One benefit of working in publishing is the occasional escape from Sydney for three days in country Victoria to become steeped in what is both the art and science of commercial printing.

Seven CCH’ers attended the “Communication in Print” client training seminar run by McPherson’s Printing Group, Australia’s leading book printer, in Maryborough, Victoria, in July.

The printer of all CCH book and loose-leaf products, the McPherson’s team taught us about the many facets of the printing process: requesting a quote, sending through print-ready files, web offset, sheetfed and digital printing, embellishing, binding and finishing, warehousing and mailing, along with paper production and the two global forest certification systems - FSC and PEFC.

A guided tour of McPherson’s printing factory showcased the stunning fusion of science, art, speed and precision, all fundamental to the printing process.

Having seen the printing plates for our very own Australian Master Tax Guide being made, great sheets of paper becoming books by flying seamlessly through machinery, being folded, bound and trimmed, and finally towers of paper bales which contribute to the 5,000 tonnes of paper recycled every year, I will never look at a book in the same way again.

As what can most accurately be described as an eager publishing novice, I can only imagine my unrequested exclamations - “Wow!” and “Isn’t that interesting?!” and “Did you know that?” - tried the patience of my colleagues.

But then again, perhaps that’s why I’ve been asked to write this blog.

With notes in hand and an understanding of what it takes to make a book, I am now part of the long, respected tradition of CCH publishing.

Does the galloping e-book industry mean the death of the publishing business as we know it?

It was widely reported that Apple’s iPad sold more than three hundred thousand on the first day.

It is predicted that five to seven million will be sold this year.

E-books are on the march and the ruckus between other major players in the e-book market like Amazon and Google is growing louder.

And what about writers? 

Will publishers and authors be adequately compensated in the new world of electronic book publishing?

The current pricing model adopted by Amazon is coming under increasing pressure for a change, especially by Apple.

Steve Jobs , the Apple’s phoenix-like CEO in turning the screws on Amazon’s pricing mechanism which was geared to gaining  a significant market share of the e-book audience by  selling them below cost.

Apple is undertaking to sell content at a price higher than Amazon.

If so, will they pay higher prices for content and will that trickle down to publishers and writers?

When asked why would Amazon increase prices, when consumers were already buying so many e-books from it, Jobs is reported to have cryptically remarked that publishers are unhappy and may ditch the Amazon pricing strategy.

The good news for publishers: according to statistics released by Amazon 40 percent of its customers order the electronic version of books that are available in both paper and paperless form.

This is across more than four hundred and fifty thousand e-books in the Amazon store.

There are an estimated three million users of Amazon’s Kindle.

Google’s online e-book store will be accessible on multiple devices.

Will the current e-book fever die down quickly as it began or will it become the dominant paradigm for the dissemination of information?

See more on iPad in the New Yorker.

A book currently doing the rounds at CCH Australia is “The Book is Dead, Long Live the Book” by Professor Sherman Young. Sherman is something of an expert on new media and the impact it is having on the book and the publishing industry. These being topics of some interest at CCH, Legal Editor in Chief Peter Rodrigues and I had a chat with Sherman to see what he thinks about the developments in eBooks and publishing that have occurred since he wrote his book.

Some of the topics canvassed included:
- eBooks – when will they truly be “mainstream”? (answer: we’ve still got a while to go!);
- How the transition to eBooks requires cultural change not only among publishers or even readers, but also among authors who like to have tangible proof of their efforts (it’s a bit hard to have a book signing of an eBook!);
- who will win the e-reader war;
- what is the true value of books and eBooks in an age of free information;
- Digital Rights Management and getting the balance right between access and protection.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the discussion was the potential of e-books to actually increase the range and accessibility of quality publications. Printed books must sell a certain number of copies before they will make any return on the costs of production, printing and distribution. As a result many books that have professional or literary merit but appeal to only a few readers never get published. The eBook does away with a good part of this costly process, allowing publishers to focus on the selection and editing of books and enabling them to electronically publish a wider range of titles with appeal to niche audiences.

All in all it was a stimulating discussion which we hope will be ongoing. If you would like to learn more I recommend you check out Sherman’s blog. A list of his other publications is also available here.