Re-inventing the Book ― Challenges from the Past for the Publishing Industry

During the last decades, significant changes have taken place in the publishing industry, altering the publishing value chain and the structure of the industry itself. Thus, publishers nowadays have to re-discover, re-develop, re-invent, re-use, re-create, re-evaluate. A variety of choices and challenges that lead to new business models are extant. Reimagining the Book will examine and discuss how most publishing values, aims and strategies have been common since the Renaissance. It aims to provide a methodological framework not only for the understanding, explanation and interpretation of the current situation but also for the development of strategies and for the creation of the publishing company strategy. Among the aims of the book are to discuss features of the publishing industry as it appears today, to synopsize innovative methods and trends, to show new opportunities created by the new information technologies, and to recognize challenges. Values discussed include globalization, convergence, access to information, disintermediation, discoverability, innovation, reader engagement, co-creation, aesthetics in publishing.

• Describes common values and features in the publishing industry since Renaissance / invention of printing
• Proposes a methodological framework in order to understand and better explain current publishing issues and trends, and propose and develop new strategies, policies and business models
• Focuses on reader engagement and participation
• Proposes and discusses the publishing chain not only as value chain but also as an information chain
• Considers the aesthetics of publishing not only for the printed book but also for digital material