(* This is article #2 in a series on “Problems with the print publishing industry”)

As I discussed in Problem #1, publishers can’t print content incrementally. This gives rise to the concept of a “book”, which is simply an organizational device for grouping content together that is substantial enough to print.

Publishers have been thinking in terms of books for centuries. Their whole business is built around them. Even the more technically advanced publishers today are still focused on books–whether it is printing them or making them available in electronic format.

The problem is the purpose of a book loses its usefulness in the context of the internet. While it is still important to group content together in meaningful ways online, it is not necessary to think in terms of a “book”. We have a great opportunity to redefine our notions of how content is organized. I believe the unit of content should be the smallest piece of information that is useful. By focusing on smaller units of content, we can remix and do things with content never before imagined. This is especially true of task-oriented and referenced-based technical content where much of the material is independent from the rest.

Tutorials or heavily narrative text is more challenging to think outside the scope of a book. However, very few people read a technical book cover to cover. Even if a book is intended to be read chapter-by-chapter, readers rarely follow this course and rarely read the complete book. So even in the case of tutorials, I believe there are opportunities to divvy up the content online and give readers exactly what they want instead of what a publisher/author thinks they want.

Ultimately, the reluctance to think outside the boundaries of a book will be one of the biggest, if not the biggest reason most traditional publishers will not successfully navigate the move to the internet. The publishers that grasp the significance of the internet are trying to adapt their current business models and practices to work online instead of looking at it with a fresh perspective. The internet is a true game-changer for the publishing industry and the old way of thinking will not cut it over the long-term.