E-Book In Publishing Industry - Essay Example

E-Book in Publishing Industry INTRODUCTION ‘Electronic Book’ refers to the digital format of a book and is commonly known as ‘E-book’. It is also known as the ‘Digital Book’. With regard to the e-book, the contents of the same are displayed on the screen of a computer or any handset device that supports the e-book format (Lee, “E-books: Understanding the Basics”). Conversely, the written and printed contents in a plane paper or any form of printing papers are known as ‘Printed Book’, which is different from the e-book concepts (Vassiliou and Rowley 355-368). In this regard, it is observed that the pages of the printed books are glued or sewn together in one side and hence, published in this format. Further, the distribution of the information, literature, music, academic contents, research papers, and many more, to the mass is known as ‘Publishing’. The publishing of a book is known as ‘Book Publishing’ and it is a big form of industry. Book publishing is of two types depending upon the format of the book. The one is of the ‘printed books’, while the other that is of the digital format is known as ‘e-book’ (Ho 1-389). Contextually, the essay intends to analyze the prospect of the printed books under the threat from the technologically advanced e-books. Moreover, it also proposes to analyze the prospect of printed book industry in the future day context. HISTORICAL EVIDENCES OF PUBLISHING The evidence of publishing first came from an around 30,000 BC when the ancient human drew one bison and two rhinoceros in the ancient caves of France. However, it was around 4,000 BC when the Egyptians first used the hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs are the formal writing system that contains of logos and the alphabetic elements (Houston 1-181). Until105 AD, the writing of the information and data were only limited to the stones, rocks, bricks and many more. Then came a period when the Chinese first invented paper for sharing information and as a medium of communication. In 868 AD, the ‘Diamond Sutra’ was created. It is the first book in the history of book publications. The book consisted of the wooden blocks where the printing was done (Shi 1-250). However, the first paper printed book published is the Bible by the Gutenburg in Germany (Jeep 1-928). The first newspaper that was released to the public was in the year 1690. The newspaper was known as ‘Publick Occurrences’ and was an American-English newspaper (Sloan and Parcell 1-373). In the year1731, the first magazine ‘The Gentlemen’s Magazine’ was printed in London. Moreover, through the advent of technology in the last quarter of 18th century, the printing of books became more convenient and it became one of the largest industries of that era. Furthermore, with regard to advancement in technology, in the year 1993 the first smart phone that was invented named ‘Simon’ by IBM. In 2000, another important aspect social media networks like the Face book, Twitter, Blogs and more have emerged. In addition, to the aspect of social media the emergence of the various publishing tools like the Kindle, Android, and many more have taken place from 2007 (Haydn 1-185). PRESENT SCENERIO OF PUBLISHING The publication of the books has taken a wide range of change through the advancement of technology. In terms of the printed paper books, the technology advancement through the digitalization of the printing device has made a significant change. The digitalization has enhanced the quality of printing at a higher level, simultaneously the time taken for printing of a paper has also gone down to a considerable extent. However, the multiple printing capacity of printing device at a single point of time has increased. Thus, it has made printing at a more advanced level, both in terms of quality and quantity (Kipphan 1-1002). Moreover, it can be noted that book publication is mostly seen in the subjects like Literature and Social Science. It is also observed that book publication mostly takes place in the UK region (Wischenbart, “The Global eBook Market: Current Conditions & Future Projections”). In the present day context, the typical activities of a publisher include the collection of manuscript from the writer. This is followed by the production of books from the manuscript of the writer. Last but not the least, one of the most significant aspects of book publishing is the selling and distribution of the books that are being produced. This has become the most significant factor or activity of publishers because it brings the revenue to the publishers. The sale of the books takes place through several sources and various marketing dimensions. These include libraries, book sellers and wholesalers, government agencies, individuals and book clubs, and many more. Another most important source to sell the books that has been very popular and most effective is by convincing the academic heads like Principal, Dean, Headmaster/Headmistress, and many more. The convincing activity would result into multiple sales of printed books in a single go (Thakur, Thakur and Khan 1-11). Contextually, in the modern days, book publication promotion has also emerged as one of the key factors for the sustainability and the growth of publishing houses. The promotion of the books takes place through holding seminars, workshop, symposia, and through organizing funding book fair, exhibitions, and festivals. Sponsoring various academic events and more is also one of the key steps to promote the books of the publishing houses (Thakur, Thakur and Khan 1-11). However, with the onset of e-book in the market, the printed book organizers are facing a stiff challenge. The market of printed book is already being highly affected by the introduction of e-book. Still in many schools, colleges and universities, e-books are much acceptable. The book lovers are shifting at a mass number into the digital format of books. The e-book publishers similar to that of the printed book publishers collects the manuscript from the writer and then converts it to digital form and finally distributes it by various means. The market for e-book is almost similar to that of the printed book. However, it is observed that the maximum sale is through online mode. Moreover, in e-books the promotional tool that is significantly used is the online media as it reaches a wide area (Chandel and Saikia 148-154). MERITS AND DEMERITS OF PRINTED BOOK Merits. One of the key significance of the printed book is the tangibility of the book. The