This paper provides strategic and practical advice for a book publisher — referred to as Parent Press Inc. — seeking to enter the digital eBook market. Drawing on academic and industry sources, it addresses key decisions including which digital formats (PDF, ePub, Kindle) to adopt, how to prioritize backlist title conversions, where and how to sell eBooks, and how to set competitive pricing. The paper also evaluates major e-retailers such as Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble, reviews distribution channel options, and recommends fair royalty rate structures and contract terms for authors. Throughout, quality assurance considerations and lessons from the digital music industry's DRM mistakes inform the recommendations.
The paper demonstrates applied literature synthesis: rather than summarizing sources for their own sake, it recruits each citation to answer a specific business question. For example, Trivedi (2011) on DRM mistakes in digital music is used to warn Parent Press away from repeating the same errors, while Mithas et al. (2013) on competitive digital strategy directly informs the pricing policy section. This approach shows how to connect academic findings to practical decision-making.
The paper is organized around four numbered strategic areas — digital book production, backlist conversion, eBook sales and distribution, and author contracts — each subdivided into specific sub-questions. This Q&A-within-sections structure mirrors a professional consulting report format, suited to a business or publishing management course. The conclusion of each section feeds naturally into the next, creating a logical progression from production through to commercialization and legal considerations.
Lipton (2014) assessed the current norms of the digital printing industry with a focus on publishing and copyrights in the United States and the European Union. He reveals that popular eBook formats are few, rounding up to single-digit figures. In the United States, industry leaders such as Amazon, Apple, and Barnes & Noble are quite open to their users in order to facilitate easier reading. Due to this simplicity, the problem of multiple file formats is largely reduced, as most readers do not like to shift from one format to another — it is simply too much of a hassle.
In the case of the European Union, Lipton (2014) adds that the digital eBook market is slowly growing as publishers work between different file formats, weighing their advantages and disadvantages. File formats remain a significant challenge in the European digital market, where companies tend to support some particular formats and not others. At this point in time, PDF and ePub are the most widely used formats for digital media. Parent Press Inc. should concentrate on both of them.
Mithas et al. (2013) assess the competitive digital market and argue that the digital market significantly impacts the conventional value chain and profit models of the book industry. This is evident in cases where major companies like Apple and Google enter an industry and disrupt its established players. Older companies are seen shutting down as new ones replace them. Mithas asserts that digital "firms are unlikely to consider the noisy industry norm worth emulating because of competition coming from different industries, changing identity of players in the industry, and more frequent entry and exits" (p. 517).
Digital book publishing is advancing strongly as sales rise and consumer interest grows. The impact of digital publishing is evident in the USA, where Barnes & Noble has vested interests in both eBooks and hardware sales. Meanwhile, Kindle continues to grow with hardware, software, and electronic reader devices across a variety of options.
A significant portion of the digital media sector believes that a price reduction relative to paperback books is necessary to jumpstart the business. Mithas et al. (2013) note: "Firms may tend to diverge from the industry norm as a means of differentiating their competitive positions. Just as firms maintain their competitive positioning through differentiation in prices, quality, and/or services" (p. 516).
Trivedi (2011), in his review of the eBook industry, asserts that book publishers have their own reasons for keeping eBook prices comparable to physical books. Publishers must cover the cost of producing electronic books and must also deal with "providing notice to consumers of licensing terms, developing branding of their content, and promoting access to that content" (p. 955). Another factor driving eBook costs is demand: "Both the demand for, and cost of, e-books rose dramatically from 2002 to 2008, which is likely due to the fact that there are now many more e-books available" (Trivedi, 2011, p. 950).
Trivedi (2011) further notes that the growing number of electronic devices on the market is linked to rising eBook purchases, as many devices are acquired primarily for reading. However, some publishers believe that certain business models can become obstacles to success. Issues with Digital Rights Management (DRM) persist, including writer's fees and other legal formalities.
Therefore, the recommended suppliers for Parent Press Inc. are the top digital publishing companies, including Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, alongside individual writers and smaller publishing firms. The cost of books should be determined with consideration of the highly competitive environment, writer royalties, VAT, other legal formalities, and the cost of the equivalent paperback version.
Regarding quality assurance, eBooks are transforming the book industry. For all parties involved, this is a major undertaking. Trivedi (2011) argues that, with some adjustment, the current direction is positive: every company can enter the digital market once a solid foundation is established, and those that fail to do so risk losing significant market share and profits. The primary task for Parent Press Inc. at this stage is to avoid repeating the mistakes made by the music industry, as warned by Trivedi in his study on DRM and the digital publishing industry.
A new business model will be needed, featuring a broader variety of content and clear copyright provisions. To meet these challenges successfully, Parent Press Inc. should adjust its business processes. Editors will need to familiarize themselves with the eBook medium. The legal department should review the digital model and design fee structures that reflect the changing landscape. Parent Press Inc. should also place greater focus on content provision services, with employees actively developing and refining the model.
Production planning is essential given intense competition and limited resources. Khaledi and Reisi-Nafchi (2013) found that most digital production houses have come to value digital production planning as it helps design the most effective strategy. Parent Press Inc. should adopt the following backlist production and conversion strategy: all backlist conversions should be undertaken together, in a cost-effective manner.
To achieve this, Electric Book Works (2014) recommends short-listing titles that are financially lucrative and offer higher returns on investment (ROI). These titles should be converted using in-house resources. For less lucrative titles, Parent Press should consider outsourcing conversions to Google Books. While this arrangement may divide future revenues — as Google would retain subsidiary rights — since Parent Press would not bear the conversion costs, outsourcing lesser-priority titles in this way may be worthwhile (Electric Book Works, 2014).
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