1st Edition
Publishing in the Digital Age How Business Can Thrive in a Rapidly Changing Environment
The world of publishing is evolving at an ever-increasing speed, with developments in digital workstreams and products, customer expectation, enriched content curation, and user-generated content becoming commonplace. In Publishing in the Digital Age: How Business Can Thrive in a Rapidly Changing Environment, Ross discusses the most significant and recent developments in educational and trade publishing, educational technology, and marketing that has enabled a new generation of content creators to reach more consumers. It is the only book that addresses disruption in the industry head on.
Building on the insights from his last book, Dealing with Disruption: Lessons from the Publishing Industry, Ross takes a fresh look at the publishing environment and provides the reader with a clear view of how publishing has evolved and how it has benefitted consumers regardless of their preferred medium for accessing knowledge. Through an examination of what has worked and what has not, and with Ross’s unique perspective of more than 35 years of publishing success, Publishing in the Digital Age presents an indispensable overview of the publishing industry, how it has evolved during the first quarter of the 21st century, and how publishers, content providers, and consumers can benefit from the many options that are available today. With insights from industry leaders, Ross discusses new opportunities on the Web, streaming services, and audio formats. He reviews new publishing platforms and provides a practical guide for content developers to address the knowledge needs of their constituents by giving readers real-life, actionable examples of how best to publish their content consistent with users’ purchasing preferences.The book will be of interest to specialists in education: K-12 and higher education, the non-fiction trade, corporate education trainers, and specialist sectors such as scholarly, technical, and medical publishing. It includes clear applications for any business that is undergoing transformation or is forced to make a radical pivot because of sudden environmental changes or market conditions.
Introduction: our analog past; 1 The 21st-century publisher: bridging millennial formats; 2 Print and digital hybrids: first inklings; 3 Data, metadata, and humans; 4 EdTech: closing the digital divide; 5 Keeping the customer satisfied; 6 First, identify the problem; 7 The media and the message; 8 "Palaces for the people" and their treasures; 9 "Information (almost) wants to be free"; Epilogue: back to the future
Biography
Michael N. Ross is the President/Founder of Ross & Associates LLC, an educational publishing and technology consultancy. Before establishing Ross & Associates in 2017, Michael was the SVP and Education GM at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., where he led the sales and marketing activities in North America and EMEA and ran the product development and technology teams. Prior to joining Britannica in 2002, he was the EVP and Publisher of World Book, Inc. and previously held executive positions at other global publishing companies. He began his career as an editor for Time-Life Books, including three years in Tokyo.
"Publishing in the Digital Age: How Business Can Thrive in a Rapidly Changing Environment by Michael N. Ross is exactly the book every publisher should read as they navigate their business through the ever-changing Digital Age. Over the course of a 40-year career in publishing Michael N. Ross has brought to market product in nearly every popular format. No-one in publishing is better qualified to offer a history of digital publishing, an analysis of what works and what doesn’t, and a roadmap of what publishers should be planning for in the future.
Publishing in the Digital: How Business Can Thrive in a Rapidly Changing Environment is an interesting, highly readable book written with insight, interesting details and what everyone who has ever read a Michael N. Ross book comes to expect, humor. This is a must read for everyone in the publishing world."
Rachelle Cracchiolo, Founder, Teacher Created Materials, US
"This new book from Michael N. Ross provides a fascinating rollercoaster ride through the changes to publishing – particularly educational and reference – as the promise of a digital world overturned traditional norms. A compulsive read."
Pippa Smart, PSP Consulting, UK