reading of printed books is of easy level. The reader gets very comfortable in reading a printed book. Moreover, the publishing of printed books is associated with a prestige for the writers. The writers desire to have a book written in the printed form and to be read by everyone (Phillips 1-158). The writer gets high self esteem when he/she finds his/her writing published in the books. This type of esteem and prestige writer does not find in the electronic device of printing. This is psychological impact that the printed books have over the writers. The writer at the time of delivering the manuscript to the publisher gets his/her payment. Sometimes, the writer also gets payment well in advance before the submission of the manuscript (Garvey, 1-320). The author does not have to bother for the sales and distribution of the books as the author has to in the case of e-books. The complete responsibility of the sales and distribution is taken by the publishing house. Furthermore, in printed book publishing the author gets the complete support from the publishers in his/her writing. It is a team game and the coordination amid all the members makes the objective to be successful (Asai 1-276). Additionally, the publishers have the access to the wholesalers and the distributors and hence, do not have to bother all time for new channels (Booth 1-192). Demerits. There are several demerits of printed book that has made printed books to be on the threat of survival. One of them is the high cost of production of the printed books. The high cost of production makes the price of the books comparatively higher level and hence, gets the threat from substitutes (Hakala 1-198). Moreover, the publishing of the printed books takes more time as because of the additional operation of binding and many more. This gives rise to the high operational cost of the books. Also distribution of the books to the hands of the consumers also takes more time as it passes through multiple channels (Singer 1-167). Furthermore, printed books are not portable and carrying multiple books to the academic institutions, become troublesome for the heavy weight and its large volume (Hakala 1-198). MERITS AND DEMERITS OF E-BOOK Merits. E-books are growing at a good rate from the past few years. This is simply because of some of the advantages that it possesses. One of the key advantages of e-book is the cheaper price of the books as compared to the printing books. There are also some e-books that are free to be downloaded or viewed from the internet. Thus, the e-books are extremely popular among the readers (Davis 1- 608). Moreover, the e-books can be stored at a large volume on the electronic devices. The reason being e-books have a memory, which is negligible to the capacity of the electronic reading device (Dhir 1-656). Another key aspect is that the fonts of the e-books can be adjusted as per the convenience of the reader (Hursh 1-158). Further, the readers can also switch to any book in his/her list in the device at a very negligible period of time. The reader can also find any word or sentence from the contents of the book conveniently through using the ‘find’ option. Furthermore, e-books are very portable. The readers do not have to worry about carrying multiple books to his/her academic institutions or somewhere else. The electronic device is very portable and supports multiple books and can be carried easily as per the convenience of the people (Rosenthol 1-218). Moreover, e-books can be availed at a very quick time. The reader can download the same by purchasing and start reading within a very few minutes. This is extremely helpful when people require quick information and do not have the time to visit the library or book store (Prechter 1-458). E-books also provide links through which the readers get to know additional information about the related topics. Further, e-books also contains video audio messages that the author shares. This creates and provides a more clear understanding to the readers (Fawcett 1-134). E-book also does not require shipping time and cost for the import and export of books from one country to another. This aspect provides cost benefit and time benefit to the purchasers of e-books. E-books are also printable and hence, if a reader wants to read the book in the traditional approach, the reader can print the contents and read as per his/her convenience. Moreover, the e-books can be easily sold as it does not require channels like wholesalers, distributors and others. These e-books are generally directly sold to customer through the internet media. People staying in the remote places and islands can easily avail the e-books through the use of internet (Linton 1-272). Last but not the least; e-books are environment friendly as it does not require cutting trees and making paper and print to make the books (White 1-1298). Demerits. Despite having some of the significant merits of e-books, there are also some demerits associated with it that cannot be avoided. The most prominent disadvantage is the inconvenience of the reader in reading the e-books through the electronic screen of the computers or other gadgets. Majority of the people feels uncomfortable in reading through the screens of the computers or tablets or any other devices. The readers might affect his/her eyes through the constant looking at the lighted electronic screen that to from a very close distant. Most of them also feel headache through the continuous vision of the same (Khosrow-Pour 1-10358). Moreover, for reading e-books an additional device is also required. The devices here are the computers, laptops, tablets, and more. People who do not possess these devices would be deprived of reading through e-books (Shelly and Vermaat 1-96). Further, one of the most decisive concerns for e-book publishing companies is the threat from piracy of the contents from e-books. Piracy of e-books significantly affects the sales and hence, the revenue collection of the e-book publishing companies. The piracy of e-books is due to the availability of the books online (Sullivan 1-237). This is also a troublesome for people in the emergency situation where he/she is looking for information but the electronic device if crashed. Moreover, it can be noted that e-books do not support in some of the devices. It also does not support in some of the operating systems like the MAC of Apple computers. Further, it is also seen that computers, tablets and more that are required to run e-books are still unavailable to a large number of