D igit isa t ion a nd Ele ct r onic
Publishing: de ve loping a st r a t e gy
for book publishing in W a le s
Pr oj e ct Sponsor :
Subm it t e d t o:
Ve r sion:
Or igin:
Date:
© Rightscom 2001
W e lsh Book s Council
Gw e r fyl Pie r ce Jone s
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Right scom Lt d
1 0 Le a k e St r e e t
London SE1 7 N N
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Fa x : 0 2 0 7 6 2 0 0 7 6 0
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
TABLE OF CON TEN TS
1
EXECUTI V E SUM M ARY
3
2
PROJECT OVERVI EW
5
2 .1 Pr oj e ct obj e ct ive
5
2 .2 Pr oj e ct st e ps
5
3
4
5
6
7
8
CURREN T STATE OF TH E TRAD E
8
3 .1 Ba ck gr ound
8
3 .2 Gr ow t h pr oj e ct ions a nd t r e nds
9
3 .3 Gr a nt s for Publishin g in W a le s
10
EPUBLI SH I N G
12
4 .1 D e m a nd pr int / pr int on de m a nd
12
4 .2 D isc
15
4 .3 Online a n d e book s
17
4 .4 Cont e nt m a na ge m e nt
21
4 .5 D RM
22
W ELSH EX PERI EN CE OF N EW TECH N OLOGY
24
5 .1 W ha t t he da t a t e lls us
24
5 .2 Appa r e nt cha lle nge s a nd ba r r ie r s
26
5 .3 Oppor t unit ie s
26
I M PLEM EN TI N G AN EPUBLI SH I N G STRATEGY
29
6 .1 D ocum e nt m a na ge m e nt
29
6 .2 D igit a l pr int ing
32
6 .3 OOP a r chive
34
6 .4 Tr a ining
35
KEY I M PLEM EN TATI ON ACTI ON S
36
7 .1 St r a t e gic Act ion One
36
7 .2 St r a t e gic Act ion Tw o
37
7 .3 St r a t e gic Act ion Thr e e
38
7 .4 St r a t e gic Act ion Four
40
7 .5 Funding
41
ACKN OW LED GEM EN TS
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
1
Ex e cu t ive Su m m a r y
The Welsh Books Council ( WBC) , working on behalf of t he Welsh book t rade, has
recognised t he need t o im prove t he count ry’s book m arket ing and dist ribut ion
infrast ruct ure t hrough t he m ore effect ive use of inform at ion and com m unicat ion
t echnology ( I CT) ; at t he sam e t im e, developm ent s in what m ight broadly be
charact erised as “ epublishing” have also prom pt ed t he Welsh Books Council t o
develop an appropriat e st rat egy for epublishing for t he Welsh book t rade. To
assist in bot h of t hese obj ect ives, t he WBC has com m issioned t wo separat e ( but
linked) st udies. These st udies consider bot h t he opport unit ies for t he Welsh book
t rade t hat are afforded by t he availabilit y of t echnology, and at t he const raint s
wit hin which it operat es, wit h a view t o developing a set of recom m endat ions
t hat can realist ically be im plem ent ed wit hin a five year period.
Book publishing, worldwide, st ands at a crossroads.
The digit al publishing
environm ent , from elect ronic prepress t o digit al print t o elect ronic m edia t o
online delivery represent s probably t he biggest revolut ion in book publishing
since t he invent ion of m ovable t ype. This report , t he second of t he t wo, focuses
on relat ing t he digit al publishing revolut ion t o t he Welsh book publishing
indust ry.
Many t echnology com panies are operat ing in t his area, offering diverse solut ions
for product ion, prot ect ion, and dist ribut ion of cont ent . Alt hough t hese solut ions
are t ransform ing t he m arket ing of t radit ional as well as digit ally published books,
t his report is solely concerned wit h t he lat t er: digit al print , disc- based publishing,
I nt ernet publishing, and ebooks. The abilit y of t he publishing indust ry t o derive
benefit s from t hese t echnologies is direct ly dependent on it s abilit y t o m anage
cont ent digit ally, t o creat e and/ or convert digit al asset s, t o uniquely ident ify and
describe t hose asset s, t o prot ect t hose asset s and enforce digit al right s, t o
archive and m aint ain t hose asset s, and t o dissem inat e t hose asset s in
appropriat e form at s and versions. I n ot her words, t his abilit y is dependent upon
a clear underst anding of t he st rengt hs and weaknesses of t he em erging delivery
plat form s, t he pot ent ial revenue st ream s t hey offer, and t he requirem ent s t hey
im pose on producers and dist ribut ors. By assessing t he epublishing landscape,
t he Welsh Book Trade can prepare it self for t he great er global revenue
opport unit ies t hat are becom ing m ore broadly available t o t he book publishing
indust ry.
Clear opport unit ies for posit ive change exist for t he Welsh Books Council in
becom ing a cent ral epublishing cent re of excellence for it s const it uency, driving
forward epublishing opport unit ies for t he Welsh book t rade as t hey arise, neart erm and far- t erm :
t o est ablish a reposit ory for t he Welsh cont ent being delivered t hrough t he
supply chain;
t o negot iat e and effect new channels for delivering Welsh cont ent t hrough
t he supply chain, in part icular for supplying digit al print ;
t o encourage t he preservat ion of Welsh cult ure t hat m ight ot herwise be
inaccessible, t hrough t he est ablishm ent of a publicly available out - of- print
ebook archive;
t o build a com m unit y educat ion and self- help resource which will act as a
knowledge warehouse and t raining forum t o help m em bers of t he Welsh
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
publishing com m unit y t o im plem ent t he best fit syst em solut ion for t heir
own business.
I t is hoped t hat im plem ent at ion of t hese recom m endat ions will encourage a m ore
responsive and buoyant book t rade in Wales—and t hus a growing book t rade in
Wales—ext ending increased awareness and applicat ion of new publishing
t echnologies t o t he benefit of aut hors, publishers, ot her m em bers of t he book
t rade, but above all of readers.
The book t rade is wholly dependent on readers; it is t hey who m ust be bet t er
served if any new t echnology is t o add value in t he book publishing process.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
2
Pr oj e ct Ove r vie w
2 .1
Pr oj e ct obj e ct ive
The last five years have wit nessed a huge accelerat ion in t he num ber of digit al
publishing m edia and plat form s. However, at present , t he Welsh publishing
t rade has not em braced a com m on m et hodology for exploring and capit alising on
a digit al publishing st rat egy. The Welsh Books Council seeks t o underst and and
part icipat e in t his growt h by what ever m eans it can for t he shared benefit of
everyone in t he book t rade, t o provide cult ural, pedagogical, and com m ercial
benefit s. The purpose of t his report is t o help t o achieve t his obj ect ive by
recognising where opport unit ies exist in t he current publishing fram ework and
t hen addressing t hem by recom m ending new solut ions for t he product ion and
com m erce of books, whet her print or elect ronic.
Sales of digit ised cont ent packages, whet her on physical m edia or as digit al file
downloads, are accelerat ing rapidly around t he world, t he lat t er in t ot al disregard
of hist oric nat ional and com m ercial t rading boundaries. This is present ing
enorm ous challenges for m anaging t he secure delivery of cont ent t o legit im at e
t rading part ners and consum ers, and is occupying t he shared energies of
indust ry groups represent ing t he int erest s of consum er elect ronic m anufact urers,
I T com panies, and right s holders. I t has also present ed enorm ous opport unit ies
for early part icipant s in t he landscape, t o experim ent wit h new channels and t o
posit ion t hem selves for t he fut ure.
This st udy, exploring current and fut ure developm ent s in digit al print ing and
publishing, in Wales and beyond, present s recom m endat ions for t he adopt ion
and m odificat ion of best pract ice t o m axim ise t he effect iveness of Welsh
publishing in t he global net work environm ent . I t s form al obj ect ive is “ t o provide
a com prehensive analysis of current and fort hcom ing epublishing plat form s in
support of t he m arket ing and dist ribut ion of cont ent t o provide t he basis of a
five- year plan for t he developm ent of elect ronic publishing in Wales.”
2 .2
Pr oj e ct st e ps
The purpose of t his proj ect was first t o ident ify t he current underst anding wit hin
Welsh book publishing of new t echnology opt ions; t hen t o ident ify t he pot ent ial
for t he wider applicat ion of digit al delivery, assessing t he com parat ive
cont ribut ions and benefit s of digit al print and digit al m edia along t he supply
chain; t hen t o define t he requirem ent s for achieving t hat pot ent ial and t o
recom m end t he workflow t hat would be needed t o support t he principal act ivit ies
for such publishing, now and int o t he fut ure.
The m et hodology was a com binat ion of qualit at ive and quant it at ive research,
com prising
o
A review of previous st udies of and t he current st at e of t he t rade
o
The creat ion of a t axonom y of epublishing issues
o
A survey of epublishing use, em ploying st ruct ured face- t o- face workshops
and individual int erviews as well as post al quest ionnaires
o
A survey of pot ent ial providers, accom panied by personal int erviews
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
2 .2 .1
K N OW LED GE GATH ERI N G AN D N EED S AN ALYSI S
We first conduct ed a knowledge building exercise t hrough a research and
int erview process t o docum ent what t he posit ion is t oday in respect of Welsh
book t rade pract ices ( am ong publishers, booksellers and ret ailers) for delivering
cont ent digit ally. Through a focused workshop, select int erviews and m ail- in
quest ionnaires, t arget ing key part icipant s from t he Welsh book t rade value chain,
Right scom gat hered expect at ions and requirem ent s for specifying t he
developm ent of an epublishing st rat egy. This knowledge base is fundam ent al t o
t his proj ect , highlight ing t he needs for as well as t he const raint s against efficient
pract ice, and providing a foundat ion for t he subsequent st udy.
The research universe for t he st udy was defined by t he Welsh Books Council,
who provided a list of publishers, bookshops, libraries and ot her book t rade
part icipant s, considered t o be “ st akeholders” in t he success of t he book t rade.
The educat ional publishing m arket was not included in t his populat ion and has
t hus not been a focus of t his st udy.
2.2.1.1
Conduct ing t he survey
Four group workshops were held ( t wo in Llandudno Junct ion and t wo in
Swansea) from 12- 13 June. At t endance was as follows:
e publishing
I CT
Llandudno Junct ion
4 publishers, 1 library
3 publishers, 1 library
Swansea
8 publishers, 2
Language Board, 1 Art s
Council, 1 WJEC, 1
print er
10 publishers, 2
Language Board, 1
WJEC
Workshops were conduct ed in bot h Welsh and English.
To increase personal cont act wit h bookshops, we conduct ed four one- on- one
int erviews wit h individual propriet ors. We also int erviewed t he Universit y of
Wales Press, who had been unable t o at t end t he workshops but had raised som e
im port ant issues in correspondence, and t he Nat ional Library of Wales.
2.2.1.2
Dist ribut ion of quest ionnaires
Following t he workshops, 260 English quest ionnaires were sent out : 80 t o
publishers, 12 t o libraries, 160 t o ret ail shops ( bookshops, t ourist shops) .
( Welsh versions were sent subsequent ly.) The response rat e, given a cut - off
dat e of July 23, was as follows:
Tot a l se nt
Epublishing
I CT
Publishers
80
14 ( 18% )
18 ( 23% )
Ret ail shops
160
22 bookshops;
3 t ourist shops ( 16% )
Libraries
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4 ( 33% )
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Tot als com bined wit h workshop subm issions.
Tot a l
dist r ibut e d
Epublishing
I CT
Publishers
93
23 ( 25% )
21 ( 23% )
Ret ail shops
161
23 bookshops;
4 t ourist
ot her
shops
and
( 17% )
Libraries
2 .2 .2
13
1 ( 8% )
5 ( 38% )
R ESEARCH AN D D OCUM EN TATI ON
We ident ified t he current m arket adopt ion rat es and t he fut ure m arket pot ent ial
offered by digit al delivery of cont ent t hrough physical product s, including CDROM, DVD, and digit al print ( short run print and print on dem and) , exploring
relevant capit al and process cost s, in light of m arket growt h st at ist ics and new
m arket penet rat ion.
Sim ult aneously, we ident ified t he current m arket adopt ion rat es and t he fut ure
m arket pot ent ial offered by digit al delivery of cont ent t hrough t he I nt ernet ,
including web publishing and ebook delivery ( t o PC readers and t o dedicat ed
reading devices) , highlight ing each plat form ’s charact erist ics and pot ent ial for
facilit at ing t he growt h of t he t rading of Welsh book cont ent in t he global
m arket place, not ing cost s of part icipat ion ( conversion and repurposing of
cont ent ) .
2 .2 .3
F ORM ULATI ON OF A STRATEGY
Based on our research, we have developed recom m endat ions on t he priorit ies for
elect ronic publishing in Wales over t he next five years. Focusing on opt ical disc,
digit al print , t he I nt ernet and ebook delivery, t hese recom m endat ions aim t o
support t he requirem ent s ident ified by t he Welsh book t rade and t he dem ands of
t he em erging m arket place. Where possible, Right scom has sought t o ident ify
funding opport unit ies t o offset developm ent cost s, as well as t o reinforce t he
long- t erm benefit s of t he invest m ent . This report present s t he overall findings
and recom m endat ions, delivered t o t he WBC.
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3
Cu r r e n t st a t e of t h e t r a de
3 .1
3 .1 .1
Ba ck gr ou n d
M ARKET SI ZE
Est im at es of t he size of t he Welsh- language m arket are half a m illion in Wales
it self ( about 19% of t he populat ion) , wit h sm all pocket s of populat ion around t he
world t hrough t he Welsh diaspora. 1 Speculat ions as t o t he num ber of Welsh
speakers out side of Wales vary, from 150,000 t o 450,000 in England, wit h
fam ously som e 1000 in Pat agonia, and unknown num bers in Scot land, I reland,
Nort h Am erica and elsewhere.
