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Slow-moving publishers risk being left out of an "explosion" in demand for the creation of book applications for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. At least one major non-fiction author is said to be planning to bypass his publisher and create his "app" directly.
Adam Martin, head of the interactive department at United Agents, said apps were a "game-changer" for authors and publishers. He warned that publishers needed to move "within the next six months". "If they are slow, they may get left out," he said. However, Martin added that authors would still need the marketing back-up of traditional publishers. "There are 100,000 apps in the Apps Store and you have to be found."
Peter Collingridge of digital publishing company Enhanced Editions predicted "an explosion" of apps, saying he had received "scores of calls from publishers and non-traditional publishers" following the publication with Canongate of Nick Cave's The Death of Bunny Munro app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Digital consultant Jason Dunne said that most of the publishers he sees are "in wait-and-see mode, or just plain afraid of the App Store's low price points". He said: "Going direct works for Jamie Oliver [who has launched his own recipe app] just as it worked for Radiohead—large fanbase, established proposition etc. It remains to be seen whether going direct will also work for lesser authors, but we'll find out soon enough." He added: "There's no good reason why a key author with fresh content should ask their publisher to make their app for them. The publisher would only outsource it. I don't know of a -single trade publisher with -dedicated in-house iPhone programmers."
Penguin digital publisher Jeremy Ettinghausen said: "We spend a lot of time talking about apps and you will be seeing apps from Penguin in the coming months. We look on it with positive enthusiasm, but the economics are interesting and there is a lot being written about the price of apps going down and down. It's early days and we are not rushing into anything."