people. Another vital aspect with regard to e-book is that people are not yet tech savvy in various parts of the world and thus the market of e-books might face challenges in these areas (Palmer 1-544). CRITICAL ANALYSIS With the passage of time there has been a significant evolution in the publishing industry. The printed book industry that has been one of the largest sectors is presently in the verge of survival. This is mainly because of some of the major advantages of e-books over printed books. One of the key factors is the cheap price of e-books as compare to the printed books. This is mainly because of the various additional costs associated with printed books like papers, binding, distribution channels and many more. The operational and the distribution cost linked with the printed books refer to the high cost of the book in the market (Davis 1- 608). Likewise, due to distribution channels like wholesaler, retailers and more the time taken by the book to reach the end customer is more as compared to that of e-books, where direct sales to the customers occur through the internet. It can also be noted that the production process of the printed books is very lengthy, where the binding of the book consumes more time and hence, the time taken for the printed book to reach the customer as compared to that of e-books is more. Some more benefits of e-books that can only be availed on the electronic devices are the adjustment of the fonts as per the convenience of the reader, using find option to search words or sentences from the context and more. These are some of the benefits that cannot be availed in the printed books (Dhir 1-656). Moreover, e-books can be stored at large number in the storing devices like CDs, pen drives, hard disks, and many more. The reason being that e-books are of very less memory consuming and hence, takes less space to be stored. Moreover, e-books are portable in nature and can be carried along with the help of electronic devices anywhere without extra burden as in case of printed books. This helps the students and others who needs to carry multiple books. Printed books are heavy and consumes a lot of volume and hence, not feasible to carry a large number of books with ease. Further, in e-books the switching over to other e-books can be done at an ease as compared to that of the printed books. The e-books at times also have some links associated with it. These links help the reader to find related contents and have more comprehensive understandings. It also contains some video or audio messages from the writer and helps the reader for the same. Furthermore, the e-books can be printed and read as per the convenience of the reader. Last but not the least; e-books do not require papers and hence, are eco-friendly as compared to that of the printed books, which are composed of papers that are made from trees (White 1-1298). Today in the contemporary society, this aspect of saving paper through the use of e-book is providing this industry new height. Although, there are some of the significant benefits of e-books over the printed books, but there are certain loopholes as well. In this context, it can be stated that printed books are tangible are more convenient in reading as compared to that of e-books. E-books that are displayed on the electronic screen emit continuous rays that may affect the eyes of the reader and also cause headache (Khosrow-Pour 1-10358). Moreover, the printed books do not require any additional device to be read. This is unlike in case of e-books where e-book reading devices like computers, tablets, and more are mandatory. People who do not have the electronic gadgets will not be able to access e-books. Without the access to those devices e-books is of no use. There are certain places in the world where there is no internet facility and also the e-book reading devices. These are some of the places where the market is of monopoly for the printed books. It can also be noted that e-books do not support some of the operating systems like the MAC of Apple and more. This is unlike in case of printed books, which do not require operating system to be read and hence, more reliable. Further, printing of a book in a tangible format with a cover page in the front, and many more. Subsequently, the printed books published promote the prestige of the writer as well. The writers do not feel such prestige when the books are published in the e-book format. Furthermore, the printed book publishers have the access to the wholesalers and the distributors. They do not have to concern as such about the sale of the books. This is unlike in case of the e-book publisher where the sale is direct. With regard to e-book one of the greatest threats is the act of piracy. This curtails the sale of the publisher and hence, the revenue and the profit of the industry in large (Sullivan 1-237). CONCLUSION As per the critical analysis, it can be noted that there are certain advantages of e-books over the printed books. Simultaneously, there are certain advantages of the printed books over the e-books, which cannot be denied. However, on critical point of view as per the perspective of the modern readers, e-books are more attractive. This is majorly because of the cheap price, technologically more convenient and the portability of the product. Moreover, on a critical note, as per the perspective of the publishers, e-book market is more attractive. This is prominently because of the growing demand of the same and the cheap cost of production. Further, the most devastating concern for the publisher is piracy, which can be encountered by undertaking serious legal actions through the support of the government of the respective countries. It is also advisable to have a uniform International Law regarding the piracy and implementation of strict penalties to the offensive individual is desirable. Thus, to conclude, it can be stated that e-book can flourish in the publishing industry in the coming future. Works Cited Asai, K. Ravindran. Informatics. India: Ane Books Pvt Ltd, 2010. Print. Booth, Caroline. Strategic Procurement: Organizing Suppliers and Supply Chains for Competitive Advantage. The US: Kogan Page Publishers, 2010. Print. Chandel, E. S., and Mukesh Saikia. “Challenges and opportunities of e-resources.” Annals of Library and Information Studies 59 (2012): 148-154. Print. Davis, Barbara Gross. Tools for Teaching. The US: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Print. Dhir, Amit. 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