!  Did you say it like that in the past - oh, and it's also available in trade paperback | audiobook | hardcover.  No, you didn't really focus on the format.  It was in the marketing blurb and in bibliographic databases.  But ebooks are so hip and happening now.  But to me, ebook is another format.  It's something to respond to consumer demand - give readers the "p" or the "e" - and encourage them to read.  Sales patterns will change over time and your business will refocus accordingly.   But let's make sure there's lots and bells and whistles now around it.  Let's put out media releases and in sales kits to our customers - also available as "e".  Yes people rejoice with me.  Just remember the story of the publisher who did that, proudly announced ebooks in their promotion and then struggled with all the library calls - having totally forgotten the library market, library ebook vendors, and library suppliers.  Ah yes, what works in the consumer space doesn't always work in the library space.  Does it Harper Collins?

Yes, you've read this far and I congratulate you.  I'm a jaded woman.  After eight years speaking digital and fluent "e" for the library market, I'm totally bored by all the stories and tidbits that I see about ebooks.  I almost yawn now.  Ebooks are finally in the consumer mindset but at the same time it's become boring for me.  All industry articles focus on either "e" or POD.  Yes, they've fascinated me for years but I'm over it.  I'm over ereading devices.  Every second person I know has a Kindle.  A freakin' Kindle of all things.  Another sale to the giant that is Amazon.  Why Kindle? I ask.  It's the only name they knew. And it's another gadget - one that they'll use a lot, download a heap of books for the device, but in two years time will they still be reading from it? 

Maybe that's the thing.  I've encouraged, supported and promoted all things "e" for the library market.  Great for reference products and scholarly books.  Having digital content in an academic library is a no-brainer.  And I've helped with content acquisition for our ebook partners in other channels.  Naturally I'm eagerly awaiting the Blio product from Baker & Taylor for the library market - and have been involved with Australian publishers on that too.  I think it's just the consumer space that's finally caught up.  But it didn't just catch up.  It's flooded the market.  It's all anyone in the industry wants to speak about.  There are publishers left, right and centre trying to be digital gurus and show leadership in the industry.  There's digital directors on board with the trade houses now but goodness sake, do these people know the ins and outs of all sales channels in the market.  Do they truly understand everything from bibliographic workflows through to selling a book.  Yes, there are a couple in the ANZ market that do - and they know who they are.  As to the rest of you, seriously....?  You've hopped on the ebook bandwagon and you are probably really good sales & marketing people but do you have detailed knowledge about what goes on in all the markets in which you operate.  Having worked with you all, I don't think you do.  YOU think you do.  But not all the pieces of the puzzle fit together.  We both know it.  So don't try and bluff me.

I think I'll just sit back and watch all those downloads, all those zillion articles, all that restructuring, repositioning for the digital world ahead, the names Amazon, Apple, Overdrive, Kobo and others mentioned to the point of adnauseum, and pop on the lounge with a trusty book to escape the same articles that are churned out every day.  Did I mention the format I'm reading these days?  After two years of my e-reader at a personal level (as opposed to professional) it's more than likely to = shock, horror = be a physical book.  The ereader gets a workout for holidays but the rest of the time it's rather dull, lifeless and boring.  Yes folks the great novelty has worn off.  (After costing me a small fortune in downloads and still dozens and dozens of unread books on the device) I'm now cuddled up with the old-fashioned thing.  Remember it?  The book.  No "e" in front. Ah, those were the days my friends, those were the days.

Ebook vendors still have a lot to learn about their customers

Overseas media has been reporting on the "millions" of iPads, Kindles and other reading devices sold this Christmas.  I must admit, it was the first time in years of reading ebooks that family and friends started talking to me about getting an e-reader.  At work I'm asked every other day for my opinion on what device someone should buy, but it's such a personal choice.  I still use my old Sony ereader but I bought my partner the new Sony Touch and it's being used quite frequently thanks to the take-up of the device while we were on our extended holiday in Venice.

At a certain point, the physical books ran out and it was only a few clicks on a website to download some new and recent releases.  The interesting thing, it wasn't an ebook/online vendor that was chosen by my partner - it was the US publisher who sold the content directly from their website.  It didn't take long for the words "bookshops are going to die, aren't they" to be uttered as the transaction took place.  But here's where I disagree - albeit to a point.