What proport ion of “ dom est ic” Welsh language speakers t ranslat es int o book
buyers has been m ost recent ly quant ified by Beaufort . A Novem ber 2000 survey
indicat es t hat 24.7% of Welsh speakers “ ever” finish reading a Welsh language
book. ( This shows a slight increase from t he previous year, which was at
23.6% .) The num ber of t hose who finish a book m ore oft en t han once a year
has rem ained st eady, at 19.2% in 1999 and 19.4% in 2000. However, only
19.6% “ ever” purchase a book in Welsh, a decrease of 3% from t he previous
year; and purchasing once a year or m ore oft en has dropped from 17% t o
15.8% , alt hough t his is an increase com pared t o June 1997 ( 14.8% ) . Gwynedd
is t he region wit h t he highest concent rat ion of book buyers and book readers,
wit h 20.5% of it s t ot al populat ion ( 38.2% of it s Welsh- speaking populat ion)
finishing a book in Welsh against t he overall average of 6.8% . Bot h readers and
buyers of Welsh books are m ore likely t o be over 34 years of age. 2
I t is, of course, effect ively im possible t o est im at e t he pot ent ial size of t he m arket
for English language “ books of Welsh int erest ” , since it t heoret ically encom passes
everyone in t he World who speaks English ( eit her as a prim ary or secondary
language) . Est im at es of pot ent ial m arket size in t his cont ext are clearly of no
significant value. The dom est ic Welsh m arket com prises approxim at ely 3 m illion
people; it is growing only very slowly. 3
1
According t o t he 1991 Census of Populat ion, t here were 508,098 speakers of Welsh in Wales,
const it ut ing 18.6% of t he populat ion. The Welsh Office survey, conduct ed a year lat er ( in 1992) ,
est im at ed t he num ber of fluent Welsh speakers at 368,000, wit h an addit ional 94,900 speakers
being fairly fluent and 467,300 able t o speak som e Welsh.
( ht t p: / / cam pus.uoc.es/ eurom osaic/ web/ docum ent / gales/ an/ il/ il.ht m l) I n 1995, t he Welsh Office
survey showed 21.5% of t he populat ion ( 590,800) speaking Welsh, com prised as follows: 32.4% of
3- 15 year olds, 17.8% of 16- 29s, 16.7% of 30- 44s, 18.7% of 45- 64s and 24.2% of over 65s.
Not ably, 12% of t he populat ion ( 326,600, or 55% of Welsh speakers) are Welsh as first language
speakers, while 66.1% claim no facilit y wit h Welsh.
( ht t p: / / users.com lab.ox.ac.uk/ geraint .j ones/ about .welsh) The Beaufort St at e of Welsh Language
Research Report ( March/ April 2000) places Welsh speaking adult s ( age 16 and over, speaking at
least som e Welsh) at 18% . Of t hese, 62% are able t o read Welsh very well and 26% fairly well;
53% can writ e Welsh very well. I n bot h cases, t he facilit y lowers for 25 t o 44 year olds and
increases t hereaft er. See also “ Digest of Welsh St at ist ics 2000,”
ht t p: / / www.wales.gov.uk/ keypubst at ist icsforwales/ cont ent / publicat ion/ com pendia/ 2000/ digest / cha
p_one/ chap_one.ht m .
2
ACW/ Beaufort Welsh Om nibus Survey – Novem ber 2000, produced by Valleys Art s Market ing.
3
Less t han 2% bet ween 1991 and 2000, com pared t o over 3.5% for England.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
3 .1 .2
T H E BOOK TRAD E I N W ALES
The book t rade is com prised prim arily of sm all t o m edium sized ent erprises,
including m ore t han 80 Welsh/ bilingual publishers, 150 publishers of books of
Welsh int erest ( in English) , 500 ret ail out let s, 4 and 22 library aut horit ies.
The Welsh Books Council is an organisat ion t hat works on behalf of t he
publishing t rade in Wales, providing services support ing publishing, product ion,
m arket ing and dist ribut ion, as well as prom ot ing reading and lit eracy.
I t s largest depart m ent is t he Dist ribut ion Cent re ( WBC DC) , which act s as a
wholesaler and a dist ribut or for publishers and booksellers, st ocking t it les and
fulfilling orders.
The WBC DC’s dist ribut ion and fulfilm ent act ivit ies are
support ed by a syst em from VI STA I nt ernat ional, t he UK’s leading vendor of
publisher “ back office” syst em s. This was inst alled in 1995/ 6 wit h t he support of
lot t ery funding.
The WBC dat abase of t it les com prises 17,500 t it les, 11,500 of which are st ill in
print . The num ber of new t it les added in 2000 was 1149 ( 606 Welsh and 543
Welsh int erest ) . There were 125 reprint ed t it les ( 76 Welsh, 49 Welsh int erest ) .
For Welsh- language books support ed by t he Publishing Grant , t he average print
run for a new t it le is 1418, wit h sales averaging 1,000 copies over t wo years. 5
The WBC also provides an online inform at ion service, gwales.com , offering a
cat alogue of som e 14,000 Welsh books and books of Welsh int erest t o
booksellers, libraries and individuals. 6 Gwales.com was creat ed in 2000 wit h
support from a grant from t he European Regional Developm ent Fund schem e:
Llwybr Pat hway, and t he Nat ional Assem bly for Wales. Trade orders t o t he WBC
DC m ay be placed direct ly on gwales.com ; ret ail orders m ay also be placed, but
t hese are rout ed for processing and fulfilm ent t o a convent ional bookshop
select ed from a list of “ qualified” ret ailers by t he consum er.
WBC DC has, t hus far, been unwilling t o fulfil direct orders received over t he
I nt ernet from individual cust om ers, because it does not wish t o been seen as
underm ining t radit ional ret ail relat ionships. 7 However, t his policy has been called
int o quest ion: is t he current arrangem ent t he m ost effect ive way of serving
cust om ers?
3 .2
Gr ow t h pr oj e ct ion s a n d t r e n ds
While Welsh- speaking populat ions are decreasing wit h each census, t he Welsh
Language Board not es a slowing in t he decrease in fluency, suggest ing t hat t he
language has “ st abilised” and t hat decline m ay have been arrest ed. 8
The
4
This is t he num ber of account s wit hin Wales act ive at t he Dist ribut ion Cent re. The worldwide
num ber, including superm arket s, chain st ores and confect ioners, is over 800. Sim ilarly, worldwide
publisher account s at t he DC am ount t o m ore t han 350.
5
Working Toget her, Publishing in Wales wit h t he Support of t he Publishing Grant : A Five- Year
St rat egy, Novem ber 2000, p. 15. The Publishing Grant is explained in sect ion 3.3.
6
There is an apparent discrepancy in num bers here, account ed for by t it les “ t em porarily out of
print ” .
7
I t should, t hough, be not ed t hat it does fulfil individual orders received by ot her m edia.
8
The Welsh Language Board, “ The Present St at e of t he Language,” ht t p: / / www.bwrdd- yriait h.org.uk/ ht m l/ wlb/ s1_prom ost rat 3- e.ht m l.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Language Board at t ribut es t his largely t o an increase in t he t eaching of Welsh in
schools.
I ndeed, t he biggest increase in t he proport ion of Welsh- speakers has been
am ong younger age- groups. The percent age of prim ary school children fluent in
Welsh has increased from 13.1 t o 16.3 per cent over t he last t hirt een years, wit h
one in five st udent s t aught in classes where Welsh is t he prim ary m edium of
t eaching, 9 and one in six speaking fluent ly. At secondary level, one in seven
st udent s is t aught Welsh as a first language and four out of five are t aught Welsh
as a second language. 10
The 1996 Eurom osaic Report charact erises t he Welsh language as “ quit e
dynam ic,” but warns t he “ t he m ain issue now surrounds t ranslat ing com pet ence
int o use,” such as by inst it ut ionalising t he language “ wit hin a range of st ruct ures
wit hin civil societ y.” 11 This is t he challenge t hat t he Welsh language publishing
t rade faces, as it st rives t o est ablish recognit ion for t he language as a viable
m edium across age groups.
The WBC st rives t o increase language awareness and use t hrough encouraging
and support ing Welsh- language ( and Welsh int erest ) publishing effort s. I t does
t his part ly t hrough dist ribut ion of publishing grant s ( see below) . The following
goals were set should t he Publishing Grant be subst ant ially increased as
proposed: 12
o
To sell 300,000 copies of books support ed by t he Grant wit hin a t wo- year
life by year 2005. This t ranslat es int o an increase of t wo- year sales
figures of 50% , wit h an increase in t he average sales of a new book from
1000 t o 1250 copies.
o
To increase annual sales of Welsh books t o 675000 by year 2005 ( an
increase of 50% ) .
o
To increase t he num ber of reader and buyers of Welsh books by 25% by
year 2005.
3 .3
Gr a n t s for Pu blish in g in W a le s
Most of t he 600 books published in Welsh in a year receive som e m easure of
subsidy. 13
The Art s Council of Wales ( ACW) dist ribut es grant s t o books of lit erary m erit , and
has a budget of £1.25m illion for 2001/ 02. These books m ay be in Welsh or in
English. The ACW also dist ribut es lot t ery funds allocat ed t o t he art s, but again
prim arily t o support lit erary- art ist ic works.
The Qualificat ions, Curriculum ,
9
27% of all prim ary schools are Welsh m edium schools, but concent rat ions vary geographically.
10
“ Welsh in Schools,”
ht t p: / / www.wales.gov.uk/ keypubst at ist icsforwales/ cont ent / publicat ion/ educat ion/ 2001/ welshinsch
ools2001english.doc; “ Eurom osaic: The product ion and reproduct ion of t he m inorit y language
groups in t he European Union,”
ht t p: / / cam pus.uoc.es/ eurom osaic/ web/ hom ean/ m ain/ present a/ index.ht m l.
11
ibid
12
“ Working Toget her, Publishing in Welsh wit h t he Support of t he Publishing Grant : A Five- Year
St rat egy,” Novem ber 2000.
13
ibid, p. 3
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Assessm ent aut horit y for Wales ( ACCAC) has £1.4 m illion annually t o
com m ission Welsh and bilingual educat ional m at erial for t he Nat ional Curriculum .
The Welsh Joint Educat ion Com m it t ee ( WJEC) has £250,000 annually for support
of m at erials for schools.
The WBC also dist ribut es grant s for Welsh language t it les ( t he Publishing Grant ) ,
which com e from funds from t he Nat ional Assem bly rout ed t hrough t he Welsh
Language Board.
The Publishing Grant support s approxim at ely 200 books,
divided alm ost equally bet ween children’s and adult t it les. 14 I ndividual awards
m ade by t he WBC range from a few hundred pounds up t o £4000, wit h t he
average being approxim at ely £1500. Since t he int roduct ion of support schem es
for publishing back in t he 1950s and 1960s, t he num ber of new Welsh- language
t it les has m ore t han quadrupled. 15
I n t he case of t he Publishing Grant , t he grant awarded t o a publisher for a t it le is
t he difference bet ween t he t it le’s product ion cost s and it s expect ed incom e. The
WBC has put t oget her a t able of product ion cost s t o use in calculat ing t he
form er. The lat t er is det erm ined t hrough t he following form ula: ( 60- 75% of t he
print run) t im es ( t he publicat ion price less a 43% discount ) . The Council’s goals
are t o ensure t hat sufficient num bers of copies of books reach t he m arket place t o
m eet dem and, as well as t o spread t he available grant as widely as possible t o
support t he publishing of as m any t it les as possible. The net effect is an
obj ect ive t o increase t he init ial print runs of individual t it les, which t ends t o
decrease t he am ount of grant given for a t it le. Met hods of encouraging higher
init ial print runs include offering publishers higher grant s for cert ain books if t hey
agree t o increase t he print run, and refusing grant s for reprint s unt il t wo years
aft er publicat ion.
14
Publishing Grant requirem ent s are as follows: A book m ust be a least 48 pages; The print run
m ust be at least 750 copies ( runs lower t han t his are “ rarely given considerat ion” ) ; Print runs
should support t wo years’ st ock; Grant s for reprint s are not allowed wit hin t wo years of grant s t o
previous product ion; The book m ust be in t he Welsh language or bilingual. WBC Publishing Grant
Depart m ent , “ I nt roduct ion t o t he Publishing Grant for Prospect ive Publishers”
15
Roy Thom as, “ Welsh Language Publicat ions: I s Public Support Effect ive?”
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
4
e Pu blish in g
There is serious int erest across t he whole of book publishing in pursuing new
elect ronic m odels. Of 31 UK publishers and 30 US publishers surveyed earlier
t his year, 16 a significant m aj orit y were eit her already part icipat ing in or were
seriously t hinking about adopt ing t he following epublishing m edia for t heir
product s:
Te chnology
UK Publishe r s
US Publishe r s
ebooks
65%
73%
Online delivery
94%
80%
Print on dem and
71%
67%
The abilit y of t he publishing indust ry, in t his case t he Welsh publishing indust ry,
t o derive benefit s from t hese new t echnologies is direct ly dependent on it s
underst anding of t he st rengt hs and weaknesses of t he em erging delivery
plat form s, t he pot ent ial revenue st ream s t hey offer, and t he requirem ent s t hey
im pose on producers and dist ribut ors. Through an assessm ent of t his landscape,
t he Welsh book t rade can prepare it self for t he global opport unit ies t hat are
becom ing m ore broadly available t o book publishing.
4 .1
4 .1 .1
D e m a n d pr in t / pr in t on de m a n d
D ESCRI PTI ON AN D USP S , OVERVI EW OF TECH N OLOGY
Digit al print ing enables j ust - in- t im e print ing. This im plies print ing only what you
need when you need it . That m ay const it ut e filling publisher orders for 10- 500
copies, quant it ies below econom ical sheet - fed product ion runs ( t his range is
referred t o in t his report as “ short - run dem and print ” ) ; or it m ay const it ut e
single copy orders t o fill a single consum er order ( referred t o as “ print on
dem and” ) . I t does t his by print ing t ext s from digit al files on digit al print ing
equipm ent , t ypically Xerox Docut ech or I BM I nfoprint m achines. As t here are no
film s, no plat es and no m akereadies, print t urnaround is t ypically 24- 48 hours,
regardless of quant it y, and regardless of whet her t his is t he first print ing or t he
one hundred and first .
4 .1 .2
M ARKET AN D M ARKET T REN D S
Digit al print ing has been available and in use in t he UK for m ore t han a decade,
wit h part icular applicat ion in academ ic and professional publishing because of
t heir sm all m arket charact erist ics. Cam bridge Universit y Press, for inst ance,
uses short run print ing t echnology t o revive out - of- print t it les and t o keep ot hers
available alm ost indefinit ely. According t o CUP, of t he press’ 13,500 t it les in
print in 1998, 8,200 were slow sellers wit h average sales of 32 copies per year.
