The Bookseller.com

7th October 2008

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BA: collaborate or face extinction

29.11.07 Graeme Neill

Publishers and booksellers risk being wiped out by external competition if they fail to capitalise on the benefits of digitisation, according to the Booksellers Association’s Digital Task Force.

The think tank lays into the book trade for its “alarming” failure to tackle collectively the digital future in its report Embracing the Digital Age, published today. Written by BookData founder Francis Bennett and BIC chair Michael Holdsworth, along with a high-level working group, the report criticises publishers and retailers alike for not fully exploring the digital sector.

"The apparent reluctance within the industry to explore this [digital] opportunity serves no one’s interests," the report says. "However hard it may be, the book trade needs to puts its collective energy into managing its own future to take advantage of the opportunities."

It acknowledges that while some major trade publishers are investing in digitisation, "too few booksellers, either chains or independents, have publicly articulated any digital strategy, let alone invested".

The report follows a clash between publishers and booksellers in May when publishers declined to provide financial support for BA research into consumer attitudes to digital content.

A fresh raft of research into consumer trends is proposed by the report, as well as a conference early next year where publishers and retailers can have a "coherent debate about digitisation and the future". The report also proposes that BIC creates new standards for digital marketing, and that booksellers should have an online presence.

"We all know how difficult it has proved in the past to act collaboratively," the report says. "But unless we change our habits, there’s a real risk that we may not make the most of this opportunity—or indeed lose it entirely—because of the time taken to agree . . . what is needed."

Embracing the Digital Age (PDF)

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