Online Digital Publishing: Positives And Negatives

Posted by roymlofton on January 2nd, 2020

Online Digital Publishing has always been a topic of debate since its inception. While many authors and publishers support it, some still prefer traditional publishing. And, others have always been in doubt. 

To clear the air, you have to analyze both the formats l to come to a concrete conclusion. After analyzing all the pros and cons of these two publishing methods, you will come to realize that digital publishing has more scope and advantages than the conventional format. 

Still, many have their apprehensions, wondering what is it that makes digital publishing the latest trend. The traditional publishing is too tedious. Thus, it is the ease of creating and distributing eBooks that make online publishing a hot favorite with publishers. This is what you cannot find in traditional publishing.

With online publishing gradually spreading its roots in the industry, some traditional publishers have come to realize its eminence. They have started to accept that for the growth of their business, it is imperative to shift towards e-publishing. 

And, why not? In this digital era, millennials are looking for interesting content and instant gratification. Besides, people from almost every generation are habituated to mobile devices and tablets. They spend most of their productive hours on the web. 

It is quite obvious that if someone has such easy access to interactive and interesting content, s/he would certainly not opt for print versions. Thus, it is not just publishers who prefer digital content, readers are also gravitating towards it.

Yet, a fair number of people are skeptical about it. So, let’s analyze the pros and cons of ePublishing to ascertain whether it’s a good idea to adopt this format.

ePublishing: The Pros 

• Cost-effective: The cost of publishing books is one of the primary concerns for almost every author. Especially, when you are a beginner. Going digital with your work is not just easy but is extremely reasonable. in the case of traditional publishing, printing is expensive with all the print material and distribution costs. You can save these costs with electronic publishing.

• Easily Accessible To A Larger Audience: With technological advancements, the internet is easily accessible to everyone. And, so is the content available on the web including eBooks, digital magazines, and other published material. One can promptly access the content with a few clicks. One can read, download or share the content seamlessly. If you want copyright protection, you can use DRM, or you can integrate sign-in protection. This enables you to have control over your content. 

• Easy To Edit Even After Publishing: As everything is done and saved digitally, it gives you the flexibility to make edits or update the published content multiple times. When you print the content on paper, it is impossible to update or make any changes. Thus, digital publishing has an upper hand because often books always have a scope of updating or editing. 

ePublishing: The Cons 

• Distribution And Marketing Can Be Challenging - Creating interactive eBooks is easy but its marketing/distribution is not. There are various aspiring and experienced authors who are leveraging digital publishing solutions to make their work visible to the audience. It won't benefit you in any way if your digital work is lost in the swarm of eBooks. Distributing it on popular eBook publishing platforms won't be enough. To make your work visible in the search results of search engines, you have to make rigorous digital marketing efforts. This requires technical knowledge. 

If you lack such skills, you can simply outsource digital publishing solutions to a reliable company. With their professional services, they will take care of all your publishing requirements. 

Everything has its own perks and drawbacks, and so has digital publishing. It has brought many opportunities for aspiring writers to build their careers. But, the preference is not always the same for everyone. It varies as per the individual perceptions. Yet, one can't deny that its emergence has elevated the publishing industry to another level. 

Hope this blog has cleared the clouds of skepticism and justified why you should leverage digital publishing for your work.