We are now in a period replete with startups that want to be the disruption in publishing. We see a lot of them in our office. Part of our business involves helping startups find relevance and contacts within the established publishing community. There are three areas in particular which the startups seem to think the […]
Subscription models seem to me to be for ebook niches, not a general offer
Another fledgling ebook retailing venture came through our office this month touting a subscription proposition. I told the entrepeneur “I’m skeptical of the subscription model for ebooks,” and he said, “I know”. We had a great chat, but I’m still skeptical. When I say that, I mean I’m skeptical that a general offering subscription model […]
We’re getting SaaS-y, going Hollywood, and starting to plan Digital Book World 2013
It is hard to believe that we’re starting to plan the fourth annual Digital Book World conference, which will be held January 16-17, 2013 at the Hilton in New York City. But we are. The first DBW was held in 2010. Planning for it began the June before when David Nussbaum and Sara Domville of […]
Guessing wrong about the future happens to all of us; here are 2 times it happened to me
One very lucky thing for those of us who are in the habit of predicting the future is that very few people keep score on us. We mostly keep score on ourselves. When I want to remind readers of something I said previously, I link back to it and call it forward it again. But […]
The subscription model for ebooks hasn’t emerged yet, but it will
From the beginning of Digital Change Thinking Time, which for me goes back to the mid-1990s, “subscription” has been high on the list of future expectations. That’s natural. The subscription model has emerged as the dominant one for cable TV (although there is still some pay-per-use) and Netflix works that way as well. Lots of […]