How Random House, Cengage and other giants use tech: New tools help deal with change

DAM News Staff

15 years ago

Four-hundred U.S. bookstores will close this year—a 500-percent increase over 2008—if astudy fromGrant Thornton LLP is on target. Some publishers, moreover, fret over thepossible end of the hardback. And you already know about the threat which large educational publishers are facing fromCalifornia’s move toward free textbooks.

Which digital strategies should publishers use to cope?

Can the right technologies help keep customers, through such wrinkles as e-books and customized books?

Random House,McGraw-Hill,Cengage Learning,HarperCollins,Harlequin andIngram Digital are among the heavy-hitters whose digital strategies are discussed in a 142-page report from theGilbane Group. The study also highlights some innovative small-fry such asLulu,Daily Lit andCurriki.

Several themes emerge in “Digital Platforms and Technologies for Publishers: Implementation Beyond ‘eBook,’” which you candownload for free in PDF after you register at the Gilbane site.