How do we read today? What are the new ways in which stories are being told? How is social media helping in bumping up the sales of books? Is our new age reader fascinated by the touch and smell of paper or is she happy scrolling pages on a phablet?
In a 2 day boot camp for publishing professionals, various industry experts talked about the future of reading and the emerging ways to engage the denizens. The first edition of the Publishers Training for Young Professionals conducted in New Delhi by the German Book Office focussed on the abundance of opportunities that digitisation of content unfolds. With ample networking breaks in between, to ensure that everyone not only learns together but also meets each other, the programme was led by experts from India and abroad. In 7 power packed sessions spread over 2 days, the participants learnt about multiple ways of engaging with the customer and exploring new revenue models considering the book as the base line. Steffen Meier (Director – Product Innovation and Marketing, Readbox Publishing, Germany) kicked off the first day by showcasing the digital trends around the globe. From cuneiform to books in browsers, on which devices will the reader of the future download content – the debate is on!
Group Exercise on mobile strategy for publishing organisations
Reading on e-readers, tablets and mobile phones has found its place in the west. According to a Nielsen research in 2011 on market penetration of devices worldwide, smartphones emerged as the top category with e-readers ranking second last. Steffen pointed out that there are several issues to be tackled by publishers in times of digitisation. Discoverability of books in this time of abundance is a big concern for publishers. ”Publishers should take up their digital strategy seriously and think from a customers perspective” says Steffen. “If a customer is willing to buy an e-book and finds himself in a situation where he either doesn’t have access to an e-book or is not available at a price he likes to pay, then it’s a lost opportunity for the publisher as the customer is likely to resort to free/ pirated content”, he adds. With the invention of smartphones with an e-ink display, phablets are the next big thing, especially in Asia. Studies indicate that India and Brazil stand only second to US in terms of no. of e-book downloads in the past 6 months.
Steffen also impressed upon the quality and flexibility that the digital “avatars” of the books should provide. Giving the users, digital replicas of the books in form of PDFs is actually replicating printing process in virtual space. The publishers should be ready for platform neutral apps and reading in browsers so that the content reaches all layers of the pyramid.
Digitisation also raises concerns of piracy and the protection against loss of revenues. However counter-intuitive it may seem, digital reading brings you closer to your customers – knowing what they read, repeat purchase and are willing to pay for – thus making you promote correctly and effectively. And then there is a case for DRM, which Shameer Ayyappan from Adobe India, skillfully dealt with. He pointed out that approx. $ 2.8 bn are lost in revenues to pirates annually. DRM can help publishers earn a larger share of the wallet from existing readers and make more books discoverable. To make books affordable to a larger audience, lower priced DRM options are evolving in emerging geographies. Right from introducing the paradigm to the types of DRM – hard, social and browser based, Shameer answered a volley of queries concerning securing digital content.
YPP in full swing
With content being distributed over multiple channels, publishers should open up to new opportunities that the brand extensions can create. Licensing products based on story and characters now provides a key opportunity to extending a product’s success. To explain the strategy for licensing brand extensions, Srinivas Chilakalapudi (Chief Strategy Officer, Green Gold Animation) of Chhota Bheem fame, took the participants through the life cycle of Chhota Bheem and the creation of the million dollar franchise as it stands today. Chota Bheem holds over 150 licenses as of today and is ranked among the top 100 licensees of the world. Chota Bheem Comics – both digital and print, e-learning apps capture a huge audience with over 100 comic titles and more than 50 apps. The activity books based on Chhota Bheem story are also gradually capturing the market.
Children form an integral part of Chhota Bheem digital strategy as it is mostly children that draw parents’ attention to new products. However, Srinivas thinks, that getting into merchandising & distribution was a bold decision. It is capital intensive and making distribution channels work well is quite a task. Capitalising on a brand’s potential is maximising presence on all possible touch points, so Green Gold created licences across as wide a range of categories as possible from apparel, stationery, apps, movies, and games to toiletries. Green Gold will continue to build on its merchandise and popularise its content across social media.
Talking of cross over, one inevitably stumbles upon Books to Films success stories. Be it the fantasy world emerging out of Potter mania to dystopian world of Hunger Games or Twilight. Cine world has drawn inspiration from the kingdom of books ever since the days of silent films. The high grossers on the box office are fascinating stories transcending from print to the screen with blockbusters like Life of Pi, Lord of the Rings and Slumdog Millionaire, based on the fantastic book Q&A of our home grown author Vikas Swarup. Infact 5 of the 9 films nominated for Best Picture Oscar in 2013 were based on books, including the winner, Argo. But what does this phenomena mean for the publishers or authors? Ashoo Naik (Head of Licensing Business, CAA KWAN) talked to participants about the licensing know hows to be kept in mind. As against the international markets, India doesn’t have standards on process of optioning a book or the contracts therefore. The option fee is generally pegged at 10% on the actual sale of rights of the book. It is though important to understand which books will fit the frame in celluloid and Ashoo, indicated such parameters to the participants. The premise, characterisation, elevator pitch and subsequent growth being a few.
Satiating the apetite for questions alongside lunch, the participants returned back to the sessions to talk about marketing across platforms and self-publishing. Steffen talked about marketing examples involving games, videos and social media. He presented a torrent of examples from Germany, US and UK where innovative marketing across channels was being employed to capture the fancy of readers. Storytelling rules the game and he asked all to go “Big” on a small budget by engaging customers with authors, publishers and loyal readers on social media.
Last in line for the day was the game changer – Self Publishing. Arpita Das and Manish Purohit of Authors Upfront built a strong case for self publishing and how they are changing the way self publishing is perceived. They opine that its not a one versus the other game but both forms will continue to co-exist, though publishing professionals should reflect upon the new framework of being service entities where the author or reader has the power to choose what they wish to read. What makes authors self-publish? At Authors Upfront, its not vanity publishing but a choice to say your story without the fear of censorship. A choice of freedom!
German Cultural Attaché Astrid Radunski handing over the certificates
The transformation of known products in new business segments formed the heart and soul of the programme. The programme came to a ceremonious close with handing-over of certificates to the participants by Astrid Radunski, Head of Culture, German Embassy New Delhi. The programme was supported by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.
The face of publishing changing fast and competitively, there is a dearth of training opportunities for those already working and interested. Also, there are very specific subjects and concerns which call for attention given the need to constantly stay updated. Especially with regards to the world of digital content, there are varied technologies and platforms at work. And to understand the complex web of mechanisms driving change across levels, there are very few industry-focused, short term, hands-on training modules in India. Therefore, this programme which is aimed at young professionals already working and wishing to acquire expertise in the latest techniques in publishing. Through such a compact, comprehensive, workshop-based, training programme, GBO New Delhi aims at reaching out to publishing professionals across verticals and looks at creating a fertile ground for talent development for forward-looking companies and individuals.
