According to statistics, there has been a drop in sales of eBooks by 10%. However, Tech-Max, which has recently forayed into digital publishing, has a different story to tell. Tech-Max Publication is a leading