Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Ebooks have become a high priority for both consumers and the authors of the latest publications. Authors, publishing houses, and consumers alike are all beginning to choose the digital copy ... ...

Many of these publishers are getting started with a number of controversial titles to draw attention to themselves. Though they may not be able to draw the big name authors, quite yet, these small mcommerce companies are including controversial titles among their offerings in order to help to help to build recognition.

For instance, one of the latest ebook launches that was meant to attract attention includes one written about Anne Hathaway, the actress, and how her popularity has generated considerable “hatred”. This was released by Entertainment Concepts Press.

Many of these publishers, including the one mentioned in the above example, are focusing exclusively on mcommerce. These books will not be published on paper, but will instead be sold over mcommerce as ebooks that can be read on ereaders, tablets, and even the occasional smartphone or laptop screen. All of the major bookstores that sell online are jumping on the digital bandwagon and have built up an extensive list of downloadable offerings. This is especially popular for the bookstores that have their own ereaders and tablets to sell, as well.

According to Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, when discussing the topic of ebooks over mcommerce, “We’re now seeing the transition we’ve been expecting.” This was a statement that was made in late December 2012. He added that “After five years, ebooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast — up approximately 70 percent last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5 percent.”...

It's an eye-opening report that looks beyond the hype surrounding these companies. Some of them are profitable (or at least claim to be), some aren't, but all of them have raised serious cash from starry-eyed investors (e.g., $96.3 million for BuzzFeed, $110 million for Vox).

The business press tends to regard such hefty sums as implicit evidence of success and/or promise -- why would venture capitalists risk so much scratch if there was no there there? -- but Michael reminds us that all of these companies rely, somewhat harrowingly, on advertising for revenue....