The Bookseller.com

7th September 2008

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Trade snubs digital taskforce

20.03.08 Graeme Neill

The Booksellers Association’s Digital Taskforce appears to be dead in the water after one of its founders said there were “no plans” to take up its recommendations, four months after its report was published.

BookData founder Francis Bennett and Book Industry Communication chairman Michael Holdsworth wrote the report, Embracing the Digital Age, last year with a high-level industry working group. Among its recommendations was the suggestion that a new cross-industry group be set up to carry forward digitisation issues; that universal digital marketing and content standards be derived; and a conference be held to further debate the implications of digital issues.

But Bennett said that since the report was presented to the BA Council several months ago, he had been told of “no plans” to take it further. “There’s been no official reason given,” he said. Bennett believes that “intense competition” is behind the inertia. “Everyone continues to believe that their answer is the right one. As I have said on many occasions, that’s not very helpful.”

However, the BA said that much of its work in the digital spectrum was taking place through existing channels. The BA/PA Liaison Group is working with BIC on developing digital standards and the next liaison group meeting will be solely dedicated to examining the issue. It said that it will hold seminars on blogging, web marketing, social networking, and search engine optimisation at its Small Business Forum meetings and at London Book Fair. The organisation is also working with companies providing print on demand and e-readers.

A spokesperson said that digitisation would also be discussed at next month’s BA Conference. “There have been lots of conferences and seminars on digitisation recently and the BA Council felt that there was no need for yet another one,” she said.

The major book chains are understood to have been unwilling to get involved, while publishers privately spoke of their concerns about the taskforce. One m.d. said: "I don't really see why we should get involved. Our business is quite happy doing its own thing with digitisation."

Bennett said he could understand publishers' reluctance. "They are taking huge risks in investments with no secure certainty of a return. I’m not critical of their individual activity, but there is more to be gained. It's allowing a big opportunity to go by and that’s what alarms me. Someone will
come in and take the business, like Google or Microsoft. That’s the fear."

But Bennett claimed that the publishing industry could face a format war similar to Sony and Toshiba’s dispute over who would become the dominant high-definition DVD supplier. “The book trade is not big enough to support dozens of different solutions. There’s always one dominant solution and I would rather get that now.”

Bennett said the UK’s book market contrasted unfavourably with that of the US, where organisations such as the Book Industry Study Group ensure that the entire industry collaborates on digital issues. “[US] bookshops are working with each other and wholesalers as to how to exploit the web,” he said. “Publishers are experimenting but are prepared to talk to one another. There’s far more willingness to be open and discuss what works and what doesn’t.”

Graeme Neill Booksellers Association Home digitisation