Bookshops and libraries have such an important role to play for book lovers.  They recommend, they have the items on their shelves, you can browse and you are not reliant on metadata to make a purchasing decision.  There's nothing like picking up the book and flipping through it.  As always, the jacket grabs my eye first, the author's name, the title, the picture, and then I read the blurb.  I flip through it.  I've got an idea of whether or not it's my kind of book.

With ebooks we're reliant on the image and the metadata which can sometimes drive me up the wall.  Released this month often means "it's eight years old but like all publishers active in ebooks, we digitised it and released it as a new edition, technically it's available this month so we can say it's new, grab your attention, and you buy it, yeah lucky us, we get the sale and you get an older book.  Sorry did we say it was new?  Of course we did, it's new in "e"!" Yeah, thanks publishers.  As you know from this post in April 2010 - I don't appreciate this.  Publishers please put it somewhere in your ebook data the book you are saying is "NEW" is in fact new as an ebook and it was originally published in year x.  We don't want dishonesty in our transactions with you and if you want us to engage in reading and support of an author, do the right thing, and put the right information in the metadata. 

Speaking of which, I'm now officially jaded with the ebook vendors I choose to buy from.  And this is where Amazon could teach them a million lessons.  Just because I buy ebooks, doesn't mean your weekly or monthly "new releases" email should be so general it's almost unappealing.  Haven't you noticed the sorts of books I read?  Build up a profile on me as your customer and start targetting "new" releases better.  Apple does it brilliantly.  I can't begin to tell you how many songs on iTunes I've downloaded because of their recommendation - whether it's on purchasing information from their other customers or it's on the Genius programming.  It's A LOT.  And I've enjoyed being introduced to new bands along the way. Of course the difference is it's a 3-4 minute entertainment experience whereas a book can be weeks, but the point needs to be made.

Ebook vendors should be noting that I purchase historical fiction.  Let's nut this down a bit more.  I read historical fiction set from the Plantagenets through to the Tudors.  I read authors who write about Venice between the 15th and 19th centuries.  I read most books set in medieval and Renaissance Italy, particularly Tuscany.  I read fictionalised accounts of lives of artists, poets and writers.  And when the mood takes me, I like to escape to Ancient Greece, Rome or Egypt.  So with all the technology you have available, do I want to know about new ebook releases from Jack Higgins and Colm Toibin representing action and mystery?  Hello.  You've lost me.  And no, while there may be romance in the historical fiction I'm reading, that doesn't mean I want every Harlequin release.  And no, putting them in a bundle, won't entice me either. I do not want the traditional romance genre. And yes, when you send a "Focus on New Historical Fiction" ebooks, that was fine.  But did you need to add all the historical romance books too?  Ebook vendors have A LOT TO LEARN about consumer reading behaviour.  A new ebook release is just that.  But for goodness sake, match it to the reader.  It's what booksellers do.

Dialogue with bookseller.  So Rachael, how did you like the last Sarah Dunant book?  Didn't really work for you?  That's a shame.  Have you read anything by Marina Fiorato.  She's got a new book out "The Botticelli Secret".  I'm sure it's right up your alley.  In this particular case, I've already got the print book, because yes I do like reading Marina Fiorato and I enjoy having some books in print to share with families and friends who may be interested.  Of course, I could have bought the ebook.  Afterall, it's Allen & Unwin who has published the title here - a publisher I admire and respect because they lead the way, particularly in "e" - and their website links me to their ebook vendors.  If one of the ebook vendors had just thought to alert me to the release of the ebook, I may have considered it.  But no, I'm happy to have the print in this case ... BUT as a consumer I would have liked the choice and with so many books published every month, someone needs to help me navigate that.  Getting on ebook portals and trying to search for something I'd like to read can be a real drain at times.  Their searching abilities are poor.  The metadata average.  They don't understand the consumer. 

The hard part is, there's a MASSIVE wave of consumers now jumping on the ebook bandwagon here in Australia.  They have their devices but they haven't really thought about acquiring content for them (the new Sony for example didn't even reference the Sony library because it's only in the UK & US!) Yes, consumers know about getting the public domain classics for free and there will be a zillion downloads for these.  For a while they will experiment with ebook portals and click, click, click.  But what are they reading and how can their purchases be influenced?  Amazon and Apple know how to do it.  It's time for the other ebook vendors to lift their game.  And for publishers to support them with accurate metadata that educates the consumer, encourages a purchase, and more importantly another one in the future.

