It will come as no surprise that there has been an astronomical growth in the use of the internet since the early 1990s, with three billion people estimated to be using the internet by the end of 2014 (Internet Live Stats, 2014). In my opinion, the only way this world can continue to develop at the same fast-paced rate of today is through technology, and more specifically with reference to publishing, the internet.
0 Comments
'It used to be that you have to be everywhere, but now you just want to be everywhere that matters to you and your audience because the tools take so much bandwidth"
-Penny Sansevieri, founder and CEO of Author and Marketing Experts, Inc (Digital Book World, 2014). I think it is safe to say that the world as a whole has experienced the boom in the popularity of social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram; you name it, we've all got at least one of these social platforms transporting us into the cyber world of communication. But the question is, how has this affected publishing in the digital age? Hall (2013), comments that social media (obviously) has an arguably fundamental role in expanding marketing opportunities for a publishing company. For example, blogs can be written about a particular subject, competitions and events can be set up via a social media platform, as well as being able to easily create a buzz about an up and coming product on a Facebook or Twitter page (Hall, 2013). Publishers are able to extend their reach to their consumers faster and arguably more effectively with social media because of the vast array of options it offers. During my reading about this interesting topic area, I came across an article about the social media and marketing tools that publishers are using successfully. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Author Marketing Experts, Open Road and Penguin Random House publishers were all asked on their preference of social media for their publishing companies. Twitter and Facebook were the most popular answers (Digital Book World, 2014) which proves how highly regarded social media is for publishing today. I believe this to be an important topic of discussion when reading around the world of digital publishing as it clearly plays an important part in the success of publishing due to 1.97 billion people engaging with social media, which is set to increase year by year (eMarketer, 2014). Have a look below at the graph of social network users worldwide and see the huge figures for yourself: (eMarketer, 2014) Word count: 342 Bibliography Digital Book World., 2014. Which Social Media and Marketing Tools Are Publishers Actually Using Successfully. [online] Available at: <http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/which-social-media-and-marketing-tools-are-publishers-actually-using-successfully/> [Accessed 18 November 2014]. Hall, F., 2013. The Business of Digital Publishing. London: Routledge. eMarketer., 2013. Social Networking Reaches Nearly One in Four Around The World. [online] Available at: <http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Networking-Reaches-Nearly-One-Four-Around-World/1009976> [Accessed 18 November 2014]. In week 6 we had a lecture on Children’s Publishing in the digital age, led by Dr Sally Hughes. Up until now, I have never given much thought at how highly successful children’s publishing is, and just how substantial the consumer market is in the UK. As learnt in the lecture, the publishing industry has undergone many changes in the last few years (Hughes, 2014), with the likes of social media, audio and e-books all having an impact on the publishers. Children don’t need to visit their local bookshop or library to read their favourite novel these days; everything is accessible at the touch of a button or at the swipe of a screen. In terms of formats and platforms, the main devices used in digital publishing are laptops, e-readers, smart phones, tablets, apps and game consoles (Hughes, 2014). As written on The Guardian (2012), children’s publishers have been seen turning their picture books into apps, with Hall (2013) commenting that apps created for books are highly interactive and provide a great visual material, thus making it the perfect solution for children’s publishers. A very successful app creator is ‘Nosy Crow’ who has made apps for Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and The 3 Little Pigs. Please watch the video below to view an example of a Nosy Crow app on the iPad: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfjX7ukEbZE ) < Just in case the video does not work. As seen in the YouTube video, the app is accessible via an Apple iPad which helps to encourage children (and parents) to engage with digital brands and offers an interactive and fun alternative to the conventional book or board game. Focusing on the iPad, as you can see below in the middle graph, the iPad is easily the most popular brand