September 14, 2010
This article is a follow-on from yesterday’s piece, Novels as the Driving Platform. In this post, I will outline some technology driven changes that are going to revolutionize the publishing business and provide enormous opportunities to Transmedia storytellers.
1. Publishers as IP Distributors and Curators
Publishers must cease thinking of themselves as merely book – or even eBook – publishers. Instead, they are now intellectual property distributors, promoters and curators. Those that fail to make this adjustment – starting with the dealmaking and contracts that form that foundation of the business – will eventually die. Publishers need to retain as many rights as possible to intellectual property, allowing them to exploit stories as true Transmedia brands.
As much as possible, publishers should seek to control IPs rather than selling rights to other organizations. It would not surprise me to see a publisher set up a movie and digital content studio, mimicking Marvel’s decision in the comicbook realm. All properties would be governed by an overall story/mythology bible that would control and guide all adaptations. Additionally, publishers should seek to retain profit participation for every way the IP can be licensed and exploited.
By retaining information about their audience, publishers will also be able to target users directly with properties that they may enjoy. Sample chapters will be sent automatically to every potential consumer. This will have to be done with care (only sending high quality and relevant properties), in order to ensure that the publisher retains the audience’s trust. For that reason, it is likely that publishers will publish far fewer books – but make a lot more money off each. Superfans may even have a role to play in the development process. To give an example, every publisher is currently looking for the next Twilight or Harry Potter. In the future, they will be able to create one.
2. Built-In Transmedia Technology
A substantial portion of books purchased will be digitally downloaded. Furthermore, the vast majority of these titles will contain built-in Transmedia experiences. At a base level, books will contain integrated hyperlink-style links to illustrations, character bios, world maps, and internet content. This will be unobtrusive and fluid, and will come to be accepted and appreciated by all demographics.
Certain titles will offer much more – a truly interactive, potentially intrusive story experience. These books – written from the ground up as a Transmedia experience – will allow readers to directly interact with the story, and serve as a jumping-off point for other story platforms. Thus, at certain junctures in the story, the reader will be interrupted by a character instant-messaging them to discuss the story, an opportunity to view a webisode side-story that fills in a gap in the story, or even a suggestion to interact with the story in the physical world somehow. In that respect, the line between a novel and what we now call an ARG will blur.
The experience I describe is broadly possible now, on an application built specifically for the purpose of telling that story. Ten years from now, such proprietary technology will be unnecessary – all eReaders will have interactive and video sharing capabilities built in. Additional elements will provide new revenue possibilities, either in the form of an elevated purchase price (subscription model) or microtransactions that enable readers to access more content on a pay-as-you-go basis. Readers will maintain an account, either with an aggregator such as iTunes/Amazon or directly with the publisher.
3. Sharing Content and Leaving Notes
Readers will be able to share book samples and suggest books to friends seamlessly, through a connected infrastructure. In essence, the Amazon reviews site will be incorporated directly into the experience.
More importantly, book clubs and fan sites will go online. Readers will be able to leave notes and comments effortlessly – either for their selected group of friends, or everybody who is reading the book at that time. These notes will range from broad observations, to deconstruction of specific passages. Thus, fans will be able to share and bond over content to a much greater extent than ever before possible. This will be done at the touch of a button, and will shortly become second nature for readers. It goes without saying that Oprah fans will be able to opt to download her recommendations automatically.
Fan communities – often the strongest promoters of a story brand – will migrate to integrate themselves with the property itself. Fans will leave vlogs, comments, fan art, parody songs etc. and link them directly to relevant passages – all available for the reader to toggle on and off as he or she wishes. Geographic barriers will be broken down, and fans will even be able to find kindred spirits in their locality – potentially leading to in-person interaction.
This “virtual book club” feature will also have enormous academic benefits. Study groups will go online, and college classes will be able to share thoughts and criticism directly through their e-reader. Every college student in America will own an iPad, Kindle, or whatever supplants them.
It goes without saying that authors – fiction and nonfiction – will be expected to interact directly with fans through the eBook platform, in a similar way to how Bluray Live allows studios to orchestrate live “fan screenings” with creators in the living room.
4. Publishers Disappear?
If the publishers are too slow to react to these changes, it is likely that we will see the culmination of the self-publishing phenomenon: publishers will disappear altogether and be replaced by aggregators (iTunes, Amazon, Facebook or Google). Author-creators will then market their books (and related Transmedia content) directly to audiences, with the aggregator taking a small transaction fee (10-15%). This could be a very favorable deal for the skilled author-creator but, as always with the long tail, quality content will be drowned by sub-standard, amateur fare unless an effective filter can be put in place.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your blog posts – they´re always very thought provoking.
