From Hardbacks to Hot Bytes


The future of books and publishing in a connected world



An event organised by Olswang LLP and Rich Futures in association with MediaFuturist and The Sound Horizon.


When:
Friday 19 March 8.30am - 12.00pm
Where:
Olswang LLP, 90 High Holborn, London, WC1V 6XX (click here for a map)

The Market

To meet the explosive demand for content on e-readers, book publishers are rapidly transforming their businesses to serve digital distribution channels. This digitisation marks a first step into a world of rapid and permanent change, which will redefine the publishers' relationships with customers, authors, and business partners old and new.

But what are the underlying trends which will ultimately redefine the way customers use and interact with reading content in the digital environment?

Book buyers are increasingly connected, demanding and vocal. They will want their reading content accessible on any device and their reading patterns and history to be interwoven into their online social profiles. They'll also want to connect with authors via social media.

Authors and creators will embrace self-publishing tools and find connections with their audience. Liberated from the traditional book release cycles, the new generation of digital native authors may seek to create in real-time and communicate with their equally connected reading public.

The Challenge
  • How can publishers respond to these rapidly emerging scenarios? Will books become "free" and ubiquitous on all digital networks? If customers continue to pay, will authors and their publishers get digital pennies instead of pounds?
  • As reading becomes another part of new retail environments and other services, how will it be taken to market? And what are the additional services and usages which will form part of the new value proposition, and ultimately new revenue streams?
  • Publishers need to act now to ensure that they continue to play a valuable role in fostering talent, nurturing careers and in providing great content to readers


The Event

The Future of Books will present C-Level publishing executives with the real (and so far unspoken) learnings from the music industry, a business which has been in transition since the days of Napster 1.0 and the first MP3 players. The speakers will present their views on what book publishers need to understand, believe and do, to take advantage of this dramatic shift from selling copies of printed books to selling access to a digital book (or both).