Bowker

Boston, MA, April 30, 2013 - Publishing Technology plc (LSE: PTO), a leading provider of content solutions for publishers, has appointed Michael Cairns as COO, Online Solutions Division and member of the executive team. Replacing Louise Russell, Michael will assume commercial responsibility for the Online business unit, including product development, implementation and client management for Publishing Technology’s flagship pub2web hosting platform, the ingentaconnect portal and associated product lines including Information Commerce Software and the Heron elearning resource.

 Publisher–generated online communities, such as HarperCollins’ InkPop, Gollancz’s SF Gateway and Hachette’s Pick a Poppy, are set to almost double over the next two years, according to research by Bowker which was unveiled at yesterday’s “The Campaign Revolution: New Models for Reaching Reader Communities” seminar.

The report, presented by Jane Tappuni, business development director at Publishing Technology, showed that two-thirds of UK and US publishers already host reader communities, and that figure is set to rise to more than 90% over the next two years.

Multi-function tablets have become consumers’ preferred e- reading devices, overtaking dedicated e-readers for the first time, according to the Book Industry Study Group (BISG)’s closely watched Consumer Attitudes Toward E-Book Reading survey, an ongoing study powered by Bowker Market Research.

The Audio Publishers Association released the results from two concurrent studies of audiobook sales patterns and consumer behavior which revealed that that total net sales of audiobooks in 2011 were up from the previous year and that, in general, the audio format is thriving. According to the independent research firm Lewis&Clark who conducted the 2011 Annual Sales Survey, 3.8 million more audiobooks were sold in 2011 than were sold in 2010, representing a 2.6% increase in total revenues year-over-year.

Production is now underway on the 2013 edition of BookStats, recognized as the most comprehensive survey of the size and scope of the US publishing industry, it was announced by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group. BISG and AAP, the survey’s co-producers, also announced that Outsell, the leading research and advisory firm for the information and publishing industries, has joined the project to provide editorial analysis and Bowker, a premier source of market research on publishing and books in all formats, will again produce the extrapolated results.

Over the last two week, Book Business ran the proverbial gauntlet of publishing industry trade shows, starting withe the Book Industry Study Group's Making Information Pay For Higher Ed on Thu., Feb. 7, at the Yale Club, then hitting the Book^2 Camp "unconference" on Sun., Feb. 10, at Workman Publishing, and, on Wed., Feb. 13, catching a day of O'Reilly's Tools of Change at the Marriott Marquis.

We’ll be running through them one by one this week. First up: BISG: Making Information Pay for Higher Ed Publishing

The Book Industry Study Group’s annual Making Information Pay for Higher Ed Publishing was a morning jam-packed with great information and expansive ideas on the state of higher ed publishing and what it might look like in the near to distant future.

The four terms of the day:
Shadow Library
Roll Your Own
MOOC
Autodidact

Bowker®, a ProQuest affiliate, is teaming with Vook to enrich the offerings available on Bowker’s acclaimed MyIdentifiers.com site. Now, in addition to accessing Bowker’s ISBN and metadata services on MyIdentifiers.com, authors will be able to purchase Vook’s ebook production and distribution solutions, all from one location. Vook’s distribution network includes major e-retailers Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple.

Data Conversion Laboratory (DCL), a leader in future proofing content for eBooks, online training manuals, archived documents and more, is teaming with Bowker, the world's leader in bibliographic information management solutions, to better serve the self-publishing market. Bowker Identifier Services will now offer self-publishers DCL’s robust EPUB on Demand eBook Product Service through Bowker’s MyIdentifiers.com website.

“As the U.S. and Australian ISBN agencies, we’re often the first stop for self-publishers. Since eBooks are increasingly a ‘must-have’ for our customers, we know providing them instant access to a quality conversion service streamlines the publishing process,” said Beat Barblan, Director, Bowker Identifier Services. “Bowker has been a trusted partner to publishers for more than 140 years. We searched for a reliable service that would enable our customers to retain ownership of their content and consistently produce an accurate, highly useable eBook. We’re pleased to be working with DCL.”

This week, Book Business will be at the Book Industry Study Group's (BISG) Making Information Pay for Higher Ed Publishing. The tight, half-day conference (9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Yale Club of NYC) will explore topics such as Why Students "Go Digital," Interactive Learning, overseas opportunities, a Bowker survey of the higher ed publishing market and the power of the MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and more.

Book Business spent the last two days soaking up the publishing wisdom on display at the Digital Book World conference at the Hilton New York.

You can check out twitter, @bookbusinessmag, for the full play by play. Below are some highlights.

-Following the Children's Content in Context breakout session on Wednesday, we got to exchange a few quick words about our mutual love of the Android platform with none other than LeVar Burton, who was at the session to support Reading Rainbow CEO Asra Rasheed. "I'm a nerd," explaind Burton during the session with regard to his affinity for the Google mobile OS.