Second age of electronic publishing, is one in which text editing is natively digital but is not thought specifically for network applications. The digital edition illustrates one of the key challenges of electronic publishing, namely the accessibility of the text. It is the most revolutionary effect of the issues of electronic publishing. Is switched from an analog world to a digital world where traffic and accessibility are facilitated, resulting in an explosion of access. For example, scientific journals have many more readers in their digital version than in their paper version. So this is a revolution of the consultation through web accessibility.
With the advent of digital, the works was more dematerialized . This massive dematerialisation pushed to implement logic rematerialization. Digital technology has many advantages, it allows a printing print on demand.
This system is beginning to be used in libraries, due to
- a commercial outlet for the works in open access, and
- a convenience for reading, conservation and annotation.
We often tend to associate print on demand with self-publishing (see Lulu.com). In fact, print on demand is also very professional editing steps, which cover niche markets, or concerning exhausted books. This is to emancipate investment issues for the initial draw, and storage problems.
The work of an electronic publisher is comparable to that of a traditional publisher. He receives manuscripts. He selects, and reworks with authors for corrections, but more frequently online. He then performs the conventional operations layout, illustration, but printing paper is replaced by the production of digital book files to different formats. After publication, it must make known the work, manage sales, pour the remuneration to the author …
As in traditional publishing, the relationship between the author and the electronic publisher is governed by a contract signed by both parties, defining the rights and obligations of each, their remuneration and the publisher’s commitment to distribute the work. The difference is that unlike a printed book, the digital work is never “exhausted”, like in traditional publishing where stocks could lead to the extinction of the contract, if the publisher does not undertake a reprint within a set time. The duration of the contract (automatically limited to respect the Copyright Act) must be defined by other criteria.
Economic models of electronic publishing are largely invented. We distinguish selling unit (Amazon) and subscription to a set of books (Safari O’Reilly).
In this area there is the question of the price of digital books that can cause a discount to the print edition. Introduction of more attractive offers (sale with warranty) Some examples of business models.:
- Freemium model: combining a free offer, open access, and “Premium” offers, upscale, paying access.
- Long tail model: In the real world, these constraints are very important.
For the long tail model, it will be an explosion of books percentage (online bookstore), it can be of hits that have had great results at first. These are books that sell regularly. The different economic offers:
- Safari: offers set of O’Reilly Media publisher books , it is created a book set pattern on technologies, which brings money to the editor, which gives the reader access to a fairly substantial catalog but quite limited.
- Wikipedia: that relies on donations of infrastructure. This is a popular financing. Every year they make calls donations, which they bring in about $ 8 million per year. It is a model that already existed, which is a subscription model.
Image http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ACM_OReilly-Rainbow-large-flash.jpg
Leave a Reply