In the year of the ebook, what counts and what doesn't....?

I'm writing this blog from the Frankfurt Book Fair.  If you are keeping up-to-date with the press coverage from Frankfurt, it's the "year of the ebook", it's all about the digital marketplace, ebook here, ebook there, ebook everywhere.  Yet for those of us who speak fluent "e" it's quite amusing.  We've spoken ebooks for years.  But it seems ebook sales in libraries don't count.  Ebooks through publisher databases and web portals don't count.  Most of my meetings with academic publishers now report on "p" vs "e" sales and the figures are quite interesting, depending on the depth of the "e" range offered to library ebook vendors, how long they've been active players in the ebook market, pricing of the books and simultaneous release.  Some STM publishers are sitting above 60% "e" sales, however the majority probably sits around 30% and growing at double - or triple - digit figures.  To hear it's the year of the ebook is funny for those of us in library supply.  Because we don't count.

On the library front, the major ebook players are well established - EBL, ebrary, Netlibrary, myilibrary.  How do they feel when they hear about the year of the ebook? Some of them have played in this ebook domain for over a decade.  Their sales are not insignificant.  But they don't count.  They've worked on content acquisition with academic, professional and scholarly publishers for many years.  It must be nice after being in the marketplace for over a decade, in some instances, to hear you are now in the spotlight.  But it's not them that are in the spotlight.  No, No, No.

You see it's all about the trade.  It's about booksellers and how they fit into the equation.  Not the giants - like Amazon (with the Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (with the Nook).  It's about getting fiction and non-fiction titles to the general consumer through other players.  Google Editions will be huge with retailers.  Kobo is growing their marketshare here with the Red Group.  Blio has launched in the US and will come to ANZ next year. Independent booksellers - large and small - can play in the ebook arena as long as they have a website.

But again, we're forgetting there are other players providing back-end service to booksellers - OverDrive, Ebooks Corporation, Gardners in the UK.  The latter advised they have over 100 publishers and 100,000 ebooks in their offer to retailers. They've worked at their strategies for years.  Nice to know their time has come!  I'm sure they count.  Because they supply to the wider book trade.

But let's extend the ramble.  There is one really hot topic in all the noise regarding ebooks.  And it's also to do with counting.  However in this case, it may be counting the loss.  TERRITORIAL RIGHTS FOR EBOOKS.... 

It came up in many of my meetings with publishers with regards to book distribution - not library ebook vendors.  If you are distributing the print product, particularly in the academic and scholarly arena, you have seen library supplier sales change.  Library suppliers work with ebook vendors who provide services that work with a library management system.  Many sales are the "one-sies and two-sies" across an entire range.  Overall it makes an impact to your business.  But library supply, at say 10% of sales, is small.  It's TRADE distribution that's going to hurt. 

Publishers being wowed by ebook vendor arrangements for booksellers - particularly Kobo, Blio and Google Editions - are not always thinking about their agent or distributor on the ground in Australasia.  They are not thinking about cannibilisation of print.  They aren't thinking about inventory, publicity, sales and marketing.  All important roles of the agent.  They aren't always thinking about communications to their sales agents and distributors about the possible effects.  They are going directly to the retailer via the ebook wholesaler - bypassing the normal and traditional book supply chain.

I've discussed it before on this blog, but in the year of the ebook (in the trade, that is, not libraries!), how are we going to carve up the ebook pie.  There isn't enough to go around.  The role of the sales agent/distributor is going to change.  And substantially change. Wholesale terms cannot be applied to both the distributor AND the ebook wholesaler (the Blio's, Kobos etc).  The ebook wholesalers have their terms.  For a distributor, a revenue or commission stream is all that one can really hope for.  How is the publisher going to account for that, what will the percentage look like, and will it be enough to sustain the supply chain we've known and loved all these years (yes, that was sarcasm in case you missed it). 

