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Beyond Ebooks. MICHAEL MORGAN MORGAN & CLAYPOOL PUBLISHERS NOVEMBER 2011. Ebook Growth. Ebook reading is increasing dramatically throughout the world. Ebook sales increased to approximately $2 Billion globally in 2010 and may double for 2011.
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Beyond Ebooks MICHAEL MORGAN MORGAN & CLAYPOOL PUBLISHERS NOVEMBER 2011
Ebook Growth • Ebook reading is increasing dramatically throughout the world. • Ebook sales increased to approximately $2 Billion globally in 2010 and may double for 2011. • Many books now sell more copies as ebooks than in print.
“Traditional” Ebook Content • Most Ebooks are simple digitization of existing print books without much enhanced functionality. • Most Ebooks are the product of the traditional publishing work flow and the traditional publishing industry. • Today’s Ebooks are similar to early movies that were films of stage plays.
The Future of Ebooks • The growth of the Ebook market is beginning to stimulate efforts to create new kinds of books. • New types of “publishers” are becoming active in creating Ebooks. • Some traditional publishers are beginning to experiment with new ideas.
Areas of Experimentation • New models for content creation • Length • Updates and Revision • Animation and sound • Community
Models for Content Creation • Alternatives to the traditional author model • Collaborative author models • Crowd sourcing
O’Reilly Open Feedback Publishing System The Open Feedback Publishing System (OFPS) is an O'Reilly experiment that tries to bridge the gap between private manuscripts and public blogs. OFPS allows readers to read in-progress O'Reilly manuscripts, communicate suggestions with the authors, follow others' comments, and directly participate in the development of new books. • Manuscripts developed with OFPS sites allow authors to publish the in-progress work whenever they think it's ready for public comment and then update the site with new versions as the text is improved. Authors note sections of the text that they'd like comments on (potentially down to an individual paragraph) and that allows readers on the site to comment on that particular section. • http://ofps.oreilly.com/
FLOSS Manuals • en.flossmanuals.net • “FLOSS Manuals is a collection of manuals about free and open source software together with the tools used to create them and the community that uses those tools. They include authors, editors, artists, software developers, activists, and many others. There are manuals that explain how to install and use a range of free and open source software, about how to do things (like design or stay safe online) with open source software, and manuals about free culture services that use or support free software and formats.”
Floss Manuals • Anyone can contribute to a manual – to fix a spelling mistake, to add a more detailed explanation, to write a new chapter, or to start a whole new manual on a topic. • Initial books are written in “sprints” of 1 week by teams of 3-4 writers. • Books are published in preliminary form at the end of the week and then refined, improved and expanded over time
Experiments with Length • Publishers and authors are beginning to experiment with books of non-traditional length, especially shorter books • It’s just as easy to deliver a short book online as a longer book. • Shorter books are easier to read online. • Shorter books are much easier for authors to write.
The Length Between Articles and Books • Shorter books can be suitable for targeted subjects that don’t require long books. • Shorter books in academic subjects can be more flexible and useful than traditional handbooks that combine shorter treatments by groups of authors. • For example, a large engineering handbook can be published as several short books.
Amazon Kindle Singles • Amazon Press Release from October 2010: “Less than 10,000 words or more than 50,000: that is the choice writers have generally faced for more than a century--works either had to be short enough for a magazine article or long enough to deliver the "heft" required for book marketing and distribution. But in many cases, 10,000 to 30,000 words (roughly 30 to 90 pages) might be the perfect, natural length to lay out a single killer idea, well researched, well argued and well illustrated--whether it's a business lesson, a political point of view, a scientific argument, or a beautifully crafted essay on a current event. Today, Amazon is announcing that it will launch "Kindle Singles"--Kindle books that are twice the length of a New Yorker feature or as much as a few chapters of a typical book. Kindle Singles will have their own section in the Kindle Store and be priced much less than a typical book.”
Amazon Kindle Singles • As of October 21st, Amazon lists 109 Kindle Singles on their site. • Most are short fiction or works on general interest works on current affairs, cooking, etc.
Morgan & Claypool “Lectures” • Morgan & Claypool Lectures are 75-150 page original presentations of important research or development topics or techniques authored by prominent scientists. • Lectures are more focused than traditional books and cover only one subject. • Since the focus is narrow, the author can be an expert in that one area and the Lecture can be very current.
Morgan & Claypool • Morgan & Claypool lectures are written and published very quickly which is important for fast moving research areas. • Lectures are published in the Synthesis Digital Library of Engineering and Computer Science and The Colloquium Digital Library of the Life Sciences. • Morgan & Claypool Synthesis is licensed by over 300 libraries worldwide.
Ongoing Revision: Books That Change Over Time • One of the greatest problems with traditional books in fast changing science, technology and current affairs subjects is that they can’t reflect ongoing changes in their fields. • This makes traditional books irrelevant in many areas of the sciences. • Publishers and authors are now experimenting with books that are continuously updated as subject matter changes.
Ongoing Revision • O’Reilly is updating some of its technology ebooks. As updated books are released online buyers get them for free. • O’Reilly’s experimental Open Feedback Publishing System plans to improve books over time based on reader feedback. • Morgan & Claypool authors can update their Lectures as their fields change and new information is available. These updates appear on the Synthesis and Colloquium sites right away.
Animation, Video and Sound • One of the most exciting prospects for digital books is the ability to integrate animations, video and sound with text. • Small and large publishers are starting to release products. • Apple’s Ipad and Iphone seem to be the platform that many of these “Appbooks” are designed for. • One of the best examples is a book by former US Vice President Al Gore on climate change.
Education • Education is seen as one of the most important future applications for enhanced books. • Many textbook publishers are working on projects to turn textbooks into multimedia applications
Networking and Community • Publishers and authors are experimenting with building community features into books that allow people to share their reading and learning experiences.
