The Bookseller.com

5th July 2008

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BA: Hudson calls for vigilance

13.05.08 Benedicte Page

Random House deputy c.e.o. Ian Hudson called for the trade to be "hugely vigilant" against US territorial incursions on e-books. At a Booksellers Association's conference plenary session yesterday (12th May), which explored the impact of new technologies on the trade, Hudson warned that low-priced American e-books could potentially flood the UK market: "Some, but thankfully only a few, publishers and commentators in the US would like to see this happen—UK publishers, agents and booksellers must work to ensure that it cannot." And he demanded "swift action" against those who were transgressors in the field.

Identifying threats to the digital future, Hudson also argued that the trade was too fearful of technological developments, leading authors and agents to cling to digital rights and making retailers reluctant to invest and experiment. Piracy, overly low e-book pricing which undermined core product, and problems of interoperability - finding one standard format - also needed to be overcome, he added.

However, Hudson predicted that publishers, wholesalers and booksellers could all find new roles in the digital future, and he urged the trade to think in terms of "e-publishing" rather than "e-books". Rather than "a mere conversion of a physical product into digital form," e-publishing involved the "exercising of our core skills in a digital environment to create new offerings," he said.

The future look of e-publishing could involve authors writing primarily for a digital platform or a reinvention of the serial--with novels regularly published in parts or dynamically evolving with opportunities for reader involvement. Meanwhile booksellers could sell e-books alongside their printed counterparts or offer subscriptions to digital services or online access as an add-on to the physical book, while independents could offer the same services via a digital archive offered by wholesalers.

Genevieve Shore, head of global digital at Penguin, stressed the urgency of the issue to the book trade. "The music industry sat on its hands [in the face of digital change] and in 2008 it is half the size it was 10 years ago," she warned.

She said the trade must act now to resolve its issues about e-book pricing, accessibility, territoriality, rights and distribution, and called on retailers to integrate their on- and offline offer. E-publishing need not mean content being given away for free, Shore added: "Yes, some will fileshare, and a lot of content is available free online now. But people will pay if they believe they are getting value for money - it is important not to devalue the digital market."

Meg Pickard of Guardian Unlimited, who singled out Penguin's storytelling website wetellstories.co.uk for praise, explored the transformation undergone by Guardian News and Media through the integration of new technologies such as Twitter into its reporting and comment. Readers had now become users both consuming and reacting to content and to each other, she said. However, "In a world of user-generated content, the role of editor becomes more important than ever," she added.

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