Publishers are trying to hold onto world ebook rights because carving up the digital world is not what many want to do.  Distributor roles are changing and substantially.  Publishers need to keep in mind they have a sales and marketing partner in the ANZ region who performs a core role with placement of product, raising profiles of authors, publicity, service etc.  There are costs associated with these services.  Offer the books on the ebook platforms that bypass that arrangement and don't communicate that to your agent.  Priceless.  Yes, that will make it the year of the ebook for sure.  With consumer demand growing for ebooks and print sales constantly under threat, how many distributors will walk away from the print altogether?  Publishers need to think about their established business relationships and partnerships in this territory - and find some way to blend it all together in a way that grows the business and recognises the important role a distributor plays.  Because look at the fine print of your contracts - to sign up with all these players selling directly to the retailer is no doubt a contractual breach.  Publishers overseas need to take a good hard look at the ebook supply chain, work out how they are going to play with the ebook vendor to retailers, what the role of the sales agent/book distributor is in all of that, and how to carve up that pie.  There's a new business model out there.  What it looks like I don't know.  But I do know: we all need to make it work and it has to count for something.

A learning curve for many publishers

How times have changed. I've been having ebook discussions with publishers now for well over seven years. Granted, they are discussions based around the library platform and working with our library customers. Not always a publisher’s favourite type of customer particularly with their requirements. There’s always access issues, pricing models, and various sticking points in any ebook agreement with libraries. What a library wants and what a publisher is willing to offer nearly always varies - and varies dramatically in some instances. As a leading trade publisher said to me, I'm currently selling 30 copies of this book to this library consortium. You think I'm prepared to sell one for the same price but have 30 people access it all at the same time? I don't think so.

But taking libraries out of the equation, ebook discussions with publishers are now very very different to seven years ago. They are listening more. They are engaging more. However if you listen really closely, the verbs they use often sound the same. You get used to listening for the "doing words". When discussing ebooks – whether for direct to consumer, retail or library models – I am still hearing the words like "daunting", "challenging" and phrases like "experimenting with ebooks" or "experimenting with a variety of business models". There’s nothing definite about ebooks. Everyone is looking at this in a slightly different way. The one thing they have in common – is that they are now looking at them. And taking them seriously.

In many ways, Amazon paved the way. Took over the US ebook market and then released The Kindle to the rest of world. There was a surge of interest when the Kindle came to Australia. But I’m putting it down to Apple and the consumer response to the iPad that pushed publishers further. After years and years, ebooks were at the top of their “to do” list. Finally! Everyone’s thinking of them, everyone’s talking about them. The world has gone “e” mad. We’ve got Kindles, Apples, Sonys, Kobo, Blio, Google Books. And no doubt more on the horizon.

We finally have Digital Directors on board with many trade and academic publishers locally. If not, there’s an ebook project manager. When you talk about ebook production, you have people on board who know what you are talking about. If you start talking about DADs, publishers here are aware of their options. There’s only a few names that crop up but I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am that when you mention DADs to a publisher, they now know what the hell you are talking about (Digital Asset Distributor).

The publishing environment is learning. We're moving on – still slowly when you’ve been talking “e” as long as I have. But it’s moving, and I’m grateful. And while content has been predominantly backlist, many publishers are working on simultaneous release. Ebooks are becoming part of the production process. Publishers have concentrated on digitising their core content. It's been a learning curve for many publishers. File format has been a subject of interest and everyone is learning as they go along. Publishers are thinking about hardcover, trade paperback, paper and e. They are getting content management systems in place, contract negotiations are moving along, ebook vendors are part of the supply chain, and publishers are looking at the digital world in a different light.

But there are still concerns. Imported titles are top of the list. Where do they stand in the “e” world and how are local publishers being compensated for sales generated in the ANZ market. There are more discussions to be had and much to learn along the way.

Is there any other news today?

It's been several weeks since I put up something new on this blog. Back then I was rambling about new ebooks not really being new, but new in e. Today there is no ramble. In fact, there's really no other news today. Other than the one story. Yes folks, it's all about Apple. The iPad finally went on sale here in Australia. At one point today the top 5 stories on the SMH website were all iPad related. Facebook friends are putting news of their iPad purchase in their status for all to see and comment. Industry colleagues have rung today to see if I had one and what did I think. And one of our sales representatives popped into my office and asked "big day today, where is it?". Lo and behold I will disappoint you all. I haven't got one. Mind you, I haven't got one on order either. I'm still reading on the plain old Sony e-reader. How dull it looks now in comparison. Look what else is out there. Colour, magic, Apple. It's a new world. So what's wrong with me? Does this mean I'm an alien? Afterall I'm still reading p-books. Yes, you remember. Books. Printed books. After a year of reading ebooks I've decided I actually prefer to read the physical book. Yes it's heavier, but the batteries don't die out, I can read it in direct sunlight, I can read it for the full time on a domestic flight, and of course I can read it in the bath without fear I'm going to drop it and waste hundreds (if not thousands!) of electronic purchases stored on the device. (OK, they are backed up, but let's not go there today). But then I haven't got an iPad. Would my world change dramatically if I had one? Or would it eventually be treated as yet another device. Another gadget. I don't know. But I do know one thing. Congratulations are in order to Apple for making the iPad a subject on most people's tongues. Regardless of age, just about everyone knows about the brand and their new product. Congrats to Apple for creating such extraordinary demand for their devices. The publicity, the promotion, the marketing, the commentary. Apple didn't really have to put a lot of materials out there. And I had to laugh when my email came through today that had the simple heading of "iPad is here". They really didn't need to do much more than that. So today was iPad day here in Australia. I expect it to dominate conversations for the foreseeable future. And I will think about my alien status and the changed world of today...