of tablet which further emphasises why digital publishers are seeking to expand their territory on to the iPad. Digital publishers, in this case children's digital publishers, want to make sure that they are reaching as many consumers as they can, hence why the use of various digital devices are being incorporated into their work. An example of a well known children's book publisher is Penguin Publishers. As displayed on their website (Penguin, 2014), they have a section dedicated to apps which fall under headings such as 'educational' and 'favourite characters'. There is also an 'Audio books' and 'e-book' section which reinstates how popular digital alternatives to publishing are with consumers. In the future, I believe digital publishing for children's books will become even more popular and more relied upon by parents and teachers in schools. We have already seen the emergence of iPads in schools, with the BBC (BBC Active, 2010) commenting that it brings education to life and arguably enhances a child's learning because of the attention focused on the interactive game/activity. (Hughes, 2014)
Bibliography BBC Active, 2010. iPads in the Classroom. [online] Available at: <http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/iPadsintheClassroom.aspx> [Accessed 11 November 2014]. Dredge, S., 2012. Penguin, Macmillan and Nosy Crow talk digital books for children. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/technology/appsblog/2012/apr/15/digital-books-children-lbf-2012> [Accessed 11 November 2014]. Hall, F., 2013. The Business of Digital Publishing. London: Routledge. Hughes, S., 2014. Children's Publishing in the Digital Age, U65025 Publishing in the Digital Age. Oxford Brookes University, unpublished. Nosy Crow, 2014. Jack and the Beanstalk by Nosy Crow- app trailer. [video online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfjX7ukEbZE> [Accessed 11 November 2014]. Penguin Books ltd, 2014. Apps. [online] Available at: <http://www.penguin.co.uk/shop/categories/apps/> [Accessed 11 November 2014].
As our world becomes more and more digitized, it was only a matter of time before people started to switch from buying their monthly magazine in store, to simply subscribing online and reading digitally on their tablet, iPad, smartphone or laptop. In my opinion, whilst I am very much a lover of the internet and reading digitally, I still prefer to buy a physical print version of my magazine and I believe people will continue to buy the physical copies which can be reflected in the figures below. However, looking at the figures of rates of digital and print percentages, digital revenue is set to increasingly move ahead and start to match the sales of print. The question that rises from this, is how much will this convergence affect the print magazine popularity?
As recognised on Brand Republic (2014), income from digital activities at publishers increased to 32% in 2013, up from 15% the previous year. This shows that year by year, digital magazine publishing is gaining in popularity and therefore the print industry is thus declining in sales. Popular culture magazines such as Heat, Hello! and Closer have seen their sales plummet which could perhaps be due to the vast array of online websites dedicated to celebrities, as well as popular online newspaper Mail Online (The Guardian, 2013) However, this is not to say that print sales are below digital; in fact, print still dominates the model for publishers generating 53% of sales (Brand Republic, 2014). On 13th February 2014, ABC released its Consumer Magazine Report which included both print and digital figures highlighting a significant development in the measurement of magazines (Brand Republic, 2014). This emphasises my idea that print magazines will remain popular, whilst in the digital world they will rise to the figures and be highly regarded within the digital publishing world. I came across a table of figures on Brand Republic (2014) showcasing the top 100 magazine ABCs. For the top three most popular magazines ('What's on TV', 'Slimming World Magazine' and 'Glamour') print was still the most popular sale for the magazines, however, digital revenue were all increasing throughout. I find this information useful as it cements the theory that technology is taking over, with it only being a matter of time before publishing is solely based around digital. Whilst print is still the most popular type of publishing for magazines, it shows that there has been a decline over the year, with a very high increase in digital revenue. I believe that the future of the print magazine is threatened to an extent due to the increasing popularity of digital publishing because of the rise of people's use of technology. However, people (like me) who appreciate everything the print version has to offer will continue to purchase their magazines without fully replacing it with the digital version. Whilst they might browse