Over recent years, CUP has put a value on t his deep backlist of t ot al sales wort h
£3- 5 m illion. This is revenue t hat would be lost if t he t it les were not kept in
print . I n fact , CUP has calculat ed t he lost revenue of t he 1000 t it les t hey
discont inued in 1997 at m ore t han £1 m illion. Thus, as of 1999, CUP is reviving
16
Publishing 2001: At t it udes t o Technological Change, BPI Com m unicat ions I nc.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
out of print t it les and m aint aining m ore t han 1000 very slow- selling backlist t it les
t hrough digit al print ing, having underst ood t he value of t he m arket t hat books
t hat go out - of- print under t radit ional m easures can have. 17
I n t he recent Publishing 2001 survey, 18 bot h UK and US publishers acknowledged
t hat short run dem and print could be suit able for m any different genres such as
lit erary and classic fict ion, and sim ilar t ext - based books, providing bet t er
invent ory cont rol and t he abilit y t o ext end t he life of a book, wit h academ ic and
professional publishers ext ending t his t o single- copy print on dem and. 30% of
UK consum er publishers who responded predict ed t hat up t o 10% of t heir
revenue would be from print on dem and wit hin five years, wit h anot her 30%
predict ing a higher range of 10- 25% . 19 This shift is expect ed t o bring wit h it a
m arked effect on t he supply chain, wit h direct sales channels, I nt ernet
bookshops and new int erm ediaries gaining share. Convent ional bookshops are
seen as t he pot ent ial losers in share, wit h dist ribut or/ wholesalers as pot ent ial
winners, as print on dem and becom es a pot ent ial new wholesaler service. 20
Also arising from t his new digit al environm ent , in which any port ion of t he t ext is
im m ediat ely accessible, is t he opport unit y for cust om print ing: when t he
consum er orders j ust t he sect ions of t he t ext he want s, perhaps com bining t hem
wit h sect ions from ot her t ext s. Som e publishers, part icularly in t he educat ional
and professional sect ors, see cust om publishing as a source of new, ot herwise
unt apped, revenue. Professors can m ix and m at ch chapt ers and art icles int o
t arget ed t ext books for st udent purchase; academ ics can assem ble and purchase
relevant research m at erial.
But reaping t his increm ent al revenue requires
t reat ing t it les as com posit es rat her t han as wholes ( wit h all of t he right s and
royalt y issues t hat would accom pany such a division) .
4 .1 .3
P ROD UCTI ON SPECI FI CATI ON S AN D REQUI REM EN TS
Digit al print ers require subm ission of PDF files. Alt ernat ively, suppliers can
out put PDF from applicat ion files ( such as Quark) or can scan hardcopy. Book
specificat ions are lim it ed by t he const raint s of t he digit al print ing hardware. Trim
sizes, paper select ion, binding st yles and input file form at s m ay need t o be
reviewed t o fit m ost econom ically wit h t he digit al print ing process. Typically,
digit al print ers can out put Dem y ( 216 x 138) and Royal ( 234 x 156) , but som e
can offer ot her t rim sizes such as Crown Quart o and B form at s as well.
4 .1 .4
COSTS AN D BEN EFI TS
The quant it y at which digit al print ing becom es m ore econom ical t han
convent ional print ing is a com plicat ed calculat ion, im pact ed by fact ors such as
invent ory and st orage cost s, m at erials cost s, opport unit y cost s, wast age and
obsolescence, and ret urns, as well as basic unit cost s of m anufact ure. What m ay
appear on t he surface t o be a higher unit cost m ay prove in t he long t erm t o be
m ore econom ical, given t he elim inat ion of ret urns or wast e and reduct ion of
17
“ The dem ands of print - on- dem and,” Michael Holdswort h,
www.ecp.ucl.ac.uk/ insidebookpublishing/ resources/ holdswort h.ht m
18
Op Cit
19
They at t ribut e t his shift in m anufact uring approach as m uch t o benefit s derived from cost
savings as t o t han revenue generat ion.
20
Publishing 2001, p.77- 80. Not e t hat bot h of t he UK’s largest wholesalers are now offering short
run dem and print and print on dem and opt ions.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
warehousing overhead.
Or it m ay be at t ract ive given t he alt ernat ive of not
print ing—and losing t he sales alt oget her. 21
Cost
per
unit
Digital print cost
Conventional print cost
where digital print
is cheaper
Quantity
Typically, t he digit al print ing price com prises a one- t im e file preparat ion fee ( for
t he t ext and for t he cover) , which will depend upon t he source copy subm it t ed
( elect ronic or hard copy) . This includes get t ing t he file int o proper PDF form at
and loading it int o t he print er’s digit al library. File preparat ion fees range from
£40- £80, according t o t he source copy. Product ion is t hen charged by t he copy,
given a per unit cost ( which includes cover and binding) and a per page cost ,
regardless of quant it y. 22 Not t o be overlooked is an annual st orage charge,
which is usually £5- 10 per t it le per annum .
The im m ediacy of t he order and it s fulfilm ent , part icularly for print on dem and,
m eans t hat a digit al print ing facilit y need not be cent ralized t o coincide wit h t he
locat ion of a publisher or a warehouse, but rat her can be placed closer t o a
dist ribut or, ret ailer or even ult im at ely t o t he consum er.
4 .1 .5
D I GI TAL P RI N T P RI CI N G
To illum inat e issues relat ing t o cost , we have t abulat ed som e sam ple prices,
com paring t he cost of m anufact ure from a range of digit al m anufact urers for a
book of wit h a relat ively sim ple specificat ion.
21
A point of int ersect ion—t he quant it y at which digit al print is as econom ical as convent ional
print —cannot be predict ed across t he board, given varying book specificat ions, overhead, ret ail
price, et c. However, t ypically a publisher can consider shift ing t o digit al print ing for quant it ies
below 500 unit s.
22
Som e digit al print ers charge a slight ly higher per page price for a single- copy order t han for
orders for t wo or m ore copies, but t his prem ium is m inim al and affect s only an order of one.
© Rightscom 2001
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
The cost of m anufact ure is com pared wit h t he WBC “ list ” as a benchm ark
value. 23
1 6 0 pa ge s, b/ w t e x t , w it h ou t t ype se t t in g, soft cove r bin din g, 4 / C cove r w it h ou t
la m in a t ion , 2 1 6 x 1 3 8 t r im
1000
1 st pr in t in g
1 0 0 0 r e pr in t
750
pr in t in g
Supplier A
2.844
2.792
Supplier B
2.243
Supplier C
WBC list
4 .2
4 .2 .1
1 st
250
r e pr in t
50
r e pr in t
Sin gle copy
POD 2 4
2.862
2.792
2.792
55.12/ 2.52
2.20
2.257
2.20
2.20
45.20/ 2.20
1.844
( convent ional)
1.377
( convent ional)
2.243
( convent ional)
1.568
2.22
NA
2.10 - 2.47
2.10 - 2.47
2.40 - 2.73
NA
NA
NA
D isc
D ESCRI PTI ON AN D USP S , OVERVI EW OF TECH N OLOGY
Com pact Disc Read- Only Mem ory ( CD- ROM) is an opt ical st orage disc holding up
t o 650 MB of t ext , high- qualit y im ages, sound and video. I t st ores dat a in
m icroscopic grooves running in a spiral around t he disc and uses laser beam s t o
scan t hese grooves. The t echnology dat es back t o 1983.
Digit al Video Disc ( DVD) is t he next generat ion of opt ical disc st orage
t echnology. DVD- ROM is essent ially a bigger, fast er CD t hat can hold cinem a- like
video, bet t er- t han- CD audio, and com put er dat a. DVD aim s t o encom pass hom e
ent ert ainm ent , com put ers, and consum er and business inform at ion wit h a single
digit al form at , event ually replacing audio CD, videot ape, laserdisc, CD- ROM, and
video gam e cart ridges. Though t he sam e size as a CD, a DVD disc holds about
seven t im es m ore dat a. At t ract ive t o a bilingual m arket is DVD’s st andard
language choice feat ure, allowing aut om at ic select ion from m ult iple languages
for audio and subt it les.
4 .2 .2
M ARKET AN D M ARKET TREN D S
Now in it s fourt h year, DVD has sold fast er t han videot ape, CD, and laserdisc at
t he sam e point in t he consum er adopt ion lifecycle. By 2000, t here were about
46 m illion drives sold worldwide ( 17 m illion of t hem in Europe) and over 10,000
t it les available in t he US alone. Alt hough you can’t play a DVD in a CD player, all
DVD players and drives can read CD- ROMs, so t here is a com pat ible forward
m igrat ion pat h.
The CD- ROM publishing m arket is wort h $2,520 m illion in Europe, of which 30%
is non- gam e revenue. 25 While reliable regional breakdowns are scarce, t he UK is
23
The WBC com piles a product ion price list t o be used in grant applicat ions. This list assum es a
m inim um print run of 1000 unit s but can be scaled down t o 750 unit s.
The range t akes int o
account fact ors such as t he t arget m arket , design, t ranslat ion, copyedit ing cost s, and t he like.
24
First price assum es cover and t ext files m ust be set up; second price assum es t it le has already
been set up and is ready t o print .
25
I MI , June 2001, “ From rags t o riches: t he best kept secret of CD- ROM publishing.”
© Rightscom 2001
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
report ed t o account for 15.5% , 26 which would suggest a non- gam e m arket size of
$117 m illion ( nearly £80 m illion) .
Alm ost all personal com put ers being
m anufact ured and sold t oday st ill carry CD- ROM drives, t hus sust aining a huge
m arket of pot ent ial users. ( Worldwide inst alled base surpassed 200 m illion in
1998.)
A t ot al of 46 m illion DVD drives shipped worldwide in 2000. 27 DVD is predict ed
t o overt ake VHS as well as CD- ROM wit hin five years. Furt her, by 2002, t he
inst alled base of DVD- ROM drives is proj ect ed t o exceed 250 m illion worldwide,
replacing CD- ROM as t he dom inant t angible soft ware and m ult im edia delivery
plat form .
Given t he num ber of PCs shipping wit h DVD drives, t he overall
household access t o DVD t oday is est im at ed t o be 25% in t he US and 14% in
Europe. These forecast s put household penet rat ion at 66% in Europe by 2005. 28
And t he worldwide inst alled base will be 625 m illion by 2010 ( 55% of TV
households) .
4 .2 .3
P ROD UCTI ON SPECI FI CATI ON S AN D REQUI REM EN TS
CD and DVD specificat ions ( for CD audio, CD- ROM, DVD- ROM, et c.) exist as
st andards, adopt ed by int ernat ional st andards bodies. Aut horing syst em s and
encoding t ools now on t he m arket for t he creat ion of CD and DVD product s
deliver cont ent according t o t he appropriat e specificat ions.
4 .2 .4
COSTS AN D BEN EFI TS
Creat ing t he cont ent t o reside on disc incurs an alm ost ent irely variable expense.
How m uch ( and t o what ext ent ) cont ent has t o be creat ed and/ or acquired
and/ or repurposed by aut hors and graphics designers will det erm ine
developm ent cost s. Once creat ed, t he t ext , audio and video m ust be digit ised
and encoded, m enus and cont rol inform at ion have t o be aut hored and encoded,
and it all has t o be form at t ed and prem ast ered on a single disc. Developers m ay
charge by t he proj ect or m ay charge by t he day. Product ion work, such as
com pression, can be done at facilit ies t hat t ypically charge by t he hour ( at rat es
of approxim at ely £300) .
Manufact uring cost s are, t hough, clear. CDs cost about £700 t o m ast er and
£0.40 each t o replicat e ( replicat ion cost s depend upon quant it y; t he higher t he
quant it y, t he lower t he “ per disc” cost ) . DVDs also cost about £700 t o m ast er,
and about £1.00 each t o replicat e. The lat t er is expect ed t o drop as t he
t echnology becom es m ore popular. Finally, packaging will vary according t o
m at erials and art work.
Capacit y, searchabilit y and access t o m arket ( significant inst alled base) m ake
CD- ROM publishing at t ract ive, in t hose m arket s where capacit y and searchabilit y
are im port ant selling point s.
Scholarly 29 and reference publishing and
educat ional publishing are nat ural beneficiaries of t he plat form . Furt her, it s
m ult im edia capabilit ies cat er t o t hese m arket s ( enhancing encyclopaedias, for
26
www.honco.net / archive/ 990202.ht m l
27
ht t p: / / www.dvddem yst ified.com / dvdfaq.ht m l
28
www.st rat egyanalyt ics.com / press/ PRDM022.ht m
29
Alt hough academ ic publishers are generally m oving away from publishing on disc- based
plat form s: see, for exam ple Chapt er 4 of t he report : Mark Bide & Associat es St andards for
Elect ronic Publishing NEDLI B Report 3; available from ht t p: / / www.kb.nl/ coop/ nedlib/ ( t his report is
based on research undert aken in t he sum m er of 2000) .
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
inst ance) , and, providing t he capacit y for a gam e- like environm ent , t o children’s
publishing as well. DVD will cont inue t his legacy, providing even m ore capacit y.
However, pot ent ial benefit s t o t he book m arket are m ore lim it ed: cookbooks,
ant hologies, t ravel guides, and t he like are candidat e for t he int eract ivit y enabled
by discs, whereas novels ( in t heir current form anyway) probably are not .
4 .3
4 .3 .1
On lin e a n d e book s
D ESCRI PTI ON AN D USP S , OVERVI EW OF TECH N OLOGY
Wit h increased access t o t he I nt ernet com es increased access t o cont ent , as
m ore and m ore publishers m ove t heir cont ent online t o t ake advant age of
increased and global access t o consum ers. Online delivery of cont ent includes a
m ult it ude of access and usage m odels, including em ail dist ribut ion, online
viewing, downloads from websit es, print on dem and fulfilm ent , and ebook
fulfillm ent . I nform at ion m ay be offered free or m ay be paid for via subscript ion
or individual copy.
What exact ly is an ebook?
