E-books are rapidly displacing sales of books and transforming the way the public understands and accesses information. Thousands of people search for pirated books online every day, and more are likely to follow, as e-books become the norm rather than the exception. Digital distribution of books influences traditional channels in various industries these days especially the Ebook, one of the prominent but understudied settings. Amazon launched its first Kindle in 2000 the EBook market is vibrant amounting to $90.3 million in the US in 2011. The reports by Amazon.com, the largest online seller of print and eBooks, reported that Kindle book sales surpassed Amazon’s total hardcover sales in July 2010, and surpassed the total print sales as of April 1, 2011. The impact of eBook on print book sales resulted in cannibalization and controversy to both practitioners and academics. Publishers worry that the potential cannibalization would hurt their hardcover sales, from which they traditionally earn most profits and tend to delay e-book publishing. The objective of this report is to examine the impact of digitization on the Amazon book publishing industry and suggest ways that the Association of Amazon Publishers and its individual members meets the challenge of dealing with that impact.

The objective of publishers and libraries

Publishers and libraries aim at providing access information, although they operate from two irreconcilable perspectives. Publishers exist to make money for the access they provide while libraries exist to provide that access free to their clients and scholars. Publishers are not happy that libraries lend their books free on a regular basis, as they do not get enough clients for their services, who may prefer the free service by the libraries. Large part of copyright law’s first sale doctrine ensured that once a copyright owner sold his/her work, a library had the legal right to lend that book to its patronsHowever, the advent of e-books has destabilized this tenuous relationship between the authors and the libraries. E-Books are rapidly turning printed books into an antiquated commodity and are gaining popularity with consumers while the hard copies remain underutilized. e-books channel low-tech manuscripts into the modern, connected world. E-books offer readers several advantages over published ones since they are convenient to use. An e-reader is about the size of a slim paperback, yet can store over one thousand e-booksin memory for the user to read at his/her own time. One downloads the content a through the wireless connection, and readers can comment alongside text, bookmark passages, and have their e-books read aloud. E-reader owners purchase about 2.7 times more books than they did prior to owning the device. The surge in e-book popularity has left the publishers shuddering in fear, as their publishing work is likely to reduce.

The impacts on digitization are                                                        

Maintaining copyrights

A copyright is a form of intellectual property right that protects an author’s manifestation of an original work from any unauthorized users or business people. Copyright protects ‘original works of authorship fixed in a tangible form of expression. The majority of copyrighted material production is in a handful of industries, such as art, music, film, books, publications, software, architecture plans, and so on. Simply put, the purpose of copyright is to create a legal mechanism that allows the producers of creative works to collect revenues from those who enjoy the benefits of creative production (usually consumers). The intention of this legal protection is to solve the problem associated with copyrighted works, such as creating additional copies leaving the producer with little incentive to create the original works.

Threats to publishers

E-book publishers earn close to $4 to $5 per e-book, according to recent pricing structures from Apple and Amazon, a figure similar to what they get from selling a hard copy. There is still a significant opportunity to increase revenues and margins through a clear multimedia strategy that can succeed in many different channels, new and old, although competition drives prices down. In the light of the uncertainty and the strength of new players, publishers might want to take an asset-light approach, avoiding big investments in IT systems to focus on content development and generating additional demand. The most relevant threat to publishers is if new technology allows authors to sell digital rights directly to online stores. The most likely areas where this will happen are on opposite ends of the spectrum, which will make the publishers lose some of their earnings from eBooks.

The effects on the printers

E-book growth brings more threats than opportunities for printing companies, as they normally have less work to print leading to low profits. E-book growth will drive down volume sales, essential for countering the costs of large, expensive printing machines in the printing companies and organizations. In the short run, these players will need to focus on the sub-segments that are still not typically digital, such as illustrated books, or on countries where digitization is low. For the long term, they must prepare for a future in which digital books become more widespread

Effects onDistributive companies

E-book proliferation will affect distributors more than printers, as they rely on distributing hard copies to consumers. In the most aggressive scenarios, there remain significant opportunities to consolidate the market profitably by restructuring operations, rethinking service offerings, reducing costs and managing the customer base better. The leaders can succeed while broadening their services and offerings through efficiency improvements, including optimized logistics networks and redesigned internal processes. New services could include new digital printing, digital warehouses, promotion and advertising on the e-market, and distributing other product categories.

Effects of e-books to Booksellers.

Traditional booksellers will have difficulties if by e-book business grows, because of low sales. Even if we estimate that about 30 to 40 percent of e-book sales will lead to new revenues, the remaining amount will likely cannibalize existing sales. Lower prices may force book retailers to provide more discounts and promotions, which would affect all the profits. A business that cannot make any profit faces closer, such as the case with bookshops from independent dealers to major chains. The larger chains can mitigate the impact by adopting a multi-channel strategy that includes e-books in their online selling portfolio, although the act might not solve all the issues.

The effect on the newer players

While facing incredible growth opportunities, the newer players in this e-book market face some threats during their operations. The new players are theTelecommunications companies that face some impact on their revenues from increased data flow over their networks. Major revenue changes could come from offering more services to existing customers, and by assuming the role of technology and data provider. A market flush with small publishers coupled with the complexity of managing and updating large product databases could make these firms excellent partners for large book retailers.

The other new players are the Media Companies in which E-book devices’ expansion into different areas along the value chain could result in downward integration, such as bundled offers that combine devices, content, and platforms. Device manufacturers will also suffer as Amazon and Apple dominate the market, leaving limited opportunities for other manufacturers in some markets.

Recommendations:

The Amazon publishers should encourage and help members to adopt the best practices where they are compatible with members business models. Wherever possible, publishers should acquire digital rights to the content to exploit on behalf of them and their creators. workflow processes in order to position themselves to be able to manage the market and exploit their digital assets. The Amazon should develop a series of professional development sessions that explore the following issues: Rights ownership, contracts, dealing with creator’s Best practices in producing high quality, widely usable P

DFs, including streamlining the digital interface with printers

Digitization services seminars with panels of suppliers focus on costs and streamlining the process, of digitization. Best business skills might be a more formal program, possibly developed in partnership with the Organization of Book Publishers and academic institution of which many of the seminars are continuously necessary to enlighten the participants.

The Amazon should develop a core of mentors in different areas such as a special focus of its existing mentorship program. The specialized group should include lawyers, technical e the digital rights management internal systems and external service case studies of companies who are doing their own.

The Amazon should also explore the impact of the changing marketplace on publishers and creators, including representatives from music, film/TV, and gaming industries. Printers should explore the possibility of working with the key printers like Friesen’s to co-present seminar on production flow, best practices in producing PDF’s. Many of the recommendations will ease the tension on the stakeholders in the e-books libraries, more so the Amazon.

Conclusion

like to follow the e-books as the norm rather than the exception. The reports by Amazon.com, the largest online seller of print and eBooks, reported that Kindle bo the total print sales as of April 1, 2011. The most relevant threat to publishers is if new technology allows authors to sell digital rights directly to online stores. E-reader owners purchase about 2.7 times more books than they did prior to owning the device. Publishers should work toward streamlining and digitizing their internal workflow processes in order to position themselves to be able to manage market and exploit their digital assets.

CLICK BUTTON TO ORDER NOW