Print Book Business Faces Digital Transition

From DailyTech: When the internet first started to reach mainstream usage, traditional print companies didn’t think much of the new medium. These days, however, many traditional print publications are finding that combating the free content available online is an increasingly difficult proposition that has resulted in more than one print publication going out of business or moving to an online-only status.

Today, a big change in the way consumers purchase books is happening in the same way the digital migration of music and content began. Electronic readers such as the Kindle and other devices like the ones from Sony are becoming more popular and traditional booksellers are finding that they need to devise a way to sell digital copies of books.

This holiday season is set to be big for eReaders like the Kindle, which recently had its price cut again to $259. The Kindle is now also available globally. Book publishers are now facing the real prospect of watching their business shrink like that of music publishers as physical formats give way to more manageable and less expensive digital formats.

"Meantime, publishers are distracting themselves by fretting over the price of eBooks, withholding eBook releases so as not to cannibalize hardcover book sales, and watching helplessly as their businesses erode in front of them," analyst Sarah Rotman Epps of technology research firm Forrester wrote this week.

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