eBooks have become increasingly popular in recent years, but studies show that people still prefer to purchase traditional books (Pew). Even with consumer preferences leaning toward traditional books, eBooks and online publishing have had a profound impact on traditional book publishing.

Understanding this impact can help us predict future trends in book publishing and implement marketing strategies to adapt to potential developments.

The implementation of big data

Possibly the biggest impact eBooks have had on book publishing is the incorporation of big data. Big data is the collection of market data about reader preferences and behaviour. It is easily tracked online through surveys, social media mentions, and evaluating the digital signature of consumers. With big data, online publishers can make informed decisions about what types of books to publish to meet consumer needs (Digital Book World).

New pricing strategies

One advantage eBooks have over traditional print books is that because their overhead is so low, they can implement flexible pricing structures to quickly meet purchasing behaviours. On the other hand, traditional books use fixed pricing, so they tend to cost more than eBooks. As a result, traditional book publishers miss out on the low-end sector of the book market. 

Authorship payment restructuring

Since it is incredibly affordable to self-publish an eBook, many authors have chosen to forgo the traditional publishing route. Publishing houses tend to take a higher percentage of the profits than the author of the work (Ploum).

In order to stay competitive with eBooks, traditional book publishers will have to make some important changes to their business models. The future of book publishing will be more targeted towards consumer needs and offer more benefits to authors. If you are considering publishing a manuscript in the future, you will need to decide whether you want to go the traditional publishing or self-publish an eBook. These changes will have an impact on which route you take. ALHAUS can help guide you through this decision. We offer services for every stage of publishing from ideation to distribution. Contact us today to learn more about the future of book publishing.