It's no news that ebooks are disrupting the publishing industry. But, are we doing everything that can be done to take advantage of their new capabilities?

1. The future
of ebooks
Everything ebooks will do
(that can’t be done in print)

2. Hello!
I am Jimena Catalina
www.piensaenpixels.com
ebooks.recetasderechupete.com
@subidubi

3. 1.
Why should I
care about
ebooks?
Nothing is what
it used to be...

4. ‘’
In what format do I
read... Isn’t that an odd
question? Could you
have imagined this
question 10 years ago?
Jeff Bezos · Amazon founder

5. 2005
Teenagers read more on internet
than in ‘traditional’ mediums
Source - Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 Year Olds

6. 30%
of revenues in adult
fiction come from
ebooks (US-UK)
50%
Source - www.global-ebook.com
of adults own a
tablet (US)

7. ‘’
The internet is disrupting
every media industry, people
can complain about that, but
complaining is not a strategy.
And Amazon is not
happening to bookselling,
future is happening to
bookselling.
Jeff Bezos · Amazon founder

8. Publishing industry
reaction to this
disruption?

9. Literal translation
from print to ebook

10. What a pity...
Much more could be done

11. the things we take for granted about
books keep us from innovating

12. 2.
What is an
electronic book?

13. ‘’
A book-length
publication in digital
form, consisting of text,
images, or both,
readable on computers
or other electronic
devices
Wikipedia

14. Ok, but...
...if it’s just “content in digital form”, what
makes it different from a webpage or an app?

15. What we call 'book' can import
behaviors from other media
Definitions do not
really matter.

16. 3.
embrace the
digital nature
The strengths
we should be
exploiting

17. ▣ No extra-copy cost, never discontinued
▣ Easy distribution
▣ Multimedia content
▣ Annotation / Copy / Paste
▣ They fit my reading needs (font size, contrast,
orientation)
▣ Integrated tools (dictionary, translator, voice
reader)
▣ ...
ebook ‘classic’ strengths

18. ‘’
Ebooks need to embrace their nature.
The distinctive value of ebooks is
orthogonal to the value of paper books,
and it revolves around the mix-ability
and send-ability of electronic text. The
more you constrain an ebook’s
distinctive value propositions — that is,
the more you restrict a reader’s ability
to copy, transport or transform an
ebook — the more it has to be valued on
the same axes as a paper-book. Ebooks
*fail* on those axes.
Cory Doctorow

19. The strengths we should be exploiting
Interaction
Correct and update
Statistics
Social

20. interaction

21. Horror books with soundtracks
Gamification on books
Extras shown if you reach a score by solving puzzles
“Choose your Own Adventure” stories
Books that change location names to those near you
Chapters unblocked at certain locations or daytimes
...

22. error correction
and data updating

23. No need to republish to fix erratum
Data update on graphs and tables
Change the conclusion of an essay when new data is collected
Realtime written stories based on events
Textbooks up to date with the latest scientific findings
...

24. statistics

25. Data collection for both the author and publisher
Are people reading the entire book?
In which chapter do they leave?
How many people doesn’t even start reading?
What content is the most highlighted?
What terms are the most consulted in the dictionary?
What time do people read and for how long?
...

26. social

27. The ebook as an ecosystem of readers and writers beyond the book
What does people with similar tastes to mine read?
What do other readers think about this passage?
Discover related books
Community driven translations
Comments become an intrinsic component of the reading experience
...

28. 4.
Opportunities

29. ebook evolution
literal translation
embrace digital nature
¿...?

30. How will become the
ebook in the future?
And by “future” we mean in 5-10 years

31. ‘’
A video of battle footage may
be fun to watch, and a simple
way to add what’s not possible
in print. But what students of
World War Two often struggle
with is much more mundane:
remembering key events for
that upcoming test or prepping
for an essay they’re writing.
Peter Meyers · newkindofbook.com

32. what readers need

33. Comprehension
Memory
Interpretation
Relevance
Extraction & action
Peter Meyers · What Readers Need vs. What Devices Can Do

34. Create ebooks that can help
readers where printed books fail

36. Thanks!Further reading
Mise en page, mise en écran. What medieval ‘publishing’
practices can tell us about reading in the digital age
newkindofbook.com
futureofthebook.org/blog
sprintbeyondthebook.com
studiotendra.com

37. Credits
Special thanks to all the people who made and released these
awesome resources for free.
Photo by DemosubPhoto by jblyberg
Photo by Johan LarssonPhoto by Jonas Tana Photo by boltron
Book poster by Cowman
Publications. circa 1955-1960
Icons by Julien Deveaux
Presentation template
by SlidesCarnival