The ebook reading experience, Apple, Kindle et al

I must say I'm enjoying reading all the reviews of the iPad since its U.S. debut on April 3rd. One of the reviews I liked the most was from the LA Times where they spoke about differences between the Kindle (being the market leader) and the Apple ipad (the choice of the next generation) in terms of the book reading experience.

While it might not be on the top of the lists for some people, personally I was really glad to hear about the traditional page designation, that you could view two pages across the screen (if it was your preference), and that Apple has a grasp on what it's like to turn a page. The process of selecting a book, reading it and turning to the next page is part of the established reading experience. At least those of us of a certain age! As those of you who have followed this blog since the early days - particularly my friends and industry colleagues on Facebook (where I have it linked) - you may remember I wasn't a fan of the delay between pages on e-readers, the screen going black or the words fading out and then replaced by new ones. You were conscious you were reading something electronic, something that was processing data, something different…

E-readers also display the number of pages left – which of course vary depending on what font size you were reading with in the first place! The Sony PRS 700 displays the data as your current page number of the total page count. Amazon's Kindle does a percentage bar. To the reviewer in the LA Times, this was “data” but I don’t necessarily agree. You want to know how you are going whether it’s number of pages or percentage read.

Yes it can sometimes be discouraging when reading books like “Pillars of the Earth” – some 1,000 pages in its printed form and much more in its electronic! Luckily I was caught up in Ken Follett’s story otherwise I would have groaned at the thought of another 1,000 pages to go. However I must admit there has been the odd book where I’ve noted what page I’m up to, the number of pages in the ebook, and thought “how am I going to make it!?”. Then again that’s no different to the physical book. But I’m more prone to flip the pages of the printed book and glance across the text to see if I want to continue with it. I’m not particularly good at doing that on the e-reader because I have such concerns about losing my page. I’ve done it countless times. While it remembers where you end off each time – starting up exactly on that page when you switch the device back on - when you start going backwards and forwards through the text it starts to get really annoying if you didn't note where you started. I’ve had to search for text to find my original location - otherwise it could be hundreds of page turns to get back to where I was.

Anyway, I’m rambling.Back to the subject at hand.

Another item that is consistently mentioned with e-readers is the glare. Apparently one of the strengths of the Kindle is its non reflective screen. I don't have a Kindle (never liked the look of it myself) and I don't like the "clunkiness" of some e-readers like the ECO/Hanlin. The touch screen of my Sony is fine (was relatively unique at the time of purchase) but the glare from lights is dreadful.

In comparison to the multi-functional iPad, regardless of glare, touch-screen, weight etc all e-readers on the market have now paled in comparison. They are the beta model. They look boring, dull, and grey. I looked at the e-reader yesterday and the shine had gone. It looked like something that was going to end up in the rubbish heap.

Interesting to read Mike Shatzkin's comments on the iPad, particularly the weight of the device and the whole process of search & discoverability within the various ebook portals. iBook has a long way to go with content and with their data management. Finding what you want to read is half the battle and I can perfectly understand where Laura Dawson comes from every time she mentions metadata. Ebook vendors neeed to understand the reading experience and what a reader is looking for. Help us find what we like! I beg you. In the meantime, Mike doesn't believe the iPad won't put all other e-readers out of business. He believes it will help grow the market but "the makers of lighter and cheaper e-ink devices don’t have to leave the field just yet." Will be interesting to see how it all pans out for those readers of ebooks, their chosen device and the reading experience they prefer.

