1. The e-Book Age Arrives
- VIABLE E-BOOKS ARE EVERYWHERE -
SO WHAT?
KENT R. ANDERSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
AND JOURNAL WATCH

2. Overview of the e-Book Space
— Devices have overcome major usability and
availability hurdles
— Change is happening rapidly
— MobiPocket, ePub, LRF, and PDF are the major
standards (PDF and Mobi are biggest)
—“ Book” a misnomer for connected devices
is
¡ Book formats are changing to adapt
¡ Information snacking and speed-dating
¡ Blogs, magazines, newspapers all exist on these devices

3. The DP2C3 of e-Books
— Devices are machines that can read e-books
— Platforms are systems that deliver content
— Players are businesses trying to define e-books
— Content is what you read on an e-book
— Consumption is how you absorb the content
— Commercialization is how e-books make money

4. My Qualifications
— Publisher
— Owner of many e-books over the years
— Author
— Self-publisher

5. The Major Devices

6. The Latest Entrant

7. Coming Soon

8. Plastic Logic Reader

9. Other Devices
— Cell phone (basic, important in Japan)
— Desktop computer
— Laptop computer
— Rumored devices
¡ Apple developing some color e-reading device
¡ Apple and Verizon collaborating (could be the same rumor)

10. Wired vs. Wireless
— Kindle and iPhone are both connected via cellular
networks
¡ Major advantage for book purchasing on the fly, updates to
news and blog sources
— Sony is tethered
¡ Rumors of a connected Sony reader just surfaced

11. PDF Support
— Current Kindle offers some PDF support
¡ Users have to email a PDF to themselves and pay a transfer
charge of $0.25 per
— New Kindle DX offers full PDF support
— Sony e-Reader offers full PDF support

12. Web Browsing and Linking
— Current Kindle offers rudimentary Web browsing
and linking
¡ Slow, browser is clunky
— New Kindle DX promises better browser and
faster load times
— Sony e-Reader does not link to the Web

13. Platforms
— Amazon Kindle storefront
— Amazon Kindle iPhone application
— Lexcycle’Stanza (now owned by Amazon)
s
— Smashwords
— Scribd
— Sony eBook Store

16. A Note About Scribd
— Started as free document-sharing site (2007)
— In May 2009, announced e-book offerings
— Downloads work on multiple devices
— Openness creates threats of piracy
— Authors keep 80% of net revenues
¡ Fees reduce this by $0.25, so for me, -5%
¡ Fee for DRM-protected documents is $0.40

17. A Note About Smashwords
— A very slick new entry into the field
— Great conversion tools, great data tools
— Good pricing system, with preview %, coupons, etc.
— Savvy owners who are paying attention
— Authors get 85% of net revenues

18. Amazon’Big Play
s
— Amazon wants to own the e-book storefront
¡ Device
¡ Kindle application on iPhone
¡ Acquisition of Lexcycle’Stanza
s
— Neutralize competition on the device front
— Own competition on the store front
— Make a play on the content front

19. Content
— Plenty of novels on e-books
— Technical materials hard to provision
— Blogs and magazines work well
— News sources work well

20. Content Conversion
— Amazon has great tools for turning a narrative book
into a Kindle version
— Smashwords has an amazing program (the
Meatgrinder) for making e-books from native files
— Scribd works OK, but not as good at the Meatgrinder
— Scholarly and technical materials are harder to
convert to workable formats

23. Consumption
— Called e-books, but really e-readers
— Once expanded to reading, the devices’
true value
shines through
— Information speed-dating and snacking behaviors
— Full, immersive reading still a luxury item
— Audio feature of Kindle rather rudimentary, but
some users find it valuable
¡ Audio book while driving, exercising = time-shifting

24. Commercialization
— E-book publishing can actually be more profitable
for authors and sellers than traditional publishing
¡ Lower price-point for consumers, but less waste in
manufacturing, shipping, storage, and returns
— Devices expensive, content cheap
¡ Multipurpose devices spread the cost (iPhone)
¡ Content does preserve its brand, prices should rise
— Royalties to publishers on-par with other licenses
— No costs associated with returns, shipping, storage

25. Spam — Published February 2009
— Print sales figures uncertain
& Eggs
A Johnny Denovo ¡ > 200 and < 2,000
Mystery
— Smashwords –3 copies
— Kindle –8 copies
— Scribd –posted it 5/20
— Dollars from e-books
¡ $6.63 + $25.20 = $31.83 (2%)
¡ Expenses = 0*
— Dollars from print book
¡ $1,810 (no royalties yet) (98%)
¡ Expenses = $2,200*
* = Doesn’
t include marketing expenses

26. Changes in Book Publishing
—“
The number of new and revised titles produced by
traditional production methods fell 3% in 2008, to
275,232, but the number of on-demand and short
run titles soared 132%, to 285,394. The on-demand
and short run segment is the method typically used
by self-publishers as well as online publishers. With
the decline in the number of traditional books
released last year and the jump in on-demand, the
number of on-demand titles topped those of
traditional books for the first time.”
- Publishers Weekly, May 19, 2009

27. Changes in STM Publishing
—“
[the U. of Michigan Press] will shift its scholarly
publishing from being primarily a traditional print
operation to one that is primarily digital. Within two
years, press officials expect well over 50 of the 60-
plus monographs that the press publishes each year
—currently in book form —to be released only in
digital editions. Readers will still be able to use print-
on-demand systems to produce versions that can be
held in their hands, but the press will consider
the digital monograph the norm.”
- Inside HigherEd, March 23, 2009

28. Conclusion
— E-books are for real
— They are evolving rapidly
— Very savvy players are entering the content space
— Devices are too expensive
¡ Don’
t know why Amazon doesn’make a strategic move here
t
— E-ink is on an improvement trajectory
— On-demand printing already outstrips traditional
¡ Can e-books be far behind?

29. Thank You
KENT R. ANDERSON
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS &
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
AND JOURNAL WATCH