The Future of Publishing
There have been a number of key historical events that have given the masses the ability to publish. The invention of the printing press was a huge advance. The advent of the web was another. Since then, we’ve had some smaller impacts such as self-publishing through sites like Lulu, blogging, YouTube, and podcasting. In each of these cases, technology has leveled the playing field, allowing hobbyists and enthusiasts to play in a space formerly dominated by professionals and those with deep pockets.
Apple now has three stores tied to their mobile devices. The iTunes Store sells audio and video content, including music, audio books, podcasts, television shows, and movies. The App Store sells applications for the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. The newly announced iBook Store sells books.
You’ve likely heard stories about developers that have had successful applications on the App store and left their jobs to develop iPhone apps full time. There is a strong movement of independent developers on the Mac that have leveraged the web, word of mouth, and events such as MacHeist to get the word out about their products. Many of them do quite well. The App Store has made it relatively easy for a developer to get an app in front of millions of potential customers. Joe Dev is on an equal footing with big name software shops and even has a chance of showing off his work on stage at a Stevenote, or it might be displayed for a few seconds in a television commercial.
The iTunes store allows independent artists to apply to sell their music on the store. No publisher is required. I haven’t seen a lot of discussion about this, but I think it is fairly significant. In the past, artists were dependent on signing a contract with a label to make it. The label had the money to produce and market an album. This included the manufacture of the physical media, the packaging, and the distribution. This model is changing—digital music will replace physical media altogether, and digital distribution will make shipping and stocking obsolete. The largest costs of producing music are going away. So, why should an artist allow a label to take a huge cut of the sales of their artistic expression? It is entirely possible for an artist to record their music and sell it through iTunes (and other web-based outlets) without help from a label, just as developers are doing on the App Store.
And now we have iBooks. Once again, the store will be open to independent authors. Amazon claims that they sold more digital books than paper ones over the holiday season. I have no doubt that we will see digital books grow in popularity over the coming years, relegating bound books to fine art and collectibles. It will likely take a long time, but it is inevitable. As this happens, publishers will become less relevant. The costs of printing, binding, shipping, and stocking books will melt away leaving the author, her story, and her audience. Digital storefronts such as Apple’s will take their small cuts, and the author will receive her due majority of the profits. The ultimate result is that it will be easier for new writers to get their first work published.
Democratization of content production is a powerful force, and I’m excited by the potential found in Apple’s expanding model.
