Digital Book 2010 at Book Expo America

On May 26, I attended Digital Book 2010—a full-day of conference sessions offered by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) at Book Expo America.  There was a great showing of Canadians in the audience as well as several hundred attendees from more than a dozen other countries. 

The focus of the sessions was largely on the ePUB format, a standard for reflowable digital books that is managed by the IDPF.  Progress in ePUB-land includes the release of version 2.01 and the creation of a working group to forge ahead with the development of version 2.1.  Liza Daly of Threepress consulting, who is also an IDPF board member, gave an engaging overview of new capabilities in ePUB for interactivity including animation, video and geolocation.  Plus, an official ePUB logo was unveiled.

Rethink the way people learn.  Digitize your titles.  Enhance.  Improve.

– Peter Balis, Director, Digital Content Sales, John Wiley & Sons

Several new business models were discussed by publishers, distributors and content providers including Harlequin, John Wiley & Sons, Ingram Content Group and Overdrive.  The new agency model for eBook pricing was a hot topic, and the most surprising area of discussion about agency was that it brings questions about tax rates and e-commerce to the surface, at a levle that practically requires publishers to become fluent in tax law.  Apart from agency, panelists offered discussion around the new relationships between authors and readers, and how to promote and sell e-books. 

Focus on the reader.  Make the digital experience better.

– Theresa Horner, Director, Digital Content Sales, BarnesandNoble.com

Digital rights are always an attention-grabbing topic for those of us interested in export-related matters, and the Digital Rights Management (DRM) panel did not disappoint.  Ronald Schild talked about Libreka! – an eBook platform developed jointly by German publishers and booksellers—and it’s success in combating eBook piracy through the use of social DRM.  Libreka! used watermarking on eBooks, and has yet to find a pirated copy in circulation.  You have to wonder if they will be able to make the same claim a year from now.

Digital Book 2010 was a huge success.  We congratulate Michael Smith and the IDPF on the conference and hope to see you there in 2011.

Tricia McCraney | 06/07/2010 | Digital

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