John Ingram, Chairman of Ingram Book Group discusses the challenges facing the publishing industry today in this presentation from the 2008 O'Rielly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference. Paramount among these challenges is the need to build a digital supply chain often without having in house expertise or without committing large amounts of financial resources to the process. How do publishers take advantage of the digital media options available? It is no longer necessary to physically keep thousands of titles in stock to meet the market's demand.  New technologies enable publishers to be able to accommodate both press runs as well as print on demand to make optimum use of capital.  Also e-textbooks can provide students with their entire reading catalog online at a fraction of the cost of printed textbooks.  Smart, progressive companies are finding ways to approach these options and by doing so they are increasing both their revenue and margin opportunities. 

Not only is there uncertainty as to where to invest resources, there are a lot of changes in the marketplace itself that are adding layers of complexity to management, distribution and the marketing of digital assets.  While digital products and integrated processes can make serving a global market easier, publishers must decide where to invest their resources to build the infrastructure needed to deal with digital technologies.  The market is not standing still due to the wonders of Web 2.0 and such things as RSS feeds, blogs and also social networking sites that have taken word of mouth to a whole new level.  Publishers cannot afford to stick their heads in the sand and ignore the positive effects that Web 2.0 can have on promotion and distribution. 

Mr. Ingram discusses the shifts taking place in the market and how publishers can maximize their resources by developing relationships with partners who invest in cutting edge technologies that meet the needs of publishers of all sizes. These partners must act as consultants and have the resources necessary to offer solutions based on the requirements of the publisher both now and in the future.