The specific elements nearly all turned around this, in one way or another. Which format, or all? Copyright and contract issues. The changing relationships between authors, agents and publishers. And, above all, the urgency of building or re-building the relationship between publishers and their real customers – their readers – for which the potential richness of community relationships seems to hold the brightest promise.

Content, whether generated by authors, publishers or a community itself, is still an under-used resource, and commercially the old content-management mantra, “Create once, use many times”, is still valid.

Community relationships are also under-developed, especially where books are concerned. The local reading group is a beautifully simple example of a community – a community of interest, to borrow an old Knowledge Management term. Each book, it seems obvious, has its own natural community, even if the members of it don’t know each other; conventionally, alas, it’s likely the publisher doesn’t know them at all. I’d like to see publishers building on this in any and every way they can. Social media and, even more, content-focused community tools, can facilitate this but it behoves publishers to find the most sympathetic and constructive ways to develop these relationships: How to build? is a more critical demand than What to build with? at this time. This was also a clear message from the conference.

I was particularly pleased that technological solutions were not touted as panaceas, and I say that even as a technology provider. Of course technology can help, but it’s the business vision, the publishing vision, that really counts.

All credit to the F+W team and the conference organisers for facilitating such a stimulating, appropriate, and above all timely event. The future of publishing, indeed.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by DigiBookWorld: New: The Takeaway: Good for Business, Good for the Soul – http://bit.ly/cxxsmF...