The Publishing Industry - Sick, Dying, Dead?

No one with any interest in the publishing industry could have failed to notice the amount of media coverage that has, over the last few years, discussed the decline of (or even the anticipated death of) the book publishing industry.

There is obviously no doubt that the publishing industry is changing rapidly. David Marshall, the VP of Digital and Editorial at BK, said in a recent meeting that people are anticipating 25% of book sales to be digital by 2012, and 80% to be digital by 2020. Observing the amount of people already replacing newspapers/books with digital devices on public transport today, this prediction seems entirely plausible. I myself managed to complete an entire MA degree in History by only once venturing into the library to read an actual book, the journals I required were always available online.

Yet I don’t really understand how people go as far as to equate the rise of e-books with the ‘death’ of the publishing industry? People are still reading content written by authors and edited by publishers, it just so happens that this content is presented in a different format.

I admit that I still find some aspects of how the publishing industry relates to the new digital wave fairly confusing, and it is a topic I want to talk to more BK staff members about during my placement. Those I have spoken to so far have left me feeling less anxious about the industry’s future however, as they have unanimously said they are 'excited' about changes in the industry.

This is reassuring. It has also led me to understand that those who try to fight the digital changes in publishing will be left behind. Therefore, if I want any chance of entry into/survival in the book publishing world then I will have to become 'excited' about the digital changes too!