The publishing community lives and dies by the last reprint decision they make, and they're always wrong. They either print too many or not enough. I think you're going to see more hybrid models. You can start of with offset, and as sales level off you can switch to digital to meet the demand as it comes in. You minimize the damage of being wrong. It's a very different model because publishers are fixated on price point rather than the whole supply chain cost, and it's when you look at the whole supply chain costs that digital starts making sense.
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Ellen Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who covers the latest technologies and strategies reshaping the publishing landscape. She previously served as the Senior Editor at Publishing Executive and Book Business.