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BA game on for digital

15.05.07 Liz Bury

We must act together! We must act quickly! No, this wasn't the rallying cry of the environmental panellists at the Booksellers Association conference last week. It was the call of the BA's new Digital Task Force, led by former Nielsen BookData chairman Francis Bennett.

Bennett's forthright speech in Harrogate predicted the possible closure of many high street bookshops if large publishing houses pursue their web strategies in isolation by selling content, particularly in non-fiction (maps, recipes, reference) online. He called for collaboration between booksellers and publishers in building a digital market for the future.

Bennett said that "a unilateral decision by publishers to sell direct will mean a restructure in the market", and that it would lead to "fewer outlets" and "retrenchment"; but rather than accepting such changes as an inevitable result of market forces, the book industry ought to work together to create an alternative future. He said: "My plea is: consider that we will all make gains if we collaborate."

His speech caused something of a kerfuffle in Harrogate. Representatives and members of the PA in particular were "a little surprised" at Bennett's tone, according to Ian Hudson, chair of the Trade Publishers' Council and deputy c.e.o. of Random House. "What could have been a rallying cry was slightly more combative than it needed to be," Hudson says. "It was an unfortunate choice of positioning." Publishers were concerned that Bennett's speech could be seen as implying that they are shunning their old business partners in the digital era.

The Digital Task Force comprises Bennett as chair; Michael Holdsworth, former m.d. of Cambridge University Press, who is working as a consultant on the project; Douglas Schatz, Stanfords m.d.; Helen Baker, Waterstone's head of e-commerce; Bill Samuel, Foyles vice-chairman; Angus Hayman, W H Smith Direct general manager; Vic Smith, Blackwell's business systems manager; and Jo Willetts, EUK head of sales and marketing.

Its overall aim is to ascertain the role of booksellers in the digital world and to come up with a blueprint, by the end of October 2007, that will set out the practical steps for booksellers so they can sell digital products to customers.

In order to do this, the DTF will be talking to publishers to find out more about their digital plans, and to booksellers to find out what they are doing and what support they might want or need. It will also consult with online pioneers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft to understand more about how they will operate in the books space in future, and hopes to commission research from Book Marketing Ltd into how consumers want to buy and consume electronic books.

"I cannot sit and say I have a golden answer," Bennett says. "I don't. This is a genuine process of investigation into what role booksellers might play in selling digital content to consumers."

Digital dreams

The bout of—albeit mild—politicking in Harrogate comes after a summit called by the BA in Godalming in January, at which it proposed that the task force and its market research should be jointly funded by the BA/PA. The PA declined.

"We support the concept of more research in the industry," Hudson says, "but this particular research was asking book buyers how they might consume digital content in the future. We feel the timing is wrong and we're not sure what response it will get—many readers won't yet be aware that there is such a thing as an e-book."

The PA believes that such research ignores the possibility—even probability—that digital books may take very different, even unknown, forms in the future. "They might be published chapter by chapter like the original Dickens," Hudson says, "or a recipe might be sold individually. Consumers don't know the options that might exist."

Bennett disagrees, and says that researching the needs and wants of book buyers will provide vital information to help craft a role for booksellers in the digital market. "I designed BookData by listening to what people say they want," Bennett says. "The marketplace will never design a product. People will be stimulated to give responses and they will confirm or deny the ideas that we have as we go along. In my view it would be bonkers not to research what consumers want." The BA will fund the task force's work, and is also currently looking at ways to fund the consumer research.

BA chief executive officer Tim Godfray says that the BA wants to support booksellers "in taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by the digital age", and that it hopes to do so "in partnership with our publishing colleagues". "We have a variety of options for information-gathering open to us, of which research is one tool, and we are scoping out which path to pursue in that area," Godfray says.

Long-time bookseller and BA member Willie Anderson, John Smith & Sons deputy chairman, backs the task force's approach: "The BA is doing the right thing by supporting and funding the project. At the very least, the move has brought the debate out into the open, and by so doing may make the whole digitising challenge more understandable to all booksellers. I believe that with a better understanding, booksellers may well realise that they do have a part to play. Without the debate, those opportunities could slip by unnoticed. The task force and the BA can't make commercial decisions for their members, but they have a duty to bring issues of concern to as wide a membership audience as possible."

Market fragments

Another point on the DTF's agenda that makes publishers feel uneasy is the call for traditional booksellers to be considered the "primary" channel for the sale of digital books. "It is going to be a multi-channel environment," Hudson says. "We want to support booksellers—there is a lot they could do to gain real advantages—but it is going to be a multi-channel environment."

Bennett stops short of using "primary", since the term caused so much concern among suppliers. "I am not saying that booksellers should be the only channel," he says. "They may be a possible channel, and I hope we will be able to prove that."

Positively partners

Despite what may seem to some like a negative response from the PA, Hudson is keen to make it clear that publishers are offering their support in other ways.

"We do very much support the fact that they are putting together a task force. We have offered people, knowledge and expertise to help the task force and booksellers move forward; and also independent publishers, because we want to bring them with us, too."

Knowledge-sharing between parties will be subject to any non-disclosure agreements that publishers may enter into with business partners. (This is an important caveat, as discussions over the launch of a new e-book reader, for example, might fall into this category.)

Outgoing PA president Stephen Page, c.e.o of Faber, also welcomes the project. "Faber attended the Godalming meeting with the view of supporting an initiative that is central to the BA, and we continue to be very available to work with the task force. This is a really good venture that the BA has begun, and it will find very open access to the expertise that publishers have been building up.
"What will be required, however the BA gets it, is a vision. It needs somebody who really can lead that and who sets out a vision of where they are going."

Meet the Americans

In the US this week, Bennett and Holdsworth attended meetings of  the International Digital Publishing Forum, the trade association for digital publishers, and Book Industry Study Group, the US cross-industry association for research and supply chain standards and policies. "We want to see exactly what's happening in America and to see how things are developing," Bennett says.

The picture in the US, Hudson believes, is "even more important" than the domestic scene. "The digital market in the US is more advanced," he says. "New technology is launched in America. The digital revolution will be driven by American companies—they are going to bring content to a digital marketplace in America, regardless of what we do here."

Hudson urges booksellers to "go with the momentum" of the changes in the market, to "learn from it and really prosper". "Create a store environment where people want to come and browse," he says. "Have instore terminals to enable customers to search stock. Why not offer customers the opportunity to buy online from your website while they are in the shop, rather than go home and order from somewhere else? Strike a deal with Amazon, if need be. Think about print-on-demand for larger stores—then you can offer all books in print. The answers were all there at the BA conference."

Flagship Feature Liz Bury Booksellers Association BA Francis Bennett Digital task force

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