The impact of the agency model

Much has been said about Apple's agency model and the impact on ebook pricing. Look at what happened with the Macmillan/Amazon clash a few weeks ago. Macmillan wanted to change it's trading terms with it's largest customer and move towards the so called "agency model" for ebooks. The feud between supplier and customer received an amazing amount of publicity in general, trade and business media. I read much for and against each party in the altercation. Both sides had their supporters. There were Amazon loyalists (and by God they are a loyal bunch!) And there was the publishing and bookselling community who was glad to see someone taking back some of the power they shouldn't have given away to their largest customer in the first place. Granted, ebooks wouldn't be where they are today without Amazon firing up the Kindle. And I shouldn't really think of them as a customer. They play so many roles that my head spins with what Amazon controls - afterall, they are the supply chain leader, printer, publisher, ebook influencer, visionary. I could ramble on but today's blog is actually sharing the letter that Sony e-reader customers received today:


Dear Reader Store Customer,

The publishing industry is turning a page and so are we.

Beginning April 1st some major publishers will be instituting a change in the pricing of eBooks, which puts decisions on eBook pricing firmly in their hands. As a result, prices of bestsellers and new releases from these publishers will be changing on the Reader Store, and during the transition time, some titles may be unavailable. Although most of these eBooks will be priced from about $12.99 to 14.99, there will not be a broad pricing change across the Reader Store. In fact, new releases and bestsellers from other publishers will still be priced at $9.99.

Starting a new chapter can be a good thing. With this change, you may see more of your favorite books available in eBook format at the same time they’re released in print. Book lovers like you are driving a revolution in digital reading and the Reader Store is committed to providing you access to the widest selection of digital reading content. Since its inception in September 2006, Sony’s Reader Store has introduced a wide offering of new releases, bestselling eBook titles and newspapers. Today it features access to more than one million titles and links to borrow eBooks from local libraries nationwide.


Must say, loved the reference to "turning a page"!!!

Will be interesting to see if there is a backlash. I don't think there will be one although the $9.99 price point has been a brilliant introduction to ebooks. Now we're reading them, I doubt a few more dollars will make any difference whatsoever. Your thoughts?

Where do you think Apple will go with the iPad?

Is it just me or is most of what is being discussed in the digital media world with regards to ebooks purely centred around the iPad? Is there any other device in recent times that has attracted such attention, focus, debate or interest?

Today I read on ChangeWave all the stats from a survey of over 3,000 consumers that shows a huge wave of demand for the iPad. I'm sure we didn't need a survey to know that - I've mentioned the quote from last year's Frankfurt Book Fair's Supply Chain Meeting again and again on this blog ("it will be Apple, it will be cool, and everyone will want one").

It's not surprising to read Amazon, Sony, Barnes & Noble will all take a hit when Apple launches. That's because they went for a device that was predominantly an e-reader with wi-fi (or without for some of the Sony's on the market). The bells and whistles options haven't been great - music for some, notes for others, nothing that really stands out. Which is what Apple has done. They've created something more. Apple has the convergence of technology we've been waiting for. Of course there will be many lookielikies in the coming months. Everyone will want a piece of the ebook pie.

According to the survey, the belief is the iPad will capture an astonishing 40% of the e-reader market in the first 90 days after its launch. The survey further showed demand will continue to strengthen (it will be cool remember!) and once iBook is launched it will further enhance the offering, however from what I can gather Apple will be using the publishers epub files. That means if you receive epub files from your ebook vendor (or directly from the publisher) you don't need to buy from the iBook store. So in my mind iBook has to offer something more. The full multimedia offering.

The other concern relates to cost - if you can buy your $9.99 epub ebooks from Sony (who matched Amazon's pricing strategy for their lead titles), why would you buy from iBook at a higher price? The Apple agency model has been commented on by industry leaders and insiders for some time. With a 30% cut (assuming the information is correct), Apple might not be able to compete on price unless of course they go the loss-leader route like everyone else.

I'm not privy to digital rights or pricing information but I imagine the last thing Apple will want is readers buying books from other ebook vendors and reading them on the iPad. It defeats the purpose of the iBook.

