EBooks: changing the publishing industry, PwC

2. 

Critical Factors of 

Success for Different 

Business Models

2.1 

Publishers

Adapting for the future

eBooks and eReaders represent both a 

risk and an opportunity. If publishers 

accept change, transform their processes, 

train employees, and offer their content 

in multiple formats – in digital or printed 

form, bound or on demand, as a PDF or 

ePUB – and on all platforms, they will 

have a good chance of developing a viable 

digital business model. Publishers that 

resist change, consider the digitizing 

process to be merely an additional cost, 

and attempt to defend their existing 

content and business models, will face the 

greatest risks. 

Illegal products threaten the book industry 

Many current bestsellers are available for 

people who wish to download them. But 

also people can download illegal copies 

even if they are not yet on sale in a digital 

format. Frequently, these illegal issues are 

scanned copies in PDF and lack the quality 

of a legally distributed book or eBook. 

However, consumers will not care about 

quality if they cannot obtain an eBook 

through legal distribution channels, or 

if they cannot obtain it at an acceptable 

price. 

The current state of illegal eBook 

distribution does not mean that publishers 

face the same consequences as their