FutureBook 2012, The Bookseller‘s third annual event, will kick off this morning in London England, with speakers from some of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the publishing industry. The day before the event Good e-Reader sat down with Michael Tamblyn, executive vice president of Content, Sales, and Marketing for Kobo, to talk about where the eBook market is going and what might be driving it.
Tamblyn, who will be speaking at the event on two panels, will be focusing one of his presentations on the logistical data behind why ebooks are priced the way they are and how this drives book sales. But he spoke primarily in the interview towards authors who are interested in getting their books into a wider variety of global ebook markets, especially self-published authors who want to use platforms like Kobo’s Writing Life to distribute their ebooks.
“I think what we’re seeing as we move from market to market, readers have suddenly realized they are no longer constrained to their local market anymore, they’re no long constrained to their local bookstore anymore. They aren’t even neceesarily constrained to their own language anymore,” said Tamblyn.
He mentioned specifically the massive sales of English-language ebooks in markets such as the Netherlands, where English-language instruction begins early in school but also where the market for native language ebooks hasn’t quite caught up to other markets.
Tamblyn went on to speak about how important self-publishing platforms have been in foreign markets where would-be authors may not have access to avenues for publication, notably small niche markets like sub-Saharan Africa, or oppressed cultures where freedom of expression is not as simple as writing a book and having it published and can have serious ramifications for the author.
Good e-Reader will be attending the full day of presentations at FutureBook today, as well as the FutureBook Innovation Awards following the conference. Stay tuned to our website for the latest news and interviews with most of the main executives attending the event.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
