Press Release: Digital Books and the New Subscription Economy, a Major New BISG Research Study, Releases Today
Publishers' responses reflect this range of needs, as the study describes in detail. It includes in-depth research and analysis that evaluates changing publishing models, the impact of subscription on discoverability, and concerns over whether subscription will suppress sales or expand audiences. The analysis supports top-line findings such as:
- Scholarly publishers, while slower to adopt ebooks, are now beginning to offer more choices to libraries.
- Professional publishers, with a tradition of direct-to-consumer marketing and early models of organizing information digitally, must remain ahead of workers' changing needs and preferences.
- Higher education publishers have long relied on rental models, which are really a version of subscription. They see Integrated Learning Systems as the future of their business.
- Trade publishers are careful to evaluate the results emerging from those publishers who have begun to use this model.
- Authors will similarly benefit from business models that can bring their works to new, paying readers but share concern about the lower revenue per customer typical of subscription models. Like readers, they may wish to preserve the richness of experience, depth of thinking, complexity, and value that a full-length work provides.
Peter Balis, Vice President and Director of Business Development, John Wiley & Sons, said, "We are very pleased to have worked with BISG on this study. In light of the growth of subscription models in other digital media, understanding the potential impact on our industry is critical to a successful long-term publishing strategy. No one is in a better position than BISG to gather and analyze this data from all sides of the value-chain to identify both the opportunities and risks."
Digital Books and the New Subscription Economy can be purchased from BISG as a downloadable file here. The report was prepared by BISG with reporting and editorial content by Ted Hill (THA Consulting) and Kate Lara (Publishers Communication Group). BISG thanks the study's sponsors, including lead sponsor Safari, and the American Library Association, John Wiley & Sons, Publishing Technology, Sally Dedecker Enterprises, and Scribd.
- Places:
- New York, NY