But here´s something that has been drwaing my attention recently: I actually work in the ELT field and something we´ve been discussing is the future of coursebooks in our field with the advent of these technological developments. I know your post was about storytelling, but in a way that part I’m still stuck with is the same in both areas: the cenario in Brazil in terms of tecnology in publishing is sooooo far behind that it doesn´t even bare comparing with what is happening in the States or in some oither countries.
So, wouldn´t you agree: unless publishers or these agregators start looking at the Southern hemisphere of the world and think how they will “attack” these contexts, surely a digital divide will gradually increase and we´ll have a worse situation in which we will still have to cater for two types of market: paper-based vs digital.
In the case of Brazil, it´s not that we don´t have that much technology, we do in fact. We are a nation of suckers for technology, but the costs are far too high…
How do you see the future of digital publishing within this type of situation?
Excellent point. I’ve advocated the adoption of a global perspective without always considering the technological divide that exists. This is a hugely complex issue that exists at the intersection of commerce and politics, and I couldn’t possibly suggest an easy answer.
Most entertainment corporations fully understand that potential of Brazil. At some point – if not already – it’s going to become a massive market. The question is whether public companies are going to invest in countries like Brazil, either by volunteering funds to develop the infrastructure or by offering technology (“platforms” in our vernacular) at subsidized rates – in order to reap enormous rewards down the line. The short-term, profit centric demands of shareholders suggests that they may not.
Assuming that international corporations do not make the requisite investments to close this gap (and I’d suggest that many Asian markets offer similar long-term possibilities), it may fall on the Brazilian government to step up. Clearly, a lot of the technology I’ve suggested relies on broadband being widely available and to be honest, I have no idea what the Brazilian government’s attitude to this is. Once broadband is available, much of the population will have to be “trained” in habits familiar to most Americans – living and sharing information online, jumping between platforms and so on.
I’m so glad you brought this up. To be frank, this is a critical issue that needs to be researched and discussed by corporations, politicians, and other interested individuals. I’m certain that there are groups and websites devoted to this school of thought already; if anybody reading this can point me in the direction of such bodies (or offer insight into the issue), I would be delighted.
Simon, you’r so right when talk about the broadband being widely available as a breakthrough. Actually, in Brazil the government has some few projects in this way: “broadband for all” “broadband in schools”… Also, we are starting to find cities known as “digital cities” such as Pedreira-SP, Sud Mennuci-SP, Araraquara-SP and others around. In these places, community has internet access for free and in some strategic places they have computers and labs that they can explore the connectivity and feel changes in everyday life.
Details: as my phd research is so related to this, I try to not evangelize things and keep a distance in this post.
Anyways, I observe the changes in this “digital cities”, considering the brazilian specificities, using new technologies for change, trying to apply mobile devices and different platforms when community tell their stories, providing tools and knowledge and so on. Well, it’s just starting it all. I guess the technological problem is solved, by far the question “what to do with it?” is the touchpoint now. The results are brought to classroom at Unicamp (I teach transmedia storytelling in graduation bases…).
I also have to agree with Valeria when she talks about publishing market and readers. In publisher market, we still have to convince people that ebook is as good as a printed book, creating a new habit, and even being free of charge they prefer not reading, we don’t see lots of downloads. I reckon we have to incorporate concepts before making people (when they r not digital native) just read in a computer or (more impossible) in a mobile device. First things first…
Well, in the other hand, in my experience at iMAX Games where I work as content manager we see companies and the government itself quite interested in Transmedia Storytelling solutions.
A lot of this is because Rede Globo Company found out this can be a profitable way to consolidate the media industry, in this year Globo created a transmedia department, brought Jenkins, Gomez and the Obitel Event (where people talked about the subject).
In this year (2010), our new audiovisual secretary, Cannito, had a Inauguration speech based on convergence and he actually said the term transmedia storytelling as a focus in projects with priority investments. We r waiting for that becoming real.
Well, lots os things we could talk about in so little space. Let’s keep in touch. I’ll be happy to know more about it.
“It is a given that 90% of books purchased will be digitally downloaded.” Not saying that I disagree, just wondering why “it is a given”. You must have seen some stats I’ve not seen. Thanks.
That’s a fair point. Noted, and amended. Thank you.