Then again, I buy all of my digital music from iTunes because it's there and it's at the right price point - I don't need the whole album, I choose the songs I want, and I try out ones I don't really know but has been recommended to me based on a purchase or the Genius app. I listen to music all the time and wish the iPod I got for my birthday a few years back had a lot more memory (it only holds 1600 songs and I have thousands more that aren't coming across to the device). Music and reading are very different pursuits and take up different amounts of time. I go via iTunes because it's what I've done from the start. I didn't know any better and I've been a loyal customer from the beginning. Of course everyone wondered why I was buying music solely from iTunes ("buying" is the verb I'd like to emphasise here. One colleague wondered if I was the only person they knew that actually paid for music but that's a different discussion altogether!). So I linked into iTunes, I love the iPod, and I continue to search the site for new experiences. But with an iPad I already know the ebook vendors, I've purchased from several of them, I know their offering. Would I be loyal to iBook from the beginning if they don't match on price? We have the US$9.99 mentality. It will be interesting to see where Apple goes with their pricing and their digital rights strategies.

And of course Australian publishers won't want to go down that path at all. Their pricing policies have strongly centred around the cheapest print edition. But the consumer expectations for ebooks does centre around price. What will Apple do in this marketplace to meet consumer expectations set by their competitors? And how will publishers respond?

On another matter altogether, I loved reading today on Teleread about Apple iPad accessories and a wishlist. Apparently Jeff Bezos of Amazon reads his Kindle in the bath by sealing the device inside a special Ziplock bag. I've mentioned previously that I love reading in the bath but I'm not going to read an electronic device near water (I have enough problems getting the printed version wet!). If there was an accessory that I knew was safe and secure, would I try it? Will be interesting to see whether Apple comes up with something that can be used around water or food. Some sort of protective device sounds great. Then again, would I still use it in the bath? Hmmm, that's a question that I don't know the answer for.

Trying to get a piece of the ebook pie

OK. I've worked in this publishing industry for some 20 years now and the past seven years in library supply, I've worked with thousands if not tens of thousands of publishers and suppliers. We have to have a business relationship with every possible vendor as our library customers expect it. We are here to service our customer's needs and meet all their collection development requirements. From new title alerts to promotional material to books on profile to shelf ready services, we have to provide the full mix. The full kit and caboodle as you can imagine.

As the country's leading supplier to academic and public libraries, we are used to working with publishers and suppliers of all different philosophies, business models, customer service principles, business etiquette, professionalism, organisational efficiency. You name it, we know the ins and outs of our purchasing partners. We know what makes them tick. What they do well, what they don't.

Then along comes ebook vendors. A different model. We've worked out the library workflows and watch the dollars transfer from print to e (as you would know if you saw my presentation at the Digital Symposium recently - see last post for full text of my talk). But library ebooks are one channel. Ebook vendors targeting the direct user - either with (or without) a bookselling partner - seem to be coming out the woodwork. Every day there's a new one "getting into" ebooks. Is it my imagination because are they all starting to look and feel the same?! We have Kobo in one corner (great talk at the Symposium BTW Michael!). We've got Blio in another but of course they're not interested in getting content from Ingram Digital because of fierce competition and will go direct where possible to publishers for ebook content. We've got the mighty Amazon, Sony, and of course Google. There's Overdrive who power various booksellers sites as well as the Australian readwithoutpaper.com There's ebooks.com Now O'Reilly is getting in on the act! And so on and so forth.

Ebook vendors launch with all their marketing spin and "bells and whistles". But put them all together, stir them up a bit, and what do they really offer that's different for the end user? With all the larger players, the interface looks pretty similar, the ordering process is usually a few easy clicks, the content isn't remarkable - if it's in ebook format, it's usually there. How do you stand out? If you are an ebook vendor what attracts your customers to you above everyone else?

If you're Amazon, you got in early and got marketshare. You've got millions of loyal customers. Fiercely loyal. You've got the data, the purchasing history, and the clout. And if you're Apple? You've got something everyone has on their wishlist - the iPad. But how are you going to distinguish yourself with ebooks? How are you going to think and act like a bookseller, like a publisher? Amazon's being doing it for years. Apart from already having millions of customers ready and waiting, what are you going to offer that is different to everyone else?

