Over the last few months on this blog, I’ve been examining various trends in college textbook publishing that can affect which textbooks get published at what price points, and how this could affect the demand for higher education supplements and ancillaries, which is my bread and butter.
One obvious trend in recent years is the move away from print and toward ebooks. The Educational Publishing blog just posted some interesting analysis of recent data about ebook sales in general and how it could affect prices of textbooks:
Indeed, as Frank Catalano, Principal of Intrinsic Strategy, noted in his observations on the CIC, “At many recent conferences–and this one was no exception–the increasingly tired bromide that “all content will be free” was repeated by speakers, likely assuming they were being provocative. Perhaps to uncritical thinkers. But all “content” is not alike; timeliness (in terms of when it’s needed and delivered), currency (how new and up-to-date the content is), and perceived value are all factors, and there are other considerations.”