I s it j ust a convent ional book, dist ribut ed as linear t ext in m achine- readable form
and designed t o be read on som e sort of hand- held device ( or perhaps on your
PC) ? Or is it som et hing t hat was once a book but is now j ust one ‘t hread’ in an
online dat abase, a dat abase t hat is designed t o provide sim ult aneous access t o
passages select ed from t ens of t housands of such ‘books’ m ade sim ult aneously
accessible t o t he reader? Or is it a ‘m ult im edia experience’ such as publishers
t ried ( wit hout signal success, it m ust be said) t o sell t o consum ers on CDROM in
t he m iddle years of t he last decade?
The t erm ‘ebook’ is being used t o denot e all of t hese t hings, as well as, rat her
loosely, som e of t he dedicat ed hardware devices t hat are designed specifically
wit h t he reading experience in m ind. The concept of t he ebook encom passes all
t hese ideas and m ore; t he different applicat ions of t he t erm are not neat ly
separable.
For our purposes here, we will t reat I nt ernet publishing and ebook publishing
nearly synonym ously, as cont ent delivered and read elect ronically.
What
dist inguishes ebook publishing is t he hardware and soft ware enabling delivery:
an ebook is viewed on eit her a port able device or on a PC, using ebook rendering
soft ware.
Handheld ebook devices include widespread personal digit al assist ant s ( PDAs) ,
such as t he Palm Pilot , and dedicat ed ebook reader devices, such as t he Gem st ar
REB, t he newly renam ed version of t he Rocket - eBook. The Microsoft Reader
soft ware runs on som e of t hese hardware devices, while ot her devices require
t heir own unique ebook reader applicat ions.
eBooks can also be read via PC- based plat form s. I n t his case, t he soft ware
reader applicat ion is downloaded t o a lapt op or PC. There are t wo m ain PC
reader com pet it ors, Microsoft ( wit h it s Microsoft Reader applicat ion) and Adobe
( wit h it s Adobe Acrobat Reader applicat ion) .
There are also several niche
plat form s, cat ering t o specific m arket s such as educat ional or children’s books.
And t here are several online libraries services, which offer cont rolled access t o
collect ions of cont ent via PCs.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
A few m anufact urers have recent ly ent ered
size port able devices.
This m arks an
t echnology t hat advances ebooks from
product s t hat have PC- like large screens,
connect ivit y.
4 .3 .2
t he t ablet PC m arket , developing A4int erest ing t urning point in device
deskt ops and lapt ops t o handheld
m ult im edia capabilit ies and I nt ernet
M ARKET AN D M ARKET TREN D S
Many t radit ional publishers are est ablishing t heir own online presences, such as
HarperCollins’ Fireandwat er.com and Penguin’s newly launched ePenguin.com .
Many new, online- only publishers are em erging, wit h no brick and m ort ar
presence, such as onlineoriginals.com . Furt her, a variet y of online aggregat ors
are bridging t he worlds, licensing bodies of cont ent from t radit ional publishers
and m aking it available as part of a larger collect ion t o an online audience.
Net Library, ebrary, Quest ia, KnowUK, and ot hers, are exam ples of t hese new
online libraries and aggregat ors. ( See Technical Annex 11 for furt her det ail.)
Nine m illion households in t he UK, or well over one- t hird, are using t he I nt ernet .
I n Wales, t hat percent age drops t o j ust under 25% .
4.3.2.1
Online
78% of t he UK publishers surveyed in Publishing 2001 ( out of 27 responses)
expect online delivery t o form a significant part of t heir m arket wit h t he next five
years. 30
While an average of 37% of UK hom es have I nt ernet access, Wales is current ly
at 24% . The UK shows a growt h of 3.75 m illion hom es in t he last 12 m ont hs
alone, perhaps enhanced by t he increase in access m et hods such as digit al
t elevision and m obile phones. 31 Furt her, of t he som e 16 m illion online users in
t he UK, 7 m illion are “ t ransact ors,” wit h books being t he m ost popular online
purchase. 32
4.3.2.2
EBooks
This st at ist ic on book purchasing relat es alm ost ent irely t o physical books; ebook
purchases are m arginal at best at t his point . 33 However, as t he Publishing 2001
report not es, alt hough t here m ay only be lim it ed accept ance of e- books by
consum ers in t he next five years, “ t hat lim it ed accept ance m ight be com m ercially
significant .” One UK consum er publisher not es t hat “ UK publishers are going t o
30
Publishing 2001, p. 67.
31
www.oft el.gov.uk/ publicat ions/ research/ 2001/ q5int ro0701.ht m
32
Of t hose people who bought goods over t he I nt ernet in t he last quart er of 2000, 36% bought
books, surpassing purchases of CDs, airline t icket s, and soft ware. Music and Copyright , no. 209,
August 1, 2001.
33
A survey by Jupit er Research put t he num ber of elect ronic reading devices in use in t he Unit ed
St at es at only 100,000. However, adding PDAs ( such as Palm Pilot s) t o t his ebook- capable
inst alled base adds anot her 14 m illion unit s, growing t o over 70 m illion by 2005.
PDAs are not
ideal reading devices but can display t ext - only docum ent s. Ot her t han PDAs, few devices have
launched out side t he US and only very recent ly. There has been no UK launch t o dat e; t hus t here
are no local adopt ion figures.
© Rightscom 2001
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
have t o be quit e proact ive about producing e- books, ot herwise t hey’ll lose t he
m arket t o US publishers or t hey’ll lose it t o t heir aut hors.” 34
Cert ainly, significant barriers t o ent ry as well as t o m arket adopt ion exist s,
acknowledged by t he publishers surveyed as ranging from right s and m et adat a
issues t o readabilit y t o incom pat ible t echnology t o com pet ing business m odels.
However, as t he st udy em phasises, “ t his does not necessarily m ean t hat such a
m arket is a long way off. Once solut ions t o t echnical problem s are found, as t he
growt h in m obile t elecom m unicat ions dem onst rat es, m arket s can evolve
ext rem ely rapidly, and t his in t urn can drive furt her progress in t echnical
refinem ent .” Even t he m ost pessim ist ic of publishers see epublicat ion as a
“ necessary evil t o prot ect exist ing m arket s from rival com panies; if t radit ional
m arket s are going t o be cannibalised, publishers will want t heir own product s t o
be doing t he eat ing.” 35
I m pact on t he value chain is suspect ed; however, publishers played up t he
posit ive effect s: bet t er m arket ing, a closer relat ionship wit h end- users, and a
m ore int eract ive relat ionship. I n effect , t hey sum m arised t he goals of t he Welsh
book t rade: “ We will be able t o sell cont ent int o new m arket s and t errit ories and
t o new users wit hin exist ing ones.” 36
4 .3 .3
A PPLI CATI ON S FOR TH E SI GH T - I M PAI RED
One early m arket for ebooks is t he sight - im paired. The digit isat ion of books
provides opport unit ies t o increase t he availabilit y and t he qualit y of inform at ion
t o t he disabled, from analogue casset t es t o com put erized books on floppy disks
or CD- ROMS t o ebooks. Alt hough casset t es are st ill t he m ost accessible ( and
inexpensive) reading m edium available t o t he sight - im paired t oday, t hey force
linear consum pt ion, unable t o render t he st ruct ure ( t ables of cont ent s, indices,
and t he like) t hat sight ed people use t o m ove around a t ext at will. Digit ised
versions allow for t his cust om ised experience and have t hus given rise t o a
num ber of init iat ives ( as out lined in Technical Annex 14) support ing t he
developm ent of digit al t alking books ( DTBs) .
4 .3 .4
P ROD UCTI ON SPECI FI CATI ON S AN D REQUI REM EN TS
4.3.4.1
Online
Supplying t he online cont ent chain requires convert ing and form at t ing t he dat a
t o m eet t he requirem ent s of t he desired delivery m echanism and enable suit able
cont ent prot ect ion.
Docum ent s m ay be present ed in t heir original word
processing form at s, as page- designed pdf files, as web- friendly ht m l/ xm l files, or
a variet y of ot her file form at s, depending upon t he kind of cont ent and t he kind
of e- com m erce involved.
4.3.4.2
Ebook
Specific ebook rendit ions of online delivery force specific m arkup schem es.
Current ly, each com pet ing reader or reader plat form has it s own dat a
prot ect ion/ encrypt ion syst em , called a DRM ( digit al right s m anagem ent ) . This
34
Publishing 2001, p. 62.
35
ibid, p.63- 66.
36
I bid, p.70.
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renders t he t it les published for each plat form m ut ually exclusive.
When
purchasing ebooks, consum ers m ust t hus specify which plat form t hey are using,
and t he t it les t hey buy will be readable only on t hat plat form .
The m aj orit y of t he reader plat form s require one of t wo file t ypes as input s: OEB
( Open Ebook, an HTML/ XML derivat ive) or PDF ( Adobe’s Port able Docum ent
Form at ) . Plat form s receiving OEB- based files include t he Microsoft Reader ( for
PCs and Pocket PCs) , t he Gem st ar readers ( REB 100 and 1200) , and t he Palm
readers ( Peanut Press, Mobipocket , et c.) . The m aj or PDF- based ebook plat form is
t he Adobe Acrobat ebook Reader ( for PCs) . Support ing m ore t han one reader
plat form m ay t hus require creat ing m ore t han one ebook file.
Because ebook cont ent will begin as eit her backlist copy ( cont ent repurposed for
ebook dist ribut ion) , front list copy ( cont ent being published as p- and e- Book
sim ult aneously) , or legacy copy ( out - of- print copy being reborn as an ebook) ,
t hat original copy m ay exist in any num ber of form at s: Quark, PageMaker,
Post Script , Word, a propriet ary t ypeset t ing form at , or even hard copy ( t o nam e
but a few) . Conversion t o one or m ore ebook form at s m ay t hus require working
from one or m ore form at s. Convert ing t o OEB- based specs requires replacing
current page m ark- up wit h t he appropriat e HTML t ags. Convert ing t o PDF is an
easier process, but requires conversion nonet heless. I n bot h cases, t he book
m ust be digit al first , so scanning from hardcopy m ay be necessary up front .
Given t he varying rest rict ions of t he hardware ( from sm all screen black and
whit e PDAs t o large screen, m ult im edia- enabled deskt ops) , t he kinds of cont ent
delivered t o ebook readers m ust vary. Publishers m ay t hus be lim it ed in t heir
choice of plat form s by t he kind of cont ent t hey publish: full page, full colour
illust rat ions m ay dem and display on a PC ( as opposed t o a black and whit e palm sized device) .
4 .3 .5
COSTS AN D BEN EFI TS
Conversion cost s vary wit h t he com plexit y of t he cont ent ( t ables or no t ables, for
exam ple) and t he input / out put form at s ( convert ing from Quark t o HTML, Word t o
PDF) . They are also im pact ed by t he level of int eract ivit y required: does t he
publisher want t o hyperlink from index ent ries t o t he t ext ? Assum ing a relat ively
sim ple conversion, t hat is, from a st andard file form at t o a st andard file form at ,
wit h few hyperlinks, conversion is inexpensive. Som e vendors charge per 1000
charact ers, m uch like a t ypeset t er does; som e charge per file. I f done offshore,
t he average cost per t it le is £150- 200.
But conversion m ay not be t he only cost t o t he publisher in preparing for digit al
delivery. Get t ing t he file t o t he point of conversion requires elect ronic right s
clearance, which cost s t im e if not m oney, and m ay also require som e degree of
repurposing, adapt ing t he cont ent t o it s new environm ent . This lat t er t ask m ay
be unavoidable if t he t arget display is a handheld device wit h a sm all screen, as
im ages and dual- page spreads will be adversely affect ed.
On t he revenue side, online revenue m odels range from consum er subscript ion
fees t o pay- by- use fees t o individual copy sales t o advert ising revenue. Given
t he nascent st at us of t he m arket , t here is lit t le hist orical dat a t o est ablish one
m odel over anot her, part icularly in t he book- publishing sphere.
An obvious benefit of ebook publishing is t he value- added opport unit y enabled by
dist ribut ion t o a com put er, a plat form wit h int eract ive and m ult im edia pot ent ial.
For inst ance, a publisher can enhance t he book product by adding hyperlinks t o
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ot her point s in t he t ext , t o ot her cont ent on t he I nt ernet , t o audio or video files,
et c.
And, once digit al, cont ent is m ore flexible t han in a print ed version,
enabling m icropublishing and cust om publishing, m ixing and m at ching subcom ponent s of t it les.
4 .4
Con t e n t m a n a ge m e n t
Cont ent m anagem ent is, as t he t erm im plies, t he organisat ion of cont ent for
efficient archiving, dist ribut ion and use. I n t he digit al world, it is oft en referred
t o as digit al asset m anagem ent ( DAM) and, sim ilarly, m eans get t ing t he right file
t o t he right place in t he right form at for t he right applicat ion.
Com m ercial
cont ent m anagem ent or DAM soft ware syst em s exist t o facilit at e t his
organisat ion, som e as off- t he- shelf product s, som e requiring cust om isat ion and
inst allat ion on a case by case basis.
Alt ernat ively, an organisat ion wit h
t ransparent and sim ple cont ent workflows m ay put t oget her it s own cont ent
m anagem ent process, using already available em ail and dat abase applicat ions.
What ever t he solut ion, once an organisat ion m oves int o elect ronic publishing, it
requires t he adopt ion of a syst em for keeping t rack of it s asset s—knowing what
is has and where t his is.
The basic com ponent s of a cont ent m anagem ent st rat egy include t he following:
I m port / st orage of files ( t ext , phot os, audio, video, m et adat a 37 )
Searching of files
Ret rieval of files
Revision/ t ransform at ion of files
Export / reuse of files
Publishers creat ing and st oring t heir cont ent elect ronically ( half of t hose who
responded t o t he quest ionnaires are eit her already archiving t heir files or are
planning t o do so) m ay already have som e kind of cont ent m anagem ent syst em
in place, even if it is no m ore t han a folder st ruct ure on a server. They m ay have
policies in place t o govern revisions, dict at ing t o st aff who can work on which
files and how t o nam e and save t hem . This syst em m ay prove adequat e for
som e t im e t o com e.