on the internet to delve further into stories and articles included in the print, I don't believe that print magazines will become extinct anytime soon. Word count: 503 Bibliography Durrani, A., 2014. Magazine ABCs: Top 100 at a glance. Brand Republic, [online] Available at: <http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/1280860/magazine-abcs-top-100-glance/?HAYILC=RELATED> [Accessed 17 October 2014]. Papworth, J., 2014. Why today’s magazine ABCs represent a new dawn. Brand Republic, [online] Available at: <http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/1231004/Why-todays-magazine-ABCs-represent-new-dawn/?HAYILC=RELATED> [Accessed 17 October 2014]. Ridley, L., 2014. Digital Revenue jumps to 32% for magazine publishers. Brand Republic, [online] Available at: <http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/1281859/> [Accessed 16 October 2014]. Rowlands, B., 2013. The fall and rise of magazines from print to digital. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/mar/07/fall-rise-magazines-print-digital> [Accessed 17 October 2014]. “The ability of QR codes to connect people with each other and to multimedia digital content is very useful for businesses and consumers alike.” (Social Media Examiner, 2014)
A Quick Response (QR) code is a 2D barcode which stores a small amount of data and is designed for smart phone users. Once scanned, the consumer is transported to the webpage/video/image. Whilst Publishers have been using QR codes for quite some time, it is only within the last couple of years that they have started to embed them within the text (Publishers Weekly 2014). Whilst some people may argue that incorporating digital media within analog media is wrong and shouldn’t be integrated, QR codes are arguably the future for publishing, with not only the marketing tool improving the experience of book reading, but also they are effective in elevating print content (Mobile Marketer, 2014). I came across an interesting article on Mobile Commerce News (2014) that revealed how QR codes are being used by teachers in order to make their lessons more interactive and interesting. The Alabama School in America have been using this technique of teaching to seventh graders and have found that children are more engaged, interested and enthusiastic about the work because they are taking ownership of their learning. This re-iterates the point that QR codes are affective in engaging with people and help to bring the writing to life, across all ages. Benefits of the QR Code in Print and Digital Publishing
An issue QR codes face however is the functionality of the code. Providing the consumer has the right scanning software installed on their smartphone, the QR code will work correctly. However, if they do not have the software, then the efforts gone in to making the code are wasted. I believe with the right information provided to the consumers informing them of the software needed, then this issue is quickly rectified. Some people also argue that the aesthetics of the code are unattractive, but if designed correctly and placed discreetly within/on the book, then there is no problem in that area (Publishing Perspectives, 2014). QR codes have undoubtedly earned their place within the Digital Publishing world of today. I believe the codes to be truly exciting, with the possibilities of what they could potentially be capable of in the future to be endless. They not only bring a piece of writing to life through the direct interaction with the consumer, but they also enhance the role of the publisher, as they can increase the chances of a subscription being put in place, or an order through the link on the code. This encourages traffic on to their websites, and therefore increases revenue. Word count: 475 Bibliography Green, L., 2014. QR codes are being used by teachers to enhance their lessons. Mobile Commerce News, [online] Available at: <http://www.qrcodepress.com/qr-codes-used-teachers-enhance-lessons/8528067/> [Accessed 14 October 2014]. Habash, G., 2011. Publishers Find More Uses for QR Codes. Publishers Weekly, [online] Available at: <http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publishing-and-marketing/article/49317-publishers-find-more-uses-for-qr-codes.html> [Accessed 14 October 2014]. Korhan, J., 2011. How QR Codes Can Grow Your Business. Social Media Examiner, [online] Available at: <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-qr-codes-can-grow-your-business/> [Accessed 14 October 2014]. Nawotka, E., 2011. Will QR Codes Become the Standard for Enhancing Print Books? Publishing Perspectives, [online] Available at: <http://publishingperspectives.com/2011/08/will-qr-codes-become-the-standard-for-enhancing-print-books/> [Accessed 14 October 2014]. [Phone scanning QR code in book]n.d. [image online] Available at: <http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/media/12317.html> [Accessed 14 October 2014]. |