EBooks: changing the publishing industry, PwC

1.7 

Challenges Facing Companies

eBooks are changing the value chain in the 

book industry. The challenges are great 

for all parties involved, but experts say 

the opportunities are also great. This is 

because any company establishing a well-

thought-out position will have the prospect 

of additional business in the digital market. 

On the other hand, if a company fails to 

take the opportunity, it might find itself

at a disadvantage with regard to the 

competition and may lose revenue and 

market share. 

Publishers: Transfer the business model to 

the digital environment 

The main challenge facing publishers, 

according to the experts, is to avoid making 

the same errors as the music industry. 

This will require a new business model, a 

wider range of content, and clarifications

regarding the question of copyright. In 

order to meet these challenges, publishers 

will need to adapt their business processes. 

To integrate content properly, editors will 

have to become familiar with the special 

features of the eBook. Legal departments 

will have to devote more attention to rights 

for eBooks and draw up fee models to take 

new circumstances into account. Publishers 

will have to concentrate to an even greater 

extent on the role of a content provider. It 

is, therefore, essential for these ideas to be 

established in the minds of employees, and 

for these employees to incorporate these 

technological aspects and ideas in relation 

to eBooks. 

Special-interest publishers, in particular, 

will face a greater challenge. They will 

have to generate products with additional 

content to meet their customers’ needs. 

These products will have to offer 

additional value to generate sales. It is 

true that customers are prepared to pay 

for additional content, if they can clearly 

derive its benefit. This is also confirmed

by a current study of PwC concerning the 

development of the market for special-

interest information: Consumers expect 

to receive greater support in their work 

processes– irrespective of the media form 

and in line with the individual needs of the 

specific work situation.

11

No threat due to self-marketing of 

authors, so continue maintaining strong 

relationships

Despite the digitizing process, publishers 

do not fear a significantly negative impact

on sales. In particular, they are relatively 

unconcerned with regard to the risk of 

self-marketing of authors via the Internet. 

Nonetheless, some bestselling authors have 

proven successful at marketing their own 

books and related products. Publishers 

should not take their relationship with 

authors for granted. They should continue 

to work as the authors’ partners in 

marketing, selling, and promoting books. 

Online bookstores: Generating content and 

assuring unique selling points 

Experts in online bookstores agree that a 

comprehensive range of products is the 

most important factor for distinguishing a 

11  PwC: From paper to platform: transforming the B2B publishing business model, 2009.

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