Digital Publishing Products
- Suaibu M Jallah
- Apr 2, 2020
- 5 min read
In Media industries are categorised into groups, or sectors, based on what they produce. The sector that I will be presenting is called Publishing. The Publishing sector in Media consists of the following industries:
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Books, etc.
Specifically, we are going to touch on the Digital Publishing, or Electronic copies of newspapers (e-newspapers), magazines (e-magazines), and Digital versions of books (e-books). The Digital Publishing Sector also includes online versions of leaflets, flyers, training manuals (downloadable) and arguably (in my opinion), digitally recorded narrations of books (audiobooks).
Flyers /Leaflets
E-flyers (of leaflets) are used to promote a business and its ideas or products, as well as an effective method of reaching your target market or audience.
E-flyers can be distributed via:
• Door to door mail drop • Newspaper inserts • Street distribution • Instore distribution
E-flyers are also tangible; How they are designed and printed can impact whether your customer decides to read on to find out more information.
They can also be used as an incentive for the customer to convince them to attend the event; flyers could contain coupon codes or any kind of discount which gets handed out to the first 20-30 people that attend that event.
Benefits
When it comes to marketing your flyers, they can be prepared and launched within a day.
They are inexpensive.
When distributing flyers, there is a face to face interaction between the marketer and the consumer, which makes it easy for a company to know how consumers are reacting towards its product or service.
Drawbacks
A consumer can be convinced and buy a product after which he/she will not use or keep the flyers. Some consumers may disregard flyers as many people don’t even read the information contained in the flyers or they will read it for few seconds then throw them away.
E-Magazines
There is a variety of purposes for online magazines. Many people order online magazines because it helps save paper. Other people order them because they like that it is on the computer, easily accessible, and portable.
Benefits
Many studies have shown that while readers do prefer digital editions, they are interested in holding on to printed versions when available. With the growth of the digital industry, there are now numerous applications and software that serve the purpose of simplifying the lives of publishers. The software easily converts flash files, PDF files and images into 3D pages that flip just like they would in real life. It is much more inexpensive because there are no printing or distribution costs. As these magazines are distributed through the web, subscribers can receive them instantly. This process is much faster than the publishing and distribution of print catalogues.
Drawbacks
Creating an online magazine is easier than printing one, making it a market for anyone who knows web design and how to write articles. This large population of online magazines hurts the odds of your magazine getting popular, gaining revenue or getting noticed. Having a magazine online will not allow a reader to simply toss the magazine into their carry-on while flying or heading to work. Social networking and forums on the magazine's website can lead to open "haters" voicing their opinions, making forum and website moderation important.
E-books
E-books are digital versions of traditionally printed books; instead of going to your local bookstore or library to get a book you can get one on your app store for free or a pretty low price.
Ultimately, you can access them on any electronic device, including your phone, tablet, and computer wherever you install your apps (such as App Store & Play Store).
E-books are still a new concept which not everybody totally agree with, and for good reasons; most prefer print to e-versions as they are more used to the feel (and perhaps the smell) of print books, reading from a screen has been proven by experts to damage your health in the long-term (as prolonged use of digital screens can cause eye strain and slight visual impairment), and it maximises your screen time, which isn't always a good thing, especially if you have got lots of work to complete.
Benefits
E-books are environmentally friendly; they do not require paper to get printed as they are stored on an electronic device. They are easily searchable (and instantly downloadable) on whatever device you use. They are portable. They are easier to bookmark or annotate.
Drawbacks
You could be staring at the screen for a prolonged period, which may cause screen insomnia. E-books are not easy to read where there is a lot of sunlight. They are more likely to get stolen by anybody, because unlike printed books, they can be copied and pasted onto any platform.
E-Posters
They are used to communicate ideas to a group, only they are produced and distributed on digital devices.
Digital posters are cheaper to produce than printed posters, as they do not require paper. This benefit also makes them environmentally friendly.
You can find e-posters anywhere online as they are easily searchable.
E-posters are usually used by companies wanting to showcase their ideas or products to another company, or to their audience. E-posters are a more efficient way of presenting your subject matter as they can be accessed a lot easier than their print counterpart.
Benefits
It is possible to reach a broader audience when compared to a presentation limited in time. Multiple posters can be presented in more than one room simultaneously. They can also be reused at multiple events. A poster is suited for people suffering from stage fright, and for those who have difficulties when speaking in front of large groups. Presenters can incorporate video-clips, animations and 3D models into their digital poster presentations or multi-page presentations.
Drawbacks
It is difficult to make corrections on the poster that you have finished producing.
Audiobooks
Audiobooks are basically an E-book, but in audio. Typically, audiobooks are audio recordings of narrations on a book.
Some people may not consider audiobooks to be a digital publishing product, as they are not visually read, but rather listened to.
With that said, they could easily be considered to be a digital audio product (due to the format of audiobooks being audio), but I consider them to be a digital product as they are also published, as well as the fact that they are, simply put, audially recorded versions of their visual counterparts.
Benefits
Listening to an audiobook, and not reading a printed or e-book, allows you to multitask, as you will not be holding a physical book or a device while carrying out tasks. There is a greater sense of immediacy when using an audiobook; you can access it straightaway instead of waiting for the files to come online.
Drawbacks
Those who are audially impaired will find it hard to listen to audiobooks.
It isn't easy to find where you last left off in your previous listening 'session', compared to e-books and print books.
You may not like the sound of the narrator's voice, but unfortunately you will have to deal with it.
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