When was the last time you heard that print is dead? Probably it’s been a while. As it turns out, print and digital will co-habit in the book business for some time yet to come.
Indeed, earlier this week, a BBC reporter told an important gathering of book publishers something potentially even more alarming: It’s time to get over the book.
Reporting from the London Book Fair, Publishers Weekly senior writer Andrew Albanese tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally that, “Bill Thompson, a technology reporter with the BBC, urged publishers not only to go beyond the book, but also to go beyond the e-book.
“Thompson criticized the current e-book platforms as ‘killing jars’ that really hold back what we might otherwise do in the digital age in order to control the market,” Albanese explains. “As he said, however, shifting the focus away from the book doesn’t mean books no longer matter— it’s just that other things are also possible.”
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Every Friday, CCC’s “Beyond the Book” speaks with the editors and reporters of “Publishers Weekly” for an early look at the news that publishers, editors, authors, agents and librarians will be talking about when they return to work on Monday.