Once a publisher is fully digit al, however, creat ing cont ent digit ally and delivering
cont ent digit ally, perhaps even selling cont ent direct ly from it s own websit e, an
applicat ion designed t o m anage t he lifecycle m ay be required. The best solut ion
for t he publisher will require individual consult at ion. However, considerat ions for
a com m ercial package support ing t he publishing process and workflow as well as
st orage include t he following:
37
At t ending t o m et adat a ( inform at ion about inform at ion) is key t o even t he sim plest of syst em s,
as it facilit at es effect ive searching and reuse of cont ent . Met adat a includes t he bibliographic
inform at ion supplied t o wholesalers and bookshops, from t it le and aut hor t o I SBN, key words
describing t he t it le, from subj ect t o language t ype, right s inform at ion, from t errit orial rest rict ions t o
elect ronic publishing opt ions. Met adat a collect ion is an act ivit y publishers already do every t im e
t hey add a t it le t o a cat alogue. However, t he kind of inform at ion collect ed will need t o be
expanded as publishers increase t he ways t hey package and deliver t heir cont ent . Elect ronic
versions m ay require addit ional I SBNs, form at inform at ion, right s inform at ion, and so on.
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Does t he product allow users t o creat e workflows t o m anage t he
subm ission, revision, and approval of cont ent ?
Does t he product provide users wit h a m eans for creat ing cont ent ?
Does t he product provide an audit t rail t hat t racks all changes m ade t o
cont ent ?
Does t he product provide “ check in/ check out ” funct ionalit y so t hat only
one person can m ake changes t o a docum ent at a t im e?
What file t ypes ( Word, Quark, et c.) can be im port ed int o t he product and
be m anaged via t he product ’s workflow?
Does t he product provide t em plat ing or form s for ent ry of cont ent ?
Does t he product provide a m eans t o t ag each piece of cont ent ( t o at t ach
m et adat a t o it ) ?
Can each piece of cont ent be versioned ( t o cont rol revisions and edit ions) ?
Does t he product allow users t o m anage m ult im edia files?
Does t he provider offer set - up, cust om isat ion and t raining?
What product support is offered in Wales?
Cont ent m anagem ent solut ions t hat enable t he processes above are not t rivial
inst allat ions, and t heir cost s reflect t heir com plexit y. Cert ainly, sm all t o m edium
sized publishers, such as t hose com prising t he Welsh book t rade, are not in any
near- t erm posit ion t o support such a syst em on t heir own. Nor does t he dat a
provided by t he workshops and quest ionnaires indicat e any near- t erm need by
t hese publishers t o revise and port t heir creat ive process t o net work
environm ent .
However, a cont ent m anagem ent syst em for m anaging finished ( post product ion) files on behalf of t he t rade’s const it uent s does present ut ilit y as well
as econom ic advant age. Welsh publishers are now supplying digit al files t o t heir
print ers and are faced wit h a growing need t o st ore, or archive, t hose files in
som e ret rievable fashion—for revision purposes, for reprint purposes, for legacy
purposes.
4 .5
D RM
By Digit al Right s Managem ent ( DRM) in t his cont ext , we m ean a syst em for
t racking and cont rolling t he use of right s- bearing asset s in a digit al environm ent .
A num ber of different funct ionalit ies are clearly required of any such syst em . On
t he right s holder and cont roller side, t here m ust be an abilit y t o ident ify and
describe int ellect ual propert y, t o apply usage rules based on t he “ upst ream ”
right s acquired t o set user perm issions, t o secure t he ident ified cont ent and t o
dist ribut e it securely t o consum ers so t hat t hey are able t o exploit it in
accordance wit h t he perm issions t hey have bought . Once t he cont ent is on t he
net work, it m ust be possible t o t rack usage of t hat cont ent and reconcile usage
wit h revenue. On t he consum er side, t here m ust be an abilit y t o locat e cont ent
effect ively, t o purchase it from a user- friendly sit e, t o int eract wit h it according
t o t he perm issions grant ed ( which m ust be in accordance wit h copyright law) and
t hen t o enj oy it wit hout t he danger of being subj ect t o unreasonable levels of
surveillance. The funct ionalit y of a DRM will t herefore det erm ine whet her or not
it is accept able t o users at bot h ends of t he value chain.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Most epublishing plat form s include t heir own encrypt ion schem es, so select ing a
DRM on it s own is not t ypically a challenge. Rat her, t he t ask is t o select an
epublishing plat form com plet e wit h DRM.
Appreciat ing t he st rengt hs and
weaknesses of a DRM is t hus im port ant t o t he evaluat ion of an overall m odel. I n
light of t he needs of t he value chain as ident ified above, an analysis of DRM
should t ake as it s crit eria t he following:
Tools: what is available t o aut hors and publishers t o enable t heir own
packaging and securing of cont ent
For m a t s: how m any ( and which) form at s t he syst em can handle, t hus
support ing int eroperabilit y
Tr a ck ing a nd Re por t ing: t rust wort hy and accurat e t ransact ion report ing
and cont ent t racking wit hin t he net worked environm ent
N e w busine ss m ode ls: t o what ext ent cont ent can be vended in new
form s, from selling t o reselling t o lending ( for specified t im e periods) t o
gift ing.
Ve ndor Busine ss M ode l: how t he DRM vendor and operat or charges t he
publisher and consum er for use of it s syst em
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5
5 .1
W e lsh e x pe r ie n ce of n e w t e ch n ology
W h a t t h e da t a t e lls u s
Welsh publishers are beginning t o prepare for a digit al fut ure, but have som e
way yet t o go. The following st at ist ics reflect t ot al replies t o individual quest ions,
rat her t han t he t ot al num ber of quest ionnaires ret urned.
The m aj orit y of publishers have form al a ut hor cont r a ct s, t hough nearly a t hird
st ill do not have cont ract s in place.
( I nt erest ingly, m ore publishers have
cont ract s for t heir art work t han t heir t ext .) More t han half of t he publishers
surveyed address language right s and t errit orial right s. A t hird already are
negot iat ing elect ronic right s.
Three- quart ers of publishers who responded are working wit h digit a l file s,
nearly half doing t heir own t ypeset t ing.
Alt hough m ost backlist copy is
hardcopy, t he m aj orit y of front list copy is now held digit ally, and alm ost a t hird
of t hose who replied are already archiving t heir cont ent ( wit h m ore t han a
quart er of t hose not archiving planning t o do so soon) .
Current ly, m ost publishers print t o at least a t wo- year supply, wit h nearly equal
percent ages print ing 501- 1000 copies as 1001- 1500 copies as a first print run, 38
wit h expect at ions of fir st ye a r sa le s split bet ween 1- 500 and 501- 1000
copies. 39 The average reprint order is 501- 1000 copies, wit h expect at ions of
second and subse que nt ye a r sa le s of fewer t han 500 copies. ( I n fact , m ore
t han half of t he publishers expect subsequent year sales t o be under 250 copies.)
One workshop publisher part icipant put t ot al average t rade sales at 700 copies
per t it le; one print er not ed a t rend t owards short er print runs, averaging 300
copies. Anot her publisher at a workshop st at ed t hat 90% of it s sales occur in t he
first six m ont hs.
Most of t hose publishers surveyed out source t heir print ing, wit h alm ost a quart er
of t hose using print ers out side of Wales. 40 The t ypica l book is soft cover, onecolour t ext , four- colour cover, on 80gsm whit e st ock, eit her dem y oct avo or A5.
Half of t he responding publishers calculat e w a st a ge ( books produced but never
sold) at less t han 10% , while a quart er put t hat percent age bet ween 10 and 25%
and anot her quart er at great er t han 25% . Alm ost all respondent s have as m any
as t en t it les t hat go out of st ock in a given year and anot her t en t hat go out of
print . Those publishers t hat did at t ach a lost revenue figure t o t he above did not
at t ribut e m uch m oney t o it ; however, t hey m ay not have been equat ing
unsat isfied dem and t o pot ent ial revenue.
Publishers and bookshops alike see t heir individual t arget m a r k e t s ( adult t rade,
children’s, et c.) as no great er t han 5000 readers. The US is seen as t he m ost
38
As t he m aj orit y of t hese publishers and t it les are not Publishing Grant recipient s, t hese averages
are lower t han t he 1418 average cit ed by t he WBC and m ay bet t er reflect t he print runs required
by m arket dem and.
39
These num bers are som ewhat lower t han t he averages recorded at t he Dist ribut ion Cent re;
however, if t he DC sales average is over life of t it le rat her t han first year, t he num bers m ay
reconcile.
40
This m aj orit y m ay be t rue as a percent age of t he num ber of publishers in Wales. However, it
should be not ed t hat , as four of t he five m ain Welsh- language publishers are print er- publishers,
t he m aj orit y of t it les produced by Welsh publishers m ay be print ed int ernally.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
significant m arket out side t he UK, responsible for as m uch as 5- 8% of publisher
t urnover. I t is also seen as t he largest unt apped m arket , indicat ing t hat t hat
percent age could be higher st ill. This is t rue for bookshops as well.
Very few publishers have yet experim ent ed wit h digit a l pr int ing. However,
close t o a t hird have plans t o do so, and m ore t han t wo- t hirds believe it could
have posit ive benefit s for t heir business. Half see quant it ies of 51- 500 as t he
m ost at t ract ive ( t he great er m aj orit y cit e 11- 500) , wit h no respondent int erest ed
in single copies. A clear m aj orit y would publish as m any as t en m ore t it les per
year if t hey could do so econom ically at any t im e at any quant it y. The m aj orit y
of quest ionnaire respondent s ident ified part icular opport unit ies for professional
and academ ic publishing. Likewise, several workshop part icipant s proposed
digit ally print ing professional and academ ic t it les, which, wit h sales proj ect ions
as low as 100- 200 copies, are unlikely t o get grant funding and t hus are difficult
t o publish. They agreed t hat a facilit y for short er runs m ight enable publishing
for m ore lim it ed m arket s t hat go ot herwise ignored.
Less t han a t hird of t he Welsh publishers surveyed could see any m arket dem and
or opport unit ies for selling com ponent s ( part s of a book) or ot herwise
cust om ising books. 41 Rat her, t hey are int erest ed in dist ribut ion of whole t it les
only. Thus, while cust om publishing m ay becom e a viable revenue st ream ,
perhaps in Welsh educat ional publishing, it does not appear t o be a priorit y for
t he near t erm . 42
Very few publishers have published a floppy disk product , and none of t hose
surveyed has one scheduled. No one has yet published a CD - ROM ; however, a
sm all percent age have a CD proj ect scheduled. ( This is not reflect ive of t he
t rade at large, which shows 30 Welsh- language/ bilingual CDs on gwales.com ;
none of t hese publishers replied t o t he quest ionnaire. 43 ) Workshop part icipant s
voiced concern over t he necessary high init ial invest m ent t o m eet a sm all
m arket . One publisher had had fift y request s for a t it le on CD- ROM, but t he
developm ent cost s ( £8000) were prohibit ive. Anot her part icipant st at ed t hat it is
difficult enough t o m arket a print product , let alone a digit al product , so disc
publishing is not a priorit y. Workshops part icipant s suggest ed t hat t he effort s of
a cent ral organisat ion, such as t he WBC, m ight help develop a m arket for digit al
product s large enough t o support product cost s. Though it was recognised t hat
t he WBC would need dedicat ed funding for t his init iat ive.
The m aj orit y of publishers responding t o t he quest ionnaire have a w e b sit e ;
however, it is used prim arily for m arket ing rat her t han for e- com m erce.
Workshop part icipant s express int erest in online publishing, but again prim arily
as a m eans of m arket ing m at erial ( such as by giving away archival m at erial t o
prom ot e current m at erial, or by post ing t eachers’ resource m at erials in support
of t ext books) .
41
One religious publisher at t ending t he workshops is cust om ising Bible and hym nals wit h
chapel/ church nam es, using digit al print ing. However, t his was t he except ion.
42
Thinking beyond a five- year plan, t he Welsh book t rade should, however, keep an eye on t he
developing cust om publishing m arket . Online ret ailers such as t he UK’s Swot books.com ( an et ailer
for educat ional books) are already poised t o sell m at erials in discret e chunks t o m eet growing
m arket dem and.
43
The WBC has, in fact , already support ed six leisure CD- ROMs t hrough t he Publishing Grant ; and
t he ACCAC have support ed several educat ional CDs.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Regarding all facet s of epublishing, workshop part icipant s expressed insecurit y in
t heir awareness and experience. They eagerly request ed guidance and t r a ining
m echanism s for t hem selves and t heir aut hors t o acquire som e expert ise in new
t echnologies and plat form s, file form at s and applicat ions, and t he like. They see
t his educat ion as a requirem ent for m oving forward, and for advancing t he Welsh
book t rade. They also see such a m ove as im perat ive t o t he sust enance of t he
Welsh language: Welsh publishers m ust keep on t op of t he t echnologies used by
children, or “ risk losing t he children t o English.” 44
5 .2
Appa r e n t ch a lle n ge s a n d ba r r ie r s
Cont e nt : Self evident ly, t here can be no epublishing wit hout econt ent .
Current ly, as quest ionnaires reveal, cont ent exist s in film and in hard copy as
well as in digit al files, and t he m eans and securit y of archiving m et hods are
inconsist ent and uncert ain. Wit h lit t le clear direct ion on how t o st ore cont ent ,
repurposing is hindered.
Right s: Quest ionnaire dat a indicat e t hat a m aj orit y of Welsh publishers do not
yet explicit ly secure elect ronic right s in t heir aut hor cont ract s.
Any m ove
t owards elect ronic publishing would require t hat t hose right s ( and royalt ies) have
been agreed wit h t he aut hor. This applies t o deep backlist t it les as well, which
m ay not be under cont ract at all, let alone covered by a cont ract addressing
epublishing.
M a r k e t size : The Welsh book t rade would like t o see m ore Welsh books and
books of Welsh int erest produced and, m ore im port ant ly, purchased and read.
This is explicit ly voiced in t he WBC’s goals for increasing language awareness
( see 3.2) . To a great ext ent , however, increasing t he num ber of pot ent ial buyers
for books in Welsh is out side t he scope of t he WBC—achieving t his goal relies
largely upon cont inued Welsh- m edium inst ruct ion in schools, producing m ore
Welsh speaking and reading young adult s. However, even t his cannot guarant ee
t he developm ent of a larger Welsh language m arket . The Welsh- int erest m arket
is obviously significant ly larger – but t he com pet it ion is great er.