For example, when I think about ebooks, marketing and distribution, I know what I want from my ebook supplier. As an individual who reads ebooks, I can tell you I want a superior browsing service, I want to be able to find titles of interest quickly, clicks to relevant genres, my favourite authors, click click click. I want to see an image, a good description, recommendations, information about the author, and possibly a preview. Has the book won awards? Does the ebook vendor really know books? Can they get the metadata and the target marketing down to a fine art. They have the technology and the customer demand for the e-reading experience. They won't last if they don't get the customer experience right. But when everything starts looking and feeling the same, will we ever get to know them inside out and back to front? I don't think so.... the game has moved on.

So Apple FINALLY released it!

Yes folks, Apple has FINALLY launched their tablet device. And what a launch. Did anyone NOT hear about it I ask you? Talk about hype! And when the moment arrived, the device wasn't called the iTablet or iSlate as rumoured. Instead they opted for the iPad.

The marketing of the iPad is now in full swing. Just hop onto the Apple (US) website for demos. (The Australian site didn't even have the product listed when I checked earlier...)

It seems we've been waiting for this for some time. A thin tablet that appears to have it all - web, email, photos, video - with the touch of a finger. 10 hour battery life, wireless etc. Tick Tick Tick. And then there's the apps. 140,000 of them. It will even run the apps you've already downloaded to your iPhone or iPod touch. I must admit the price surprised me - I did think it was going to be much more expensive - so I'm glad they've kept it reasonable.

With the launch of the iPad, Apple entered the digital publishing world in a big way and announced the iBook portal. It wasn't a surprise they created their own. We have iTunes for music so naturally iBook was next.

We know the ebook market has taken off in the U.S. and to a certain degree in the U.K. Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs said Amazon had done a great job with the Kindle and ebook focus but “We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a bit further,” he said.

Five of the world’s leading publisher including Penguin and HarperCollins have already signed up to supply content. I suspect they will all follow. They'd be crazy not to! I keep hearing the comment from the Frankfurt Supply Chain meeting last October: "It will be Apple, it will be cool, and everyone will want it".

Anyway, I've yet to hear from Australian publishers what they think about the launch of the iPad and what it means locally for ebooks. Another sale going offshore I suspect? I'm not privy to rights discussions on this one but from what I gather most of the management of ebooks has been done at Head Offices overseas and the local offices get "compensated" accordingly.

I will catch up with many publishers in the coming weeks for general business meetings. Ebooks are always on the agenda even though many local publishers don't control their ebook offer. I also expect there will be some lively discussions at the APA's Digital Symposium. I've been asked to speak at the Melbourne one -- for all of 10 minutes! -- on ebooks for libraries so it should be a very interesting day!! :-)

The Apple iTablet: should we believe the media?

It's been coming for years (apparently!) but according to today's Sydney Morning Herald, Apple is preparing to launch a tablet personal computer in late March or April 2010. It will be their launch into the digital book market which is controlled by Amazon's Kindle at present. The article said "Apple declined to comment". Is anyone surprised by that? Has anyone from Apple ever confirmed there is a tablet coming?! I'd have to dig around the web to find out the answer to that one....

Anyway, according to the "analyst" the tablet will have a 10.1-inch multi-touch LCD screen similar to that of Apple's iPhone. The books will sold on a non-exclusive basis and it seems they've requested only a 30% discount from the publishers as opposed to Amazon's 50% (which is pretty much the ballpark for the ebook vendors).

Interestingly, the SMH article didn't mention price. It was the cnet news that mentioned the $1000 price tag. (I'm assuming US dollars) OK, if it does lots of whizz bang things, including a fabulous experience with ebooks, would we be happy carrying around a device at that price tag day in, day out....?

Also, there is a big take-up of ebooks using the iPhone now. The head of one of the largest ebook vendors said to me recently that he reads everything now on the iPhone through the Stanza app. Absolutely addicted! I don't have an iPhone and while the screen is clean and it's easy to use, having the look and the feel of the traditional book is my preference. The larger screen works better for me. But he loved sharing his experience with me and I'm always open to everyone's reading experience whether it's e or p.

As I've said time and time again, consumers will read whatever way they want. Print, an e-reader, on their laptop, on their iPhone. And I still believe e and p can live in harmony. There will be a percentage of cannibilisation but I think it won't be anywhere near as high as 50%. And I still feel ebooks and ereaders will bring new readers into the book loving community. Anything that encourages people to read is surely a good thing?

But back to Apple, is it coming or isn't it? I can't help but think of those supply chain gurus at Frankfurt and the line they left us all with "It will be Apple, it will be cool, and everyone will want it". I wait for further news...