Book Business Blog Giving Voice to Publishing Startups, Calling for Submissions

There's no shortage of innovative ideas percolating within the publishing industry. But last year we noted the challenge of exposing the industry at large to those ideas. That's why we launched The Futurists blog.

The blog invites startups focused on solving the problems faced by book publishing to share their stories and ideas. These new companies, unburdened by legacy thinking and established business models, are pushing the boundaries of what book publishing is and helping to discover profitable new models. Nearly twenty startups told their stories, from the rapidly growing BiblioBoard and BookBub to the emergent ReadUps and iFlipd. Our guest bloggers sketched out their business models, offered their unique twist on publishing, and shared their predictions for the industry's future.

The Futurists shared how they are enabling social reading experiences, selling ebook and print bundles, and driving reader engagement through subscriptions. It is these ideas, many of which are gaining traction, that will transform the book industry.

In 2015, we hope to further amplify the voice of entrepreneurs and innovators in the book business. If you've launched a tech startup focused on the book industry, we want to hear what makes your company innovative and how your product or service will impact the book business. You can view our contributor guidelines here. Send your pitches to associate editor Ellen Harvey at eharvey@napco.com.

Not every idea or every startup will transform the industry, but exposing the industry to new ideas will certainly help improve it.

Following are some of our favorite posts from The Futurists last year.