Funding: I n t he face of new developm ent cost s and unknown revenue ret urns,
effort s t o support new vent ures rely upon ext ernal subsidies, which m ay
t hem selves vary from year t o year as well as im posing pot ent ially prohibit ive
requirem ent s ( such as lim it ed support for cont inuing non- capit al expendit ure and
t he need for part ner applicant s, m at ching funds, proven j ob creat ion ) The WBC
has received very valuable capit al grant s enabling t he inst allat ion of a VI STA
fulfilm ent syst em in t he Dist ribut ion Cent re, and t he launch of gwales.com .
However, ongoing support has proven m ore difficult t o fund.
Know le dge : All part ies we spoke wit h st ressed t heir insecurit ies concerning
im plem ent at ion of epublishing opport unit ies, due t o lack of fam iliarit y wit h t he
t echnology and of sources for t raining.
5 .3
Oppor t u n it ie s
No clear opport unit ies
epublishing st rat egies.
44
have em erged for near- t erm revenue- generat ing
Publishing m ore CD- ROMs or launching a line of
A workshop part icipant .
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
com m ercially available ebooks prom ise lit t le im m ediat e ret urn. However, t here
are opport unit ies for laying t he groundwork for developing print and elect ronic
m arket s in t he longer t erm .
5 .3 .1
D I GI TAL P RI N T AN D CUSTOM P UBLI SH I N G
There appear t o be short run print opport unit ies for and reprint s and for
addit ional new t it les.
There appears t o be a clear applicat ion of short run dem and print and print on
dem and t o reint roduce backlist and out - of- print t it les.
I f we t ake as an
assum pt ion t hat t he quest ionnaire respondent s represent approxim at ely onequart er of t he act ive SME publisher base in Wales, we can proj ect t he following.
A m inim um of 156 t it les are current ly out of st ock in a given year, and 104
are put out of print .
Assum ing t hese num bers overlap ( and again
assum ing 80% ) , at reprint quant it ies as low as 50- 250 unit s, 125
addit ional reprint s would add 6,250 – 31,250 unit s t o annual t ot als.
When com pared wit h prices from t hree UK- based digit al print providers,
t he grant budget m ore t han allows for print runs as low as 50 copies. I n
fact , once t he files are prepared for digit al print ing, t he budget even allows
print on dem and single- copy orders. ( See Technical Annex 8 for a fuller
com parison.)
Furt her, again given t he assum pt ion above,
Using digit al print ing, publishers would publish a m inim um of 64 m ore new
t it les per year, of which 80% would likely be candidat es ( one- colour t ext )
for digit al print ing. At an average of 250- 500 copies each, t his would yield
12,750 - 30,500 m ore new books annually.
Finally, t here appears t o be an opport unit y for reducing invent ory risk.
I f a t it le’s t ot al m arket size is only 5,000 readers, first print runs at close
t o one- quart er of t he m arket m ay be leading t o excess st ock/ wast age t hat
sm aller, m ore frequent print runs could alleviat e. 45 ( Likewise, if average
sales really are closer t o 700 copies and 90% of t hose t ake place in t he
first six m ont hs, print ing for t wo years forces som e 50% of t he print run
int o st orage.)
Digit al print ing does require som e com prom ise in product specificat ions. The
qualit y of m at erials and print ed halft ones m ay not m at ch t hat of convent ional
print . Furt her, as four of t he five largest Welsh- language publishers act as t heir
own print ers, relocat ing t heir share of m anufact uring could have negat ive
consequences, as t hey are accust om ed t o m anaging t heir print loadings wit h
t heir own publishing product ion ( as well as perhaps t o som e degree subsidising
t heir publishing t hrough t heir print ing business) .
However, t hese negat ive
considerat ions m ay be out weighed in m any circum st ances by t he revenueenhancing opport unit ies afforded by digit al print ing.
There appears t o be no short - t erm opport unit y for cust om publishing ( selling
com ponent s as m ix and m at ch t it les and/ or personalising a print run for a
part icular audience) .
45
I nvent ory and st ocking space const raint s have not shown great influence on publisher
calculat ions, perhaps because t he DC solves t his problem for publishers. Forced t o m anage st ock,
publishers would inevit ably have t o ret hink lost profit due t o wast e.
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5 .3 .2
CD - ROM / D VD P UBLI SH I N G
Publisher int erest , or lack t hereof, indicat es t he m arket for DVD publishing is not
even visible, while CD- ROM has som e recognisable applicat ion.
The current
Publishing Grant program m e encourages new product developm ent by funding
CD proj ect s t hat are according t o publisher experience, ot herwise not selffunding. As t he m arket m at ures, as CD use spreads furt her t hrough Wales, and
as DVD secures t he foot hold it t hreat ens, t he Welsh book t rade needs sust ained
opport unit y t o part icipat e in and learn t hrough t hese m edia.
•
5 .3 .3
Disc publishing will require near- t erm subsidy t o enable publishers t o
experim ent wit h t he m edia wit hout severe financial risk.
O N LI N E AN D EBOOK P UBLI SH I N G
There do not appear t o be any clear sales opport unit ies in t he m ainst ream Welsh
book t rade. eBook adopt ions are slow t o t ake hold, and t he UK as yet has no
discernable m arket .
As a revenue generat ing vehicle for t he Welsh book t rade, online and
ebook publishing shows lit t le prom ise wit hin t he next five years.
However, ebook publishing does offer an opport unit y of great cult ural value.
Epublishing has t he pot ent ial for m aking a wide variet y of cult ural goods
available t o a wide audience, across locat ions and ot her cult ural barriers. What
m ight ot herwise be econom ically or logist ically im possible t o a person t o access
m ay be m ade possible.
A short - t erm dem and arising from t he workshops was access t o Wales’
legacy m at erial, t o works now out of print t hat are t hus lost t o t he
populat ion. Much like t he Cont em porary Am erican Poet ry Archive, which
put s out - of- print poet ry books back “ in print ” on t he Web, a digit al library
of non- com m ercial Welsh books m ight be offered for free t o Wales and t he
world. 46 Publishers and t he WBC m ight look t o t he Nat ional Library t o help
effect t his proj ect .
46
ht t p: / / capa.conncoll.edu/ guide.ht m l
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
6
I m ple m e n t in g a n e Pu blish in g St r a t e gy
I n t he face of t he barriers not ed above, t he WBC has as it s m andat e t o increase
t he awareness and sales of Welsh/ Welsh int erest t it les, as it works on behalf of
it s const it uent s. Eit her t he old int erm ediaries or new int erm ediaries will st ep up
t o provide for new epublishing opport unit ies, such as sales t hrough t he I nt ernet
and dem and print fulfilm ent . Here is an opport unit y for t he Welsh Books Council
t o service it s const it uency by providing a unified port al for such opport unit ies as
t hey arise, near- t erm and far- t erm . We t herefore recom m end t he WBC pursue
t he following init iat ives in support of t he Welsh book t rade.
6 .1
6 .1 .1
D ocu m e n t m a n a ge m e n t
CON TRACTS AN D COPYRI GH T
As t he current Random House/ Roset t a Book legal bat t le illust rat es, aut hor
cont ract s need t o be reviewed t o ensure bot h t hat t he publisher has right s t o
print or epublish a t it le t hat now need never go “ out of print ” and t hat t he
consequent royalt y rat e is clear and agreed. 47 Working as a unified t rade, Welsh
publishers should invest in t he creat ion of boilerplat e cont ract s t hat would
prepare t hem for t he present and fut ure challenges facing t heir indust ry: right s
and royalt ies for digit ally print ed versions and digit al versions of print ed t ext s
and illust rat ions; t errit orialit y and t he web; language right s and t he web.
The WBC should organise a consort ial effort on behalf of it s publishers t o
draft an aut hor agreem ent covering digit al publishing.
6 .1 .2
D OCUM EN T A RCH I VE
Cont ent m anagem ent , as described in sect ion 4 above, is a necessary first st ep
t owards any epublishing business. I t m ay be a very com plex solut ion, enabling
full cont ent creat ion and workflow; however, t hese are publisher act ivit ies, which
would have t o be cust om ised t o t he needs of an individual publisher. More
generically, and m ore applicable t o t he role of an int erm ediary, it m ay sim ply be
an organised ( t hat is, clearly ident ified and searchable) cont ent warehouse,
receiving in and forwarding on it s cont ent s, as required by t he t rade.
The Welsh Books Council already provides a cent ral point of inform at ion about
Welsh books and books of Welsh int erest , serving as t he link bet ween publishers
and booksellers via bot h t he Dist ribut ion Cent re and gwales.com .
I n t his
posit ion, t he WBC is uniquely placed t o achieve econom ies of scale beyond t he
reach of individual m em bers of t he t rade. Furt her, if t he Dist ribut ion Cent re
ext ends it s dist ribut ion role t owards m ore exclusive agreem ent s wit h
publishers, 48 it s abilit y t o gauge and react t o m arket dem and will grow. A logical
ext ension of it s role as int erm ediary would be t o becom e a reposit ory for t he
Welsh cont ent being delivered t hrough t he supply chain.
47
I n it s case against Roset t a Books, who are publishing ebook versions of several RH t it les whose
aut hor cont ract s predat e RH’s int roduct ion of an elect ronic publishing clause t o it s st andard
cont ract - - US Dist rict Judge Sidney H St ein has ruled t hat t hose cont ract s do not include t he right t o
publish works elect ronically.
The aut hors are t hus free t o negot iat e independent elect ronic
publishing deals. RH is cont est ing, claim ing t hat t he evaluat ion should be based on cont ent , which
rem ains t he sam e, rat her t han on form . NYTim es, 12/ 07/ 2001
48
See “ The Ut ilisat ion of I CT in t he Market ing and Dist ribut ion of Welsh Books and Books of Welsh
I nt erest ” , sect ion 6.1.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
The WBC should ext end t he service t hat it offers t o t he book t rade by
est ablishing a t rade- wide cont ent m anagem ent syst em init ially focused on
consolidat ing PDF files for digit al print product ion. I t s basic funct ionalit y
would be as a post - product ion archive:
o
enabling rem ot e 49 loading by m ult iple users ( part icipat ing
publishers)
o
wit h rest rict ed rem ot e access ( only aut horised users can upload
files)
o
for subm ission of arbit rary file t ypes ( what ever form at t he publisher
subm it s)
o
cont aining t ext and im ages ( no im m ediat e audio/ video dem ands) , in
English and Welsh
o
enforcing m et adat a st andards ( t it le, aut hor, I SBN, and sim ilar
essent ial at t ribut es)
o
m anaging m ult iple file t ypes for sam e t it le ( from Quark t o PDF)
o
for online delivery ( t o digit al print ers)
Only wit h such a syst em in place could t he WBC drive new init iat ives such as
represent ing t he t rade in t erm s of digit al print opport unit ies and benefit s or
feeding an out - of- print ebook archive.
6 .1 .3
CON VERSI ON
Addit ionally, t he WBC will eit her need t o require t hat publishers supply PDF files
or will need t o organise file conversion on t heir behalf, t aking what ever form at is
subm it t ed by t he publishers and convert ing it t o PDF. This is not a com plicat ed
t ask, as t he PDF required for digit al print ing is not t he com plex variet y required
for ebook use. Most deskt op publishing packages include a Save As opt ion for
creat ing sim ple PDF. Should publishers not be able t o m anage t he process,
several UK conversion houses are out lined in Technical Annex 11; however,
t hese are t ypically econom ical opt ions only when convert ing t o m ore t han one
form at ( such as t o an ebook form at as well as t o sim ple PDF) . The digit al
print ers t hem selves also provide PDF conversion services and are t he best opt ion
if t his is t he sole form at required.
The price ranges from 5 t o 12 pence per
page for conversion from digit al files and from 8 – 20 pence per page for
scanning and conversion from hard copy.
The WBC should negot iat e PDF conversion on behalf of t he publishers wit h
select service providers, such as digit al print ers.
6 .1 .4
O PTI M AL S OLUTI ON S
The following t able set s out a set of high level funct ional requirem ent s for a
consolidat ed cent ral provider, serving t he m arket ( as surveyed) and paving t he
way for digit al fulfilm ent of whole t it les.
49
By rem ot e in t his cont ext , we m ean using t he I nt ernet and World Wide Web int erface.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
D ocu m e n t M a n a ge m e n t H igh Le ve l Re qu ir e m e n t s Gr id
Re quir e m e nt
I m por t a nce
W or k flow
Post - product ion m anagem ent of files
I m port ant t hat publishers can subm it
files for st orage and print ers can ret rieve
files for print ing
Creat ion of t em plat es/ form s for
ent ry of cont ent
I m port ant t o force ent ry of key t erm s
and m et adat a upon subm ission of files
St aging for conversion t o PDF
I m port ant t hat files needing conversion
t o PDF can be ident ified, wit hdrawn for
conversion, and resubm it t ed
Con t e n t M a n a ge m e n t
1000 new t it les per year
I m port ant t o hold hist orical backlist as
well as front list
Secure st orage and quick locat ion
and ret rieval of files
Essent ial
Managem ent of arbit rary file t ypes
I m port ant t hat syst em can m anage
Quark, Word, PDF, et c.
Managem ent of t ext and im ages
I m port ant for current t ext publishing
needs
Mult im edia capabilit y
Not crit ical in near- t erm but audio and
video file m anagem ent m ay be a fut ure
requirem ent
Dual- language cont ent
I m port ant t hat syst em can m anage ( and
search across) Welsh and English cont ent
Keyword searching
Full- t ext search not necessary; im port ant
t o search on key fields and m et adat a
Audit t rial
I m port ant t hat any changes t o files are
t racked
Versioning
I m port ant t hat new files ( revisions, new
edit ions) of exist ing files are num bered
accordingly upon subm ission
Grouping
I m port ant t hat versions as well as
m ult iple form at s of sam e t it les can be
efficient ly locat ed and ret rieved as
needed.
Acce ss
50+ users
I m port ant t o serve as m any different
publishers as m ay wish t o part icipat e
Rem ot e access
I m port ant t hat publishers and print ers
can subm it / ret rieve dat a from own
prem ises
Browser access via I nt ernet
I m port ant t hat no cust om soft ware ( and
addit ional expense) is required of t he
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Re quir e m e nt
I m por t a nce
addit ional expense) is required of t he
users
Access cont rol
I m port ant t hat each publisher has access
t o it s own cont ent only, and t hat print ers
have access t o approved files only
Check in/ check out funct ionalit y
I m port ant t hat files be m anipulat ed by
only one aut horized user at a t im e
Dual- language int erface
At t ract ive t hat graphical user int erface
can be offered in Welsh as well as in
English
I m ple m e n t a t ion
On- sit e set up, cust om isat ion and
t raining
I m port ant t hat vendor can provide
inst allat ion services, or can recom m end a
vet t ed service provider
Local product support
I m port ant t hat vendor or recom m ended
provider has a UK- based support t eam
t hat can t ravel t o Wales for ongoing
m aint enance
6 .1 .5
COSTS
While several solut ions of varying cost s have been sum m arized in Technical
Annex 12, t he WBC can inst all a reliable syst em for approxim at ely £35,000 ( plus
server cost s) , wit h expect ed ongoing cost s of £5,000 ( plus what ever st affing
requirem ent s t here m ay be) . 50 The solut ions out lined in t he Technical Annex all
m eet t he funct ional requirem ent t hat t he individual publishers need no special
inst allat ion of hardware or soft ware ot her t han a PC wit h an I nt ernet connect ion
and a Web browser. That is, t here are no st art - up cost s t o t he publishers t o t ake
advant age of t his syst em , a syst em t hey would ot herwise never be able t o afford
independent ly. I nst ead, t hey will be able t o benefit from t he econom ies of scale
achieved by t he WBC on behalf of t he t rade.
While funding for init ial capit al invest m ent and developm ent will m ost cert ainly
be sought t hrough grant s, t here rem ain t he annual m aint enance cost s and
periodic hardware upgrades t o support . Here t he WBC m ight need t o consider
alt ernat ive funding opt ions: levying each publisher an annual per- t it le fee;
building several years’ m aint enance charges int o t he init ial price of t he syst em
( when applying for grant s) .
6 .2
D igit a l pr in t in g
Once est ablished, t he Welsh book t rade docum ent reposit ory could serve as t he
source of files t o feed dem and print suppliers.
50
Should t he WBC decide t o out source all of it s I CT requirem ent s, as seem s possible, it would
clearly m ake sense t o out source t he m anagem ent of t he server in any event .
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Target ing an increase in t he print runs of individual t it les m ay not be t he m ost
fruit ful m eans t o increasing overall sales of Welsh and Welsh- int erest books.
I ncreased print runs do not necessarily yield increased sales. The dem and m ust
exist first . As we have learned from publisher input , t here is clear evidence t hat
cert ain t it les for which t here is som e dem and are not available, but are put int o
backorder of out - or- print st at us due t o print ing quant it y ( and grant support )
const raint s. Furt herm ore, som e publishers t old us t hat t hey are not publishing
all t he new t it les t hat t hey m ight publish, because t hey cannot j ust ify first run
print quant it ies required t o benefit from publishing grant s and/ or t o j ust ify
convent ional print ing. What t his would suggest is t hat m ore runs of m ore t it les
at sm aller quant it ies, over an ext ended lifecycle, m ay prove t o bet t er service
m arket dem and t han t he current publishing philosophy. Fewer t it les need go out
of print . And m ore new aut hors m ight get int o print .
As one rout e t o digit al print ing, print er- publishers m ay consider adopt ing a
dist ribut ed hybrid m odel, com bining in- house convent ional print ing wit h t hirdpart y digit al print ing for very short runs.
I f t he WBC product ion price list is
genuinely reflect ive of t he t rade’s cost s, t he digit al print ers cont act ed can m at ch
expect ed unit cost s. 51 These sm all quant it ies and reprint s would be delivered t o
t he Dist ribut ion Cent re and int egrat ed wit h convent ional st ock.
Anot her opt ion, endorsed by several workshop part icipant s, is t he est ablishm ent
of a Welsh t rade digit al print ing cent re, by an exist ing print er or anot her t hird
part y. The WBC, for inst ance, could consider set t ing up a digit al print product ion
line in t he Dist ribut ion Cent re. Appropriat e t erm s of t rade would need t o be
devised. Lease or purchase of t he hardware would depend upon t erm s of
funding available. The lease opt ion is lower risk; however, grant s m ay be
available for t he capit al invest m ent only. ( See Technical Annex 15.) Of course,
ongoing cost s could t hen becom e a funding problem . This consequent ly appears
t o be a financially risky opt ion.
Alt ernat ively, t he WBC could est ablish a relat ionship wit h a digit al print er,
whereby publishers provide files for low dem and t it les t o t he digit al print er and
print sm all quant it ies t o keep st ock in st ock, t he digit al print er produces t he
books and delivers t hem t o t he WBC, orders are placed as usual wit h t he WBC by
bookshops, and t he WBC fulfils t he order. All t it les are int egrat ed int o t he WBC
dat abase and t he digit al st at us of t he t it le is t ransparent . Furt her, m uch like t he
current Light ningSource–Bert ram s arrangem ent , t he WBC could init iat e print ing
on behalf of t he publisher, request ing single copy print runs when an order is
received for a book not current ly in st ock. Again, t erm s of t rade and pricing
would need t o be evaluat ed. 52
Two clear benefit s com e from such an offering: t he Dist ribut ion Cent re could free
space current ly occupied by low- dem and invent ory, allowing it t o hold m ore
51
I f act ual unit cost s are lower t han t he WBC list and ret ail prices reflect t his, prem ium
pricing m ay need t o be int roduced for t he digit ally print ed copies, part icularly for
casebound versions; but t his will be det erm ined by t he current list price and what t he
m arket will bear.
52
Unit digit al print pricing for single copies is t ypically higher t han for m ult iples. The econom ics of
selling a single copy would have t o be reviewed. However, no publishers expressed int erest in
single copy orders.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
high- dem and st ock and t o begin st ocking addit ional saleable invent ory; 53 and t he
WBC could offer publishers an avenue for producing t he addit ional t it les each
year t hat each has indicat ed it would publish, given an econom ical low- quant it y
solut ion. Also benefit ing from a low quant it y opt ion would be scholarly and
professional publishing. Workshop part icipant s not ed t hat it is difficult t o get
grant s for and t hus t o publish works t hat m ay have a t ot al m arket of no m ore
t han 200 copies. 54
Est ablishing it s own digit al print ing cent re in t he DC is t oo great a financial
risk t o t he WBC at t he t im e. I nst ead, t he WBC should negot iat e t erm s
wit h a digit al print er or print ers on behalf of it s publishers and t heir files.
I t should set up a cent rally coordinat ed syst em for handling bot h short run
dem and print and print on dem and.
o
Publishers will be able t o order short run quant it ies using t he
negot iat ed pricing.
o
The WBC will be able t o order single copies on dem and using t he
negot iat ed pricing.
For t his solut ion t o prove effect ive, t he print er( s) will need t o t rack and report
aggregat e usage t o WBC; t hat is, t hey will need t o record print ing hist ory on a
t it le by t it le basis, so as t o allow publishers and t he WBC t o det erm ine
t hroughput ( cont ribut ions by digit al print t o t he t rade) . Over t im e, t he WBC can
t hen revisit t he opt ion of inst alling it s own digit al print product ion line.
Thinking beyond a five- year plan, t he Welsh book t rade should also keep an eye
on t he developing cust om publishing m arket . Online ret ailers such as t he UK’s
Swot books.com ( an et ailer for educat ional books) are already poised t o sell
m at erials in discreet chunks t o m eet growing m arket dem and.
6 .3
OOP a r ch ive
Once est ablished, t he Welsh book t rade docum ent reposit ory could also serve as
t he source of files t o populat e an out - of- print ebook library, specifically for books
in t he Welsh language published in Wales.
The WBC should pursue an alliance wit h t he Nat ional Library of Wales
( NLW) , t o deliver ebook PDFs, which t he NLW could offer as free
downloads t o any I nt ernet user, preserving Welsh cult ure t hat m ight
ot herwise be inaccessible.
The NLW’s role is crit ical: preparing t he files ( ebook PDFs are not t he sam e as
digit al print PDFs and will require conversion) and building an ebook sit e will
require funding t hat a nat ional library ( in collaborat ion wit h t he WBC) should be
well posit ioned t o request ; t he proj ect would creat e an online library, free at t he
point of use, providing a cult urally significant public access service.
Conversat ions wit h t he NLW revealed t hat it is already act ively pursuing a
53
Pet er Kilborn in his report NNN recom m ends widening t he product range carried by t he DC. This
is also consist ent wit h t he Publishing 2001 report , where, as previously not ed, wholesalers are
expect ed t o t ake on addit ional services, including facilit at ion of digit al print ing.
54
Considerat ion of changes t o t he grant syst em for Welsh language publicat ions is out side t he
scope of t his report .
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
num ber of init iat ives relat ed t o digit al preservat ion and t he ext ended access t hat
m ay be available t hrough digit isat ion. 55
Alt hough issues of digit al preservat ion cannot be ent irely overlooked ( t hat is,
how long will t hese file form at s prove accessible and what is t he cost of
m aint aining t hat accessibilit y over t im e?) , as a focused experim ent t his concept
is low cost and low risk, wit h high pot ent ial value. A hist ory of collaborat ion wit h
t he WBC already exist s t hrough t he Aberyst wyt h Cent re for t he Book.
The idea of m aking t hese out of print books available in t his way is only possible
because we believe t hat t he right s owners – aut hors and publishers – would be
willing t o license t he necessary right s t o t he WBC and NLW, since t heir prim ary
int erest in t he publicat ion is cult ural rat her t han econom ic. However, right s
clearly need t o be form ally cleared, and we have not explored t he willingness of
individual aut hors and publishers t o part icipat e in t his schem e.
Alongside a free ebook program m e, we believe t hat t his out - of- print archive
creat es an opport unit y for t he WBC t o int roduce an experim ent al print on
dem and service, m aking t he sam e t it les available t o cust om ers in paper form for
t hose who prefer it . Clearly com m ercial t erm s for developing such a service will
need t o be developed in collaborat ion wit h right s holders. We do not believe t hat
t his is likely t o cont ribut e significant ly t o revenues, but it will provide anot her
service t o readers and t o Welsh cult ure.
6 .4
Tr a in in g
Training is a prerequisit e t o int egrat ing any epublishing int o t he Welsh book
t rade.
Workshop part icipant s and quest ionnaire respondent s alike voiced a
st rong desire for access t o t raining in all aspect s of digit al publishing, which is a
relat ively new and very specialised field. 56 Due t o t he diversit y of epublishing
opt ions, and t heir cont inually evolving nat ure, it would be a clear benefit t o t he
com m unit y t o develop an educat ion and self- help resource. One com ponent of
t his program m e would be a web- based knowledge warehouse, cont aining vendor
inform at ion ( such as t hat found in t he Technical Annexes at t ached) about
product s and plat form s, t echnical cont act s and sources of furt her inform at ion. A
second com ponent would be periodic group workshops, int roducing new
t echnologies and ideas. I n bot h cases, m uch of t he effort would fall on t he
vendors t hem selves, who would gladly provide inform at ion about t hem selves as
well as welcom e t he opport unit y t o present t o pot ent ial cust om ers.
The WBC should coordinat e a com m unit y t raining program m e com prised
of online inform at ion and periodic group workshops t o keep t he t rade
aware of new t echnologies and t heir applicat ions.
55
I nt erview wit h Andrew Green, Librarian, Nat ional Library of Wales, 6 Sept . 2001.
56
There are cert ainly already m any t echnology- relat ed t raining opport unit ies available t o t he
Welsh com m unit y; however, support for specific applicat ions of epublishing is likely t o require
developm ent .
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
7
Ke y I m ple m e n t a t ion Act ion s
The t hem e of our conclusions and recom m endat ions is e m br a cing cha nge t o
t ake advant age of epublishing opport unit ies as t hey present t hem selves in t he
m arket place. We believe t hat t he WBC has a unique opport unit y t o provide
leadership t o t he ent ire Welsh book t rade in est ablishing t he necessary
infrast ruct ural foundat ions for t he fut ure. By providing a focus for collaborat ive
epublishing act ivit ies, part icularly cont ent m anagem ent , t he WBC can ensure
t hat t he t rade is prepared t o m eet t he challenge of t he 21 st Cent ury.
7 .1
St r a t e gic Act ion On e
St rat egy:
Pr ovide t he W e lsh book t r a de w it h t he ne ce ssa r y infr a st r uct ur e t o
suppor t e publishing oppor t unit ie s a s t he y a r ise .
Obj ect ive:
As t he represent at ive of t he book t rade, t he WBC should spearhead t he
init iat ives t hat will enable digit al delivery of Welsh cont ent t hrough t he supply
chain.
Key I m plem ent at ion Act ions:
The WBC should encourage acquisit ion of digit al right s for current and backlist
t it les, specifically by organising a consort ial effort t o draft a st andard aut hor
agreem ent covering digit al right s and exploit at ion.
The WBC should est ablish a t rade- wide cont ent m anagem ent syst em . I t s
basic funct ionalit y should be as a post - product ion archive, init ially focused on
consolidat ing PDF files for digit al print product ion.
The WBC should negot iat e PDF conversion on behalf of t he publishers wit h
select service providers, such as digit al print ers.
ESTI MATED COSTS:
ACTI ON
1. Lead t he
developm ent of
elect ronic right s
clearance
© Rightscom 2001
D ETAI L
ESTI M ATED COST
Requires
developm ent of
boilerplat e aut hor
agreem ent s for
com m unit y access
Requires gat hering of
exist ing publisher
cont ract s; m ay require
m inim al legal review.
Est im at ed one off £24K.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
ACTI ON
D ETAI L
ESTI M ATED COST
2. Est ablish a cont ent
m anagem ent
syst em support ing
rem ot e publisher
access t o develop a
reposit ory for
published cont ent
Requires server ( or
t hird- part y host ing) ,
inst allat ion and
cust om isat ion of
soft ware t o m eet
Welsh publishing
needs and t raining
of support person.
Depends on final
vendor specificat ion est im at ed one off
hardware cost £5K,
and soft ware cost £3540K; est im at ed
ongoing cost £4- 8K
annually. Oracle
license depends on
final vendor
specificat ion–
est im at ed one off cost
£8,500; est im at ed
ongoing cost £1,500.
Syst em m ay also
require a dedicat ion I T
person and/ or proj ect
m anager: £22K per
annum , if in- house
resources not available
3. Facilit at e PDF
conversion
Requires negot iat ion
wit h vendor( s) on
behalf of t rade
One off cost negligible
7 .2
St r a t e gic Act ion Tw o
St rat egy:
Ut ilise t he m ost a ppr opr ia t e ne w t e chnologie s t o de ve lop ne w cha nne ls
for de live r ing W e lsh cont e nt t hr ough t he supply cha in.
Obj ect ive:
The WBC docum ent reposit ory should serve as t he source of files t o feed digit al
print suppliers and can use it s aggregat e purchasing power t o negot iat e
favourable t erm s.
Key I m plem ent at ion Act ions:
The WBC should negot iat e t erm s wit h a digit al print er or print ers on behalf of
it s publishers.
i.
This cent rally coordinat ed syst em should enable publishers t o order
short run quant it ies using negot iat ed short run print pricing.
ii.
This cent rally coordinat ed syst em should enable WBC, on behalf of
publishers, t o order single copies using negot iat ed print on dem and
pricing
The WBC should m onit or t his program m e t o det erm ine whet her/ when t o
m ove digit al m anufact uring closer t o t he DC.
I t will be necessary for
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
publishers and print ers t o share digit al print order inform at ion wit h t he WBC,
t o enable t hem t o t rack t he effect iveness of t he program m e.
ESTI MATED COSTS:
ACTI ON
D ETAI L
ESTI M ATED COST
1. Negot iat e
relat ionship wit h
digit al print
providers.
Requires part nering,
agreeing t erm s and
pricing on behalf of
t he t rade, wit h one
or t wo print ers.
Cost s negligible if
current st aff can
m anage t he
negot iat ions.
2. Monit or digit al
print ing
program m e t o
evaluat e
effect iveness, cost s
and locat ion.
Requires cooperat ion
of all part icipat ing
publishers t o provide
digit al print ing
st at ist ics.
Depends on final
vendor specificat ion est im at ed one off cost
£10K. St aff
requirem ent s: see
St rat egy One, cost t wo
above.
7 .3
St r a t e gic Act ion Th r e e
St rat egy:
Encour a ge t he pr e se r va t ion of W e lsh cult ur e t ha t m ight ot he r w ise be
ina cce ssible or difficult t o loca t e .
Obj ect ive:
The WBC docum ent reposit ory should serve as t he source of files t o populat e an
out - of- print ebook library in collaborat ion wit h NLW, m aking t he sam e t it les
available in an experim ent al print on dem and service.
Key I m plem ent at ion Act ions:
The WBC should work wit h publishers and ot her right s holders t o clear t he
necessary right s on out - of- print t it les.
The WBC should work wit h t he Nat ional Library of Wales on t he est ablishm ent
of an out - of print ebook archive.
i.
The WBC and t he NLW should cooperat e t o source funding for
conversion of t it les t o PDF.
ii.
The WBC and t he NLW should cooperat e t o source funding for creat ion
and m aint enance of a sit e accessible for ebook file downloads.
The WBC should undert ake a feasibilit y st udy on t he pot ent ial for est ablishing
a print on dem and service for t he sam e t it les t o ensure t hat it could, at worst ,
break even.
The WBC should m onit or bot h t hese proj ect s t o gain experience wit h print on
dem and and ebooks in t he Welsh m arket place.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
ESTI MATED COSTS:
ACTI ON
D ETAI L
ESTI M ATED COST
1. Lead a right s
clearance proj ect
on out of print
t it les.
I dent ify pot ent ial
t it les t o be included
in t his program m e.
I dent ify right s
holders and seek
clearance.
Dependent on num ber
of t it les. Should be
m anageable wit hin
exist ing WBC/ NLW
resources.
2. Collaborat e wit h
Nat ional Library of
Wales on out - ofprint ebook
archive.
Requires part nering
wit h NLW t o fund
proj ect , build archive
and populat e it wit h
PDF files.
Depends on final
vendor specificat ion est im at ed one off cost
£10K; est im at ed
ongoing cost £1- 2 K
per annum , depending
upon what is already
inst alled at NLW.
Est im at ed conversion
cost s at £100- 150 per
t it le.
3. Undert ake feasibilit y
st udy on viabilit y of
print on dem and
service for t he
sam e t it les.
Requires a st udy of
t he specific t it les
t hat would be
included considering
pricing in t he
m arket place and
cost s of m anufact ure
and fulfilm ent .
Could be undert aken
by in- house st aff if
resources allow.
4. Develop syst em t o
m anage fulfilm ent
of print on dem and
copy of t it le. ( Only
necessary if POD
feasibilit y st udy
proves posit ive.)
Requires link
bet ween fulfilm ent
syst em and POD
provider.
Should be st andard
funct ionalit y in VI STA
syst em assum ing
sat isfact ory
arrangem ent s are
reached t o ut ilise m ost
recent release. No
addit ional cost in t hese
circum st ances.
5. Monit or
program m e, t raffic
and downloads, t o
coordinat e print
opt ions and t o
evaluat e public’s
accept ance of
ebooks.
Requires evaluat ion
of usage report ing.
Requires t im e from
current st aff or new
st aff designat ed
responsible for eproj ect s. Cost s
negligible if m anaged
wit hin exist ing
resources.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
7 .4
St r a t e gic Act ion Fou r
St rat egy:
Est a blish a nd pr ogr e ss a com m unit y de ve lopm e nt pr oj e ct for t he W e lsh
Book Tr a de t o im pr ove unde r st a nding of e publishing t e chnologie s a nd
gr ow t h oppor t unit ie s.
Obj ect ive:
The WBC should pursue m eans of im plem ent ing program m es t o educat e t he
t rade in new publishing t echnologies and encourage t heir applicat ion t o
reach/ expand new m arket s.
Key I m plem ent at ion Act ions:
Design, im plem ent and develop on an on- going basis a cent ral web based
knowledge warehouse web sit e/ resource t o be st ruct ured as follows:
•
Knowledge Zone
- epublishing obj ect ives from t his report
•
Case St udy Zone
- Exam ples of successful epublishing
•
Com m unit y Zone
- Mem bers inform at ion area, bullet in boards et c
•
Vendor Zone
- I nform at ion from vendors/ suppliers
•
Developm ent Zone
- Plat form developm ent inform at ion
•
Funding Zone
- Available grant s, et c.
•
Act ivit ies Zone
- Workshops, t raining, et c.
Develop print program m e t o support web- based knowledge warehouse and
reach non- I nt ernet linked businesses. Produce cent ral resource m anual and
supplem ent wit h quart erly updat es.
Produce 'face t o face' program m e of sem inars, workshops and t raining in
support of m ain resource.
ESTI MATED COSTS: 57
ACTI ON
1. Build cent ral web
based knowledge
warehouse
D ETAI L
ESTI M ATED COST
A. Requires init ial sit e
design and
const ruct ion;
edit ing of init ial
cont ent
One off cost of £50K
B.
£20K per annum
Ongoing updat ing
and developm ent
57
This obj ect ive m irrors St rat egic Act ion Two in Report One ( I CT in Market ing and Dist ribut ion) ;
som e cost s are t herefore duplicat ed here.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
2. Print program m e t o
support web
resource
A. I nit ial m anual of
resource
B. Quart erly updat es
3. Support sem inars
7 .5
One off cost of £4K
£4K per annum
Cost s based on t wo I CT £6K per annum before
sem inars/ workshops
supplier cont ribut ions
per year wit h supplier
support each sem inar
at t ended by 20
publishers/ booksellers
Fu n din g
The WBC has been enabled t o develop it s services and syst em s at a rapid rat e in
recent years, prim arily t hrough successful bids for capit al funding. However,
increased revenue funding has not followed proj ect funding in t he way necessary
t o t ake account of t he increase in operat ing cost s. There is a need going forward
for financial support for st affing cost s associat ed wit h current and fort hcom ing
developm ent s as well as t he cost s of m aint aining increasingly sophist icat ed
syst em s, part icularly if t he WBC is t o t ake forward any of t he I CT
recom m endat ions out lined in t his report . As proj ect funding is not an alt ernat ive
t o adequat e revenue funding, it is here t hat t he Nat ional Assem bly’s support is
key, providing t he funding t o sust ain t he WBC’s ongoing effort s.
To address t he specific st rat egies out lined above, proj ect funding could be
available from a num ber of sources. While Technical Annex 15 out lines a
num ber of pot ent ial sources of funding ( som e of which are fort hcom ing and
should be followed) , t he following are current likely sources, given t he t ypes of
proj ect s recom m ended here.
For developing epublishing cont ract s, look t o t he Art s Council of Wales and
t he Welsh Language Board, who m ay fund sm all expendit ures leading t o
im provem ent s for Welsh language publishing.
For capit al invest m ent t o est ablish a cont ent m anagem ent syst em , look t o
Finance Wales’ Wales I nnovat ion Fund, providing vent ure capit al for
t echnology- based proj ect s; t he Nat ional Assem bly’s Regional Select ive
Assist ance Grant s, which are friendly t o consort ial I CT developm ent ; and
t he NA’s Sm art Wales I nit iat ive, which funds t echnological innovat ion
( not ing t hat bot h of t hese NA program m es provide only part ial funding) .
Look also t o t he New Opport unit ies lot t ery funding.
For im plem ent at ion, look t o Opport unit E Wales for financial assist ance.
For est ablishing t raining program m es and I CT resources, look t o Wales
sm E- Business t o fund t he m aj orit y of cost s for I CT awareness- raising.
Bot h Business Connect and t he WDA can help ident ify t he m ost
appropriat e sources of funding in Wales, given t he det ails of each specific
proj ect . UKI SHelp can do t he sam e for EU funds.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Wat ch t he EU econt ent program m e, wit h next - round applicat ions due in
Decem ber 2002, and funding opport unit ies t hat m ay accom pany t he
European Year of Books and Lit eracy 2003.
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
8
Ack n ow le dge m e n t s
This report would not have been possible wit hout t he invaluable cont ribut ions
and guidance of Mr. D. Roy Thom as, econom ist at t he Cardiff Business School.
We would also like t o t hank t he following individuals and com panies for t heir
part icipat ion in and cont ribut ions t o t his report .
Any errors in fact s and
int erpret at ions are t hose of t he aut hors.
W or k sh op At t e n de e s
Myrddin ap Dafydd, Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
Alwyn Elis, Gwasg Gwynedd, St âd Cibyn
Rhian William s, Conwy Library
Aled Job, Gwasg Pant ycelyn
Parch Aled Lloyd Davies, Canolfan Genedlaet hol Addysg Grefyddol
Jonat han Lewis and Mairwen Prys Jones, Gwasg Gom er
John Beham , FBA Publicat ions
L. Phillips and G. William s, I nbooks
Dylan I orwert h, Golwg
Edwin Lewis, Dol Helyg
Lleucu Siencyn, Art s Council of Wales
Lefi Gruffudd, Y Lolfa
Alun and Margaret I saac, Asht ree St udios
Carys Swain, WJEC
J.E. Rogers, Creat ive Print and Design
Bet han Robert s and Jerem y Evas, Welsh Language Board
I n t e r vie w s
Gwawr Dafydd, Bys a Bawd
Andrew Green, Nat ional Library of Wales
Richard Houdm ont , Universit y of Wales Press
Lisa Jones, Y Llyfrfa Oriel
Trevor Jones, www.llyfrau.co.uk
Dafydd Tim ot hy, Siop y Morfa
Qu e st ion n a ir e Re spon de n t s
Bookshops
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Awen Menai
Blackwells
Bys A Bawd
Cadi Llwyd
Cast le St reet Books
CBAC Cyf/ WJEC Lt d.
Cover To Cover Bookshop
Cowbridge Bookshop
Fred Cooper Books
Lexicon Books
Llyfrau’r Ddraig
Pet he Powys Cyf
Siop Dewi
Siop Dj
Siop Lyfrau’r Hen Bost
Siop Ty Tawe
Siop Y Pen
The Bookshop
The Chepst ow Bookshop
Tso Oriel Bookshop
TVS Publicat ions
Tylers Books
Yst wyt h Books
Libraries
Caerphilly Count y Borough Libraries
Conway Count y Borough Council
Nat ional Library Of Wales, Aberyst wyt h
Neat h Port Talbot Library Services
Pem brokeshire Count y Library
Ot her
Brecon Beacons Nat ional Park Aut horit y
I n- Books
Rhiannon
Snowdonia Nat ional Park Aut horit y
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Publishers
Alun Books
Apecs Press Caerleon
Ashley Drake Publishing Lt d.
Barddas
Blorenge Books
Ceiriog Press
Cwm Nedd Press
Cyhoeddiadau Barddas
Cyhoeddiadau’r Gair
Cym deit has Alawon Gwerin Cym ru
FBA Publicat ions
Gom er Press
Gwasg Carreg Gwalch
Gwasg Gregynog Lt d.
Gwasg Pant ycelyn
Honno Welsh Wom en’s Press
Houdm ont
John Jones Publishing Lt d.
Modern Welsh Publicat ions Lt d.
Part hian Books
Seren
Undeb Yr Annibynwyr Cym raeg
Y Lofla
Ve n dor s
Art esia
The Book Part nership
Bookcraft , CPI Group
Bookdat a
BT Connect
Ebrary
First Edit ion EDI Services Lt d
Gardners Books/ Ant ony Rowe Lt d
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Hyperwave
Light ningSource
Net Library
Nike
Open Connect ions
Quest ia
Vist a Com put er Syst em s
Whit akers
Gove r n m e n t Age n cie s a n d Ot h e r Or ga n isa t ion s
An Foras Teanga, The Language Board
Art s and Business
Art s Council I reland
Art s Council Wales
Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge
Depart m ent of Art s, Herit age Gaelt acht
ELWa
European Com m ission, Educat ion and Cult ure, Language Policy Unit ; econt ent
Program m e
Finance Wales
Gaelic Books Council, Scot land
House of Com m ons I nform at ion Office
I rish Depart m ent of Educat ion and Science
I rish Lit erat ure Exchange
Ment er a Busnes
Nat ional Assem bly for Wales
New Opport unit ies Fund
Opport unit E Wales
S4C
Scot t ish Publishers Associat ion
TAC ( Teledwyr Annibynnol Cym ru)
UKI SHelp
Wales sm E- Business
Wales I nform at ion Societ y
Welsh Developm ent Agency
Welsh Language Board
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Ele ct r onic Publishing in W a le s
Pr iva t e Se ct or Fir m s
Bank of Wales
BT
HSBC
Wales Fund Managers, Lt d.
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