In 1455 Gutenberg published his 42-line Bible, which began publishing as we’ve known it. For more than 600 years, an ecosystem has developed around movable type, mass production and a mature media type – the physical book. In 1980, what we now know as the Web began as Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues around the globe collaborated. By 2015, how we write, publish & read will cross the threshold between the Gutenberg era & the Berners-Lee era. In this session, we’ll discuss the 5 threads that are driving this threshold.

1. Five Threads Towards Threshold
Bob Carlton Jen Howver
Kirkus Reviews VOD Communications, Inc.

2. Take a
deep breath
and count to
11........

3. In the last 11 seconds.....
2

4. 2015: The Threshold
• Consumers harder to catch
• Digital natives
• Passive viewers are passé
• Distraction as Entertainment
• Gaming blows up
• A trans-platform/platform-agnostic
world
3

5. Consumers are changing
how they make buying decisions
4

6. Technology is increasingly
the fabric people live in
5

7. The nature of
storytelling is expanding
6

8. Five Threads
Personal Experiential
Social Local Mobile

9. Social
I can read, experience,
share, discuss with my
friends

10. Local
My location and activity
can be incorporated
into my reading
experience

11. Mobile
I can get it anytime,
anywhere

12. Personal
I can make it my own

13. Experiential
Itʼs more than just
reading words

14. Five Threads
Personal Experiential
Social Local Mobile

15. Future of “Writing”
• crowdsourced
• social
• experiential; interactive
• not just for a print or ebook
8

16. Future of “Reading”
• mobile
• social
• personal
• experiential
• not just words
9

17. Future of Publishing
Stop thinking of
ourselves as
Book Publishers or
Gatekeepers
and start practicing as
STORYTELLERS OR EXPERIENCE CREATORS 12

18. Future of Publishing
11

19. Future of Publishing
13

20. Future of Publishing
The editorial process changes:
• not just editing
words
• designing
experiences; using
content architects
10

21. Future of Publishing
The acquisitions process changes:
• Authors don’t NEED
us anymore
• Give them a reason
to...
14

22. Future of Publishing
The marketing game changes:
.....leverage our influencers rather than
our influence
15

23. Five Threads
Personal Experiential
Social Local Mobile

24. Technology Horizon
• HTML5 vs. downloadable apps
• NFC (Near Field Communication) for payment/offers/loyalty
• Consumer led mobile health for monitoring/diagnosis/wellness
• Rapid enterprise adoption of tablets for productivity
• Tipping Point -- > 50% population in developed markets will
have Smartphone
14

25. Where is retail going?
13

26. Critical Success Factors for 2015
14

27. Jen Howver
jen@vodcommunications.com
@jenhowver
847-485-9863
Bob Carlton
bcarlton@kirkusreviews.com
650-454-6141