Book publishers unite to turn a new page

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E-BOOK PUSH: The Digital Publishing Forum will promote electronic books in New Zealand.

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Dozens of publishers have united in a drive to put New Zealand at the forefront of adopting electronic books.

The Digital Publishing Forum was launched last week with the backing of about 80 publishers. Director Martin Taylor says electronic books published in New Zealand could be filling Kiwi Christmas stockings next year.

The forum aims to ensure New Zealand authors and publishers aren't left behind. "What we've seen in other sectors is that trends which start overseas arrive in New Zealand rather late in the day, and that means the local industry doesn't have a chance to build up capability. We're trying to start that early."

Digital books can be downloaded, either over the Internet or through special kiosks, on to PCs, mobile phones or special e-book readers such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony Reader.

Exports account for about 20 per cent of the book industry's revenue, and electronic books – which are downloaded rather than shipped overseas – would significantly increase the industry's export potential, Mr Taylor says.

The global electronic book market is still small and educational e-books rather than leisure titles have been fastest to sell. "The last figure I've seen is it's worth US$50 (NZ91) million a year. When you compare that with the paper-book market at US$25 billion a year, it's got a long way to go. But it will grow fast."

The forum will hold workshops and conferences next year to bring together and upskill authors, publishers and technology providers. Publishers will learn about the business model for electronic books, how to market them and how to work with technology businesses, Mr Taylor says.

"We're going to have a plan in place that actually allows us to deliver a solid range of e-books by about this time next year. We'd like to think an outfit like Sony or Hewlett Packard – which is making e-book readers in its labs – would be ready to help us get this market started early."

Printed books can be onsold or given away, but electronic books are often protected by digital rights management software, to stop them being repeatedly copied. "Publishers are realistic that they have to protect their content, but they also have to give consumers a fair go – especially early in the market," Mr Taylor says.

"It's a thorny issue we'd have to work through over time, but it shouldn't stop us getting started."

It's a matter of debate as to whether people will prefer reading screens over paper, but improvements in technology should see them increasingly adopt the electronic version, he says. "You can have a lot of books with you at once and also have larger print. People might say that's worth the trade-off."

Dymocks last year signalled plans to sell digital books in New Zealand. "If Dymocks is bringing e-readers in, it would be nice to have good content for them," Mr Taylor says.

Publishers are ramping up the number of digital books in their collections. Amazon has more than 190,000 titles; Sony's eBook Store was selling 57,000 at the start of the month; with more than 100,000 expected by the end of the month.

British publisher Random House has more than 8000 electronic books and has said it plans to nearly double that.

- © Fairfax NZ News