Digital Publishing

The promise of digital publishing has been with us for at least as long as the Internet has been (which seems like a very long time in our modern, information-centric world). Digital publishing promises instant communication, unprecedentedly low barriers to entry, universal access to content, and environmentally responsible content distribution.

Digital publishing is something of the holy grail of publishing. Until now digital publishing has remained something of a fantastic mirage - it looked good but it was not quite attainable. Digital publishing is finally coming of age and is now rapidly becoming a viable and attractive option for publishers of all sizes.

An increasing body of content is now available online - not just as web pages but often as e-books and e-reports. This growing collection is partial testament to the growing prevalence of digital publishing as a viable option to traditional publishing. More significant though is the mass marketing of handheld digital readers. Early publication of e-books targeting the handheld computer/PDA market met with mixed results. The screens were often too small and the resolution too poor to make reading a pleasant experience. Sony just released yet another digital reader with even more features than previously available. These units seem to address some of the failures of early digital readers. Perhaps the most significant single sign that digital publishing is finally coming of age was the release of the Amazon Kindle digital reader. The Amazon Kindle has the backing of the world's largest online bookseller, provides wireless access to new content, and users can easily read books, newspapers, magazines and blogs. This is the type of handheld reader that is needed to truly transform digital publishing from simply an online or computer-based venture into a mainstream option where print publishing can be displaced as the primary means of distributing books, magazines and news.

Digital Publishing Benefits

Digital publishing brings many exciting benefits to publishing - for both content producers and content consumers.

• Digital publishing is less expensive than any publishing option in history
• Digital publishing offers attractive, exciting, publishing options like page-turning features, search, and social media sharing
• Digital publishing offers universal access to readers in any corner of the world
• Digital publishing is immediate and can be achieved as fast as a few mouse clicks
• Digital publishing is "green" - digital publishing is, at a minimum, more environmentally friendly than traditional publishing with paper, ink, energy and distribution needs. Some digital publishers are able to boast a carbon-neutral footprint making digital publishing the greenest publishing option available.

Digital Publishing Complications

For all the benefits that digital publishing brings there are also a few possible disadvantages - at least for the present.

• Digital publishing requires an audience with access to the appropriate technology. This is becoming less of an issue all the time as more people than ever are gaining access to computers and the Internet. Digital publishing options continue to expand as well with more mobile options available every year.
• Digital publishing requires overcoming readers preference for reading on paper rather than on a monitor. However, new digital publishing options make reading online more attractive than ever. Additionally, advances in screen design, both for desktop monitors and handheld devices, continue to improve the reading experience. Finally, some of the resistance to reading electronic documents is probably habitual more than anything and people are increasingly becoming accustomed to reading online.
• Digital publishing requires writers to adapt to a new medium. This is a challenge for all of us who were schooled in traditional writing style and methodology. I suspect my children's generation, the generation that grew up on text messages, will probably find little difficulty in writing for digital media.

Digital Publishing Applications

There are many applications of digital publishing. Anything that has traditionally been printed is now being converted to digital publication. Books, magazines, catalogs, brochures, reports, newspapers, and newsletters are all being converted to digital publications. The enormous benefits and growing popularity of digital publishing are too great to be ignored.

Digital Publishing Resources

There are a number of options available for digital publishing. One shining example of digital publishing is YUDU. YUDU defines their philosophy as being all about freedom of speech, expression and the promotion of an online space in which creativity is made easy, fun, interesting and, for those who wish, profitable too. The YUDU.com website offers users a unique space in which to create digital editions (like e-books, brochures, etc.) and store them, along with other digital media like photos, audio files, and visual bookmarks of a website.

YUDU offers the opportunity to easily create quite impressive digital publications with just a few mouseclicks and a PDF, Word or PowerPoint upload. The resulting digital publication is impressive, includes a fun page-turning feature, is fully search-engine accessible, and can be made public or protected. YUDU Plus users (upgrade version) can publish digital editions that require an e-mail address to access (integrates seamlessly with YUDU's mailing list service) or require payment for users to access the content.

Another unique feature about YUDU is the concept of convergent technology. There are plenty of sites where users can post articles, just like there are plenty of sites where users can post podcasts, videos, or photos. How many of those sites are convergent technology sites though, where all of these media types can be gathered together in one online library? Not many in my experience. This detail alone sets YUDU apart from a lot of other digital publishing community sites.

If you are interested in digital publishing you owe it to yourself to check out YUDU.com.

Conclusion

Digital publishing is here to stay. I won't be so bold (or arrogant) as to predict the date at which digital publishing completely eclipses traditional, print publishing - but it will happen. The twin issues of economics and ecology will converge with user convenience and access to form an unstoppable trinity. Digital publishing has come of age.