It’s been a month since the conference, and I still haven’t gotten over the whole “TOC experience”. My mind keeps going back to all the discussions we had, and I find myself constantly pondering over opinions expressed, predictions made and in general, visualizing what the outlook of our industry might look like few years down the line.

Having worked closely with the publishing industry for over a decade, it was both inspiring and exciting to see publishers from all around the world come together with the realization that change is here to stay. Encouraging, was to note how earnest publishers were towards understanding this change and the focus they have towards preparing themselves for the future.

In this blog, I would like to share a few anecdotes, and what I thought was especially interesting and defining for the future of our industry.  For the past ten years we have studied the dynamics of the publishing industry, its trends, changing reader habits and one session that struck an instant chord with me was by Peter Collingridge from Enhanced Editions. He describes the work he does as “tailor-making books for the iPhone, and the challenge that they set, on how to translate a book to a device in a way that creates a valuable new user experience and adds to the content. He highlighted the fact that the app was being offered as an ‘optional experience’. To quote him, “You don’t have to listen, or read and listen, or watch. Its how the reader wants it to be. We can build stuff around it and online – but the reading should be left between the reader and the content. The app is all about engagement with the content.” The key to their success here is their understanding and empathy towards the reader. His insight into reader behavior is an important lesson for all of us in the content business. The sure win sales strategy is to give your readers the content that they want.

Over the past couple of years we have seen the lightening quick pace at which the industry is evolving and this experience has helped us build innovative solutions such as reporting and data analytical tools that are helping publishers the world over take their publishing to a whole new level. As Tim O’Reilly mentioned in his session, today publishers have a better understanding of their markets with the help of data analytical tools and are building direct relationships with their readers. These tools enable publishers to put reader habits under the microscope, and use this information to tailor make content to suit the readers need. This and the ease through which they can convert their content into digital formats and deliver it through custom built platforms enable them to cash in on the opportunities that the web offers.

This year at TOC, I too had the opportunity to share my thoughts on ‘The new dynamics of publishing’ at the keynote and at a focused session on the ‘Next generation of ebooks’. Publishing has evolved, and now more than ever publishers need to focus on their core area of expertise - Content. Yet, understanding and exploiting the advancements in technology and reader demand and consumption habits could very well be the key factor that defines success. My belief is that in choosing the right strategic partners, publishers can remain focused on their core business, while still being able to implement the right technological strategies that keeps them at the top of their game.

Over the past 8 years, we’ve heard countless reasons why e-books just won’t work. We’ve been advised that digital books will only be a niche market. We’ve been cautioned that e-books will spell the death of the industry.

Despite these well-intentioned opinions, we pressed on; building a platform for the masses and believing that this would be the next great chapter in the publishing industry’s proud history.

After last week’s Frankfurt Book Fair, I am proud to announce that the revolution is over and the future is finally here.

For five straight days, my team and I were in back-to-back (to-back) meetings with the world’s leading publishers talking about digital content delivery. We read innumerable stories about the revolution including the WSJ’s “E-books are hot topic at Frankfurt Book Fair” and the AP’s “E-books gain a foothold at Frankfurt Book Fair.” We even saw China play second fiddle to Google, Apple and Amazon.

Since the launch of iPublishCentral at FBF last year, the publishing industry and iPublishCentral have taken some significant steps forward. Over the past 12 months, more than 350 publishers from around the world, including the AMA, MIT Press, F+W Media, M.E. Sharpe, Marshall Cavendish and Vanderbilt University Press, have signed on to use iPublishCentral.

We’ve added support for content in multiple formats, multiple languages and for multiple mobile devices. We’ve increased reporting and analysis tools and have begun supporting various pricing models, including rentals.

What we’re most proud of is that iPublishCentral enables publishers of any size or in any location to make their content for sale online and to promote their brands and titles across the Web in a simple and cost-effective manner, with minimal up front investments and pay-as-you-go pricing.

I wanted to use this blog entry to thank our customers, our partners and the incredible team at iPublishCentral for their hard work and their dedication to this cause. There remains a great deal of work ahead of us, but the future is indeed bright.

Viva la revolution,

Sameer Shariff

Like many of us in the publishing industry, I have been closely monitoring the recent wave of e-book coverage in the consumer media. We have seen powerful headlines such as “B&N Launches Kindle Killer” (Wall Street Journal) and “Is Amazon Taking Over the Book Business” (Time Magazine) and questions abound: Are we nearing Malcolm Gladwell’s proverbial tipping point? Will e-books sales capture a substantial share of the overall market in the next few years? Are Jeff Bezos and Steve Riggio going to rumble? Possibly.

Amazon and Barnes & Noble certainly continue to move the needle by developing new technologies, engaging new partners and driving consumer awareness. But I would like to offer a slightly less “sexy” story angle. Perhaps this isn’t a race for inter-stellar domination between two massive companies. Perhaps the story is not about one viewer or one “e-book megacenter” as the NY Times so eloquently described it. Perhaps this isn’t even about Amazon or B&N or Google, Apple, Sony or whoever comes next.

In my opinion, this is not an “either/or” proposition. This is about how publishers can learn from each other; how we all benefit from technological advancements; and, what we can discover from the new business models that are currently being tested.

Beyond the technology, the alliances and the giant marketing budgets of Amazon and B&N, the key to success for publishers of all sizes is building platforms that connect them with their end-users in meaningful ways. Publishers need to harness that data and produce strong, lasting consumer relationships. The publishers who best understand their consumers and grasp what they really want will lead the way.

The future is bright for the Davids and the Goliaths.

The current economic downturn poses tough challenges for the publishing industry. Many reactions have started coming in: staff cuts, slashed budgets, web-only deliveries (see Christian Science Monitor and PC Mag) and a host of fixes that will hopefully provide answers for publishers to tide over the bad times. All this has led to a huge amount of concern on what will work and how one can sustain and innovate in the current environment.

iPublishCentral answers some of these challenges by focusing totally on the need for a low-cost and low-risk solution that reduces the cost for publishers to market their content. Here are the top reasons why iPublishCentral should be looked at by publishers and marketing managers when planning their marketing strategies for the current environment.

1. Our Software as a Service (SaaS) model ensures that capital expenditure plans are converted to revenue expenditure - taking away the need for up-front investments in installations, operations, support, maintenance and training. A Level 4 SaaS architecture and scalable infrastructure takes care of operational needs like software upgrades, server space and bandwidth usage.
2. iPublishCentral offers an entirely self-service workflow for creating Book Widgets and page previews (as ViewInside) to market titles online. Our fully automated content workflow and ready-to-go functionality offer zero-conversion costs and quicker time to market.
3. Our pricing model starts at free, through an advertisement/affiliate driven Basic model. In our Pro model, publishers only pay for what they use, on a per-title per-month pricing model.
4. Publishers can switch between the free and paid model as and when they choose for individual titles. This ensures absolute control on the spend with no pre-commitments on the number of titles that a publisher needs to put on iPublishCentral.
5. As there are no hidden costs, publishers need to only commit for a specific, all inclusive and defined monthly charge that is declared up-front. Publisher can also pull-out titles anytime they want without worrying about complex lock-in periods and contracts.