Impact of Digital Technologies on the Publishing Industry
1. Google Images: static.Pexels.com (goo.gl/ItPFgh)
writingto meet the quotanot the reader
technologies revolution on the book industry and writers alike
2. Google Images: Wikimedia.org
“[Initially] literature found itself at war with the internet…[but] digital technology and
the rise in the digital culture has allowed authors and publishers many more new
creative opportunities to develop 'the book' further and reach readers [1]”
3. Google Images: pixnio.com (https://goo.gl/CXnMQH)
Industry Before
Books being strictly sold in Paper Copies
4. Google Images: static.Pexels.com (https://goo.gl/R90dGA)
Industry after
Introduction of eBooks, eReaders, Audiobooks, Book
Apps, and Subscription Services
6. For Every
100Print Editions sold,
114 Kindle editions [are] sold [2]
Average Kindle owners buy
4x MORE BOOKSthan before owning the device [2]
Flickr: lynn.gardner (https://goo.gl/EHdYvr)
8. “screen-based reading is more physically and mentally
taxing than reading on paper…prolonged reading on glossy
self-illuminated screens can cause eyestrain, headaches
and blurred vision [3]” - Ferris Jabr
Google Images: wikimedia.org (https://goo.gl/5xRtNR)
9. Aside from costing money for the device itself, eReaders
can easily be hacked risking privacy of the user [4]
Google Images: static.Pexels.com (https://goo.gl/TsLI0M)
10. Google Images: wikimedia.org (https://goo.gl/9fJ0WI)
Breach of Privacy From eReader Companies
“e-book retailers are now able to tell which books
we’ve finished or not finished, how fast we have read
them…we have come to live with the fact that
anything can be found out. Today “the
information” is anonymous; tomorrow it may well be
just about us [5]” - Francine Prose
this was never an issue with paper copy literature
11. 60%of books purchased on devices are never opened [6]
Flickr: Thomas Hawk (https://goo.gl/rCm4al)
12. The ability of accessing literature
with the tap of a finger results in the
loss of significance books have,
leaving some author’s pieces work
left unappreciated and waiting to be
deleted to free storage for others
Flickr: Wiertz Sébastien (https://goo.gl/P5RT1d)
14. “an author who ostensibly did all the things authors do when working on their
books—slowly crafting narratives, painstakingly choosing words, deliberating
over the lengths and tones and rhythms of sentences…it had never occurred…
that people might listen to the book at 2x speed in order to ingest the
information at a quicker rate [7]” - Ashlee Vance (Author of Book)
“LOVED the book. Listened to it on Audible at 2x speed and
finished it in three days. Couldn't put it down. Congrats!”
Review
Speed Listening:
“Cutting through silence, pauses, and
interludes to obtain information from
text quicker [7]” - Megan Garber
Google Images: Flickr.com (https://goo.gl/PFQVXf)
15. Google Images: static.Pexels.com (https://goo.gl/UN8ANr)
When the point turns into consuming literature for information
quickly rather than the experience and pleasure. It can be very
discouraging to writers who take the time to craft a story,
only for it to be breezed through for the important parts
17. With the accessibility of “All-
You-Can-Read” services. The
endless options creates
reader fatigue. For authors
alike, constantly trying to add
to the services slowly causes
some novels to become mass
market literature due the
need of catering to the
mainstream audience
Google Images: static.Pexels.com (https://goo.gl/SzdWu8)
18. increase of mass
“There is a time and
place in many
people’s lives for the a
50 Shades of
Grey knock-off
series that sells for
$1.99. For many
readers, literature
that is good
enough, set at the
right price, will
suffice [8]” - Edward Nawotka
Google Images: wikimedia.org (https://goo.gl/iXi0aF)
market literature
in ebooks to cater
all-you-can-read
market
19. Authors begin losing their voice and passion so they can write what sells
Flickr: Allan Rotgers (https://goo.gl/966E7L)
20. Companies like Amazon are beginning to
pay authors per page that consumers
read instead of the book itself [9]
Google Images: static.Pexels.com (https://goo.gl/5kB7Yq)
21. “Your rabid romance reader who was buying $100 worth of books a
week and funnelling $5,200 into Amazon per year is now generating
less than $120 a year,” she said. “The revenue is just lost. That
doesn’t work well for…the writers [10]” - Holly Ward
Google Images: PublicDomainPictures.net (https://goo.gl/ipWl00)
22. Will we continue treating authors this way?
Possibly hindering those who will leave classics behind for
our generation and generations to come.
Flickr: Amelia-Jane (https://goo.gl/eBIKND)
23. [1] Belton PWall M. Did technology kill the book or give it new life?. BBC. http://www.bbc.com/news/
business-33717596. Published 2015. Accessed March 1, 2017.
[2] Matrix S. Module 3 Lecture 1. 2017.
[4] Disadvantages of E-Books. Wikispaces. 2017. Available at: https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/
IST432TEAM10/Disadvantages+of+E-Books. Accessed March 1, 2016.
[5] Prose F. They’re Watching You Read. The New York Review of Books. 2017. Available at: http://
www.nybooks.com/daily/2015/01/13/reading-whos-watching/. Accessed March 1, 2015.
[3] Jabr F. The Reading Brain in the Digital Age: The Science of Paper versus Screens. Scientific American.
2017. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/reading-paper-screens/. Accessed March 1,
2014.
[6] Kozlowski M. People are Not Reading the e-Books they Buy Anymore. Good E-Reader - eBook, Audiobook
and Digital Publishing News. 2012. Available at: http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/people-are-not-
reading-the-e-books-they-buy-anymore. Accessed March 1, 2017.
[7] Garber M. How to Finish a Book Without Reading a Page. The Atlantic. 2015. Available at:
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/the-rise-of-speed-listening/396740/.
Accessed March 1, 2017.
[8] Nawotka E. "Good Enough" Literature and the Beauty of the Mass Market - Publishing Perspectives.
Publishing Perspectives. 2013. Available at: http://publishingperspectives.com/2013/08/good-enough-
literature-and-the-beauty-of-the-mass-market/. Accessed March 1, 2017.
[9] Wayner P. Amazon Is About to Start Paying Some Authors Every Time Someone Turns a Page. The
Atlantic. 2015. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/amazon-publishing-
authors-payment-writing/396269/. Accessed March 1, 2017.
[10] Streitfeld D. Amazon Offers All-You-Can-Eat Books. Authors Turn Up Noses. Nytimescom. 2014.
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/28/technology/amazon-offers-all-you-can-eat-books-
authors-turn-up-noses.html?_r=0. Accessed March 2, 2017.
References