By Stephen Bateman, Publisher and Managing Director, David & Charles Limited

The digital dimension of publishing was undoubtedly the most catalytic subject of the Frankfurt Book Fair last week.

It was palpable just how fast the digital flywheel is turning in the book publishing industry, and I doubt that Frankfurt will ever look or feel the same again. I would be surprised if many publishers return to their booths over the next two years, as we see the battleground of publishing split into two camps: the winners of digital and community initiatives, and the losers in a struggle that grounded them in an inability to change.

The word digital was on everyone’s lips; even the very big co-edition packagers, whose core business is building multinational print runs, were feeling the pressure to embrace digital media. It is no longer viable for any serious print media company to do the same old same old. We must change.

The questions that puzzled were not Why? or When?, but How? and What? – “What are you doing with digital technology to create new revenue streams to offset the downturn elsewhere?”

The challenge presented by this change is universal and applies to all players, regardless of size. Struggles, of course, will be different for everyone, but the root necessity is the same: change or become extinct.

Darwin is standing on the doorstep of our industry.

Few will have come away from Frankfurt with their fuel tank full of books; any publisher that filled up on books will flood their carburetor and kill their engine. To fill up on books for 2011 is to commit suicide.

Those that will be feeling energized by Frankfurt 2009 will be the publishers who came away with a bootload of fresh ideas to help change and evolve their business model. These publishers will get a new lease on life as they implement plans to refocus and rewire their businesses, and deepen their relationships with readers. They will have found new ways to make their core content work harder for less; ideas also to kick-start new revenue streams and innovate with product so that it does not only fit the printed page, but also the digital and mobile reading devices and applications that are about to flood the market in response to readers seeking convenience.

If walking past the booths of the usual suspects in Hall 8 did one thing for me this year, it was to reinforce the need to continue to scale up our company’s digital capabilities, and stay ahead of fast-changing consumer behavior.

That does not mean throwing out the baby with the bath water, but we do have to change the bath water if we are to save the baby.

Stephen Bateman is focused on change in the media industry and on providing ways to lead effective organizational change to better meet the needs of an entire generation of new media consumers, profitably. He is the Publisher and Managing Director of David & Charles Limited, an international publisher of illustrated non-fiction books, and a division of F+W Media, Inc.

“We’re saying, you promote your product, you price your product, you format and deliver your product in the way that you want to and you’ll enter into a 1-to-1 relationship with your customer. We’ll facilitate that and we’ll take a piece of the revenue. We don’t want to stand in between the customer and the publisher, if you want to cross sell or upsell or cross market or do other things with your customer, it’s your customer.”

Kevin Hamilton, North American CEO, IREX Technologies, IRex’s Hamilton Details Plans For Publishers; NewspaperDirect, News Stand, Storefronts

Among the various digital solutions on display at the Frankfurt Book Fair last week, the new IRex Digital Reader, an intriguing competitor to the Kindle, stood out for its “eBook Mall”, which could be the killer app for publishers in search of a direct-to-consumer sales channel for eBooks.

While details (and partners) are scarce at this point, the idea is that publishers will be able to set up their own storefronts on the IRex platform and sell their ebooks directly to consumers, with a more favorable revenue share promised than Amazon’s 70/30 split. IRex also has a white label option, potentially enabling publishers (or organizations?) to brand the digital reader themselves and offer subsidized pricing via bundles or subscriptions.

While an intriguing possiblity, the underlying challenge for publishers is that most don’t currently have a direct relationship with their readers, nor do they have the marketing infrastructure in place to effectively leverage the opportunities a branded ereader device might offer.

One of the most anticipated sessions at Digital Book World 2010 is the Selling Direct to the Consumer: Risks and Rewards and the Best Practices for Publishers, that will address the “Pandora’s Box of challenges” that come with effectively going into competition with their best retailer customers. How can publishers sell direct and still maintain good relationships with their trading partners? What are the best practices for pricing and merchandising?

For more information, go to digitalbookworld.com.

“There needs to be a greater understanding of what the differences are between a computer software manual and a fiction bestseller. I’d like to see more of a consumer publishing perspective.”

–Sara Lloyd, Digital Director, Pan Macmillan

Today’s edition of The Bookseller Daily reports that “some publishers” considered the Tools of Change Frankfurt conference a “‘missed opportunity’, geared more towards programmers than publishers.”

Lloyd, the opening keynote speaker at the conference, was quoted as calling for “more of a consumer publishing perspective,” while Fionnuala Duggan, Director of Random House Group Digital added: “The piracy issue was dealt with very poorly.” Noted anti-DRM advocate Cory Doctorow forcefully spoke out against DRM in his provocative keynote speech, suggesting publishers were “the real pirates” for their approach to DRM.

I attended the event and while Lloyd and Duggan’s opinions were shared by others, Tools of Change takes a broader view by design, and to be fair, there were some highlights relevant to consumer publishers during the event, including Sourcebooks CEO Dominique Raccah’s presentation on transforming the traditional publishing business model, which offered specific examples and lessons learned from her own experiments.

Raccah suggested publishers ask themselves, “What communities are you an essential part of?” while noting the Sourcebooks philosophy: “We publish authors, not books.” She also recommended publishers experiment with different products AND business models, warning them to “stay focused… You have to get comfortable with not knowing what’s going to happen on the other side.”

Perhaps most notably, while eBooks were a major focus of the conference, with publisher (and event organizer) O’Reilly noting that some of their ebooks (and iPhone app) sales were double that of print for certain books, a stat-filled presentation by Commercial Director of Nielsen Book noted that “the impact of ebooks will vary greatly by genre and demographics.”

Ultimately, the challenges consumer publishers face are unique and varied, as are the opportunities, near and long-term.

In January, Digital Book World will address many of those challenges and opportunities presented by the latest technologies and readers’ changing habits, specifically from the consumer publishing perspective; it is the first conference of its kind designed to help consumer publishers maximize their assets in the short term while developing and executing a digital strategy.

The conference program was developed by Mike Shatzkin, Conference Chair, and founder & CEO of The Idea Logical Company, and an esteemed advisory board including some of the most insightful thought-leaders focused on book publishing and technology.

Where other conferences focus on the latest trends and technologies, DBW 2010 will put them in perspective—speaking directly to book publishers and their trading partners to address both immediate needs and future goals to not only survive, but thrive in the rapidly changing world of book publishing.

“We wanted to offer our publishing customers the speed, cost-effectiveness and visibility that is available in other industries… to integrate supply chain capabilities with total web-based visibility to the ISBN level.

Many people took the decision to shift their printing to Asia to reduce costs, but did not then take the next logical step of reorganising the complete supply chain.”

–Steve Walker, Chairman, SBS

SBS Worldwide, the Supporting Sponsor for Digital Book World, has been an integral part of the publishing industry’s supply chain for 26 years as the driving force behind freight management. In the past decade, SBS has enhanced its capabilities to meet the ever changing needs of the industry with a range of new products and services, and are excited to be launching their new software, eDC, that could alter the traditional shipping model to bring books to market quicker and cheaper, all via the web.

Digital Book World will be held January 26-27, 2010 at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City, offering practical plans for realizing revenues tomorrow, and beyond, for executive management, acquisition editors, sales professionals, marketing managers and agents.

By Stephen Bateman, Publisher and Managing Director, David & Charles Limited

It’s a beautiful crisp and sunny autumn day here in Devon, the sun reflecting off the yellow and red leaves and the perfect intro to the annual Frankfurt Book Fair, which begins next week. With any luck, the clement weather will grace the banks of the Maine and we’ll all be blessed with a Vitamin D Boost when we pop out from the halls for some refreshments!

My colleagues, Kate and Sam, and I are very excited about the Fair this year.  The fact we’re in a recession year will mean fewer visitors and those who are coming will want to justify the cost of their travel with a shorter stay, and a more intensive and harder-working visit. So, whilst the halls might feel quieter, it promises to be a serious and productive trip. It is worth noting that China is the guest-of-honour nation and they will have a 2000-strong delegation.

It is no mystery that Publishing has entered the Digital Age and the organisers of this year’s Fair have put a special emphasis on Digital.

That’s good for our sector. Even for us at David & Charles, stuck out in the wilds of Devon, we have been taking a radical approach to the digitisation of our assets. As a company we have moved from the traditional model of publisher to seeing ourselves as demagogue and activist within the communities that were the bedrock of our niche book clubs.

None of us can deny that in a short time the ability to search and locate online has become our enthusiasts’ preferred method of discovering information and for undertaking convenience shopping.  For our quilting or equestrian enthusiasts in the wilds of Northern Scotland or other far-flung places, the web offers connectivity and the chance to interact and stay on top of the latest trends and fashions. For community-focused providers of specialist content like us, going digital is a direct route to our audiences and to our fan base.

Suddenly our channel to our enthusiasts is wide open and the possibilities of rich media and interactivity are boundless.

Frankfurt, with its rich program of talks and workshops will provide us all with the opportunity to connect with like-minded activists. Frankfurt is always my opportunity to rekindle with my long established friends in the business: publishers, printers, literary agents and designers from all over the world. Frankfurt is THE venue to dialogue, share and collaborate with like-minded people and there is nothing more stimulating than being able to take a break from the screen or office to dialogue in person.

Hot Topics this year will be How to make money from the web, Online marketing, Twitter and Social networking, but also the clash of generations and the need for new blood at the top. I know that when I meet with some of the privately owned publishing houses of Europe, the bosses of those establishments will be opposed to dismantling what they have built in order to recruit new blood and build afresh. There has been a concerted effort at D&C and F+W Media to bring in open-minded marketers who consume media and entertainment in a different way, often reading off various electronic devices simultaneously, and accessing everything via their mobile.

I expect the news of the Google Android open source deal with Verizon will be a hot topic for the Amazons and Apples of this world. Turning to those organisations, how is it that the likes of Apple and Microsoft manage to undergo repeated revolutions and emerge stronger?

Responsiveness to change and the ability to lead change will, I believe, perhaps turn out to be the hottest and most potent topic. Whichever it is, the debate will be stimulating and the food appetising.

That’s how I would like to finish this post, on a Gastro note and, for the Gourmets amongst you, my final tip is to find time in your busy schedules to head for the Gourmand Cookbook Corner of the fair where you will have the chance to sample culinary delights served to you by celebrity chefs from around the globe.

Bon Digital Appetit!

Stephen Bateman is focused on change in the media industry and on providing ways to lead effective organizational change to better meet the needs of an entire generation of new media consumers, profitably. He is the Publisher and Managing Director of David & Charles Limited, an international publisher of illustrated non-fiction books, and a division of F+W Media, Inc.  He will be attending the Frankfurt Book Fair, and can be found at Hall 8 J911.

The Bookseller

The year 2018 has been named as the point when digital sales will overtake sales of traditional books, according to a survey by the Frankfurt Book Fair of 840 international industry experts. Around half of those who responded to the survey said 2018 was the “turning point”, up about 10 percentage points on the same survey last year. In 2008, 27% were of the opinion that digital would never overtake print – now that number is only 22%.

Digital will overtake print in 2018, says FBF survey

And…

An overwhelming majority of publishers believe that e-books should be less expensive than the printed version, but only 15% support Amazon.com flat-rate of $9.99 on front-list titles, a survey from the Frankfurt Book Fair has suggested. The survey indicates that publishers remain unsure about how much cheaper e-books should be, with the FBF saying that the industry remains “completely divided about appropriate e-book pricing”.

Publishers ‘completely divided’ over e-book pricing

With no consensus on pricing, a plethora of competing digital platforms and formats to reconcile, and no shortage of pundits with theories on how it will all play out, the predicted tipping point of 2018 means exisiting publishers need to have a practical gameplan in place…yesterday.

Question: Who are the 22% who believe digital sales will never overtake print sales? Are they luddites, skeptics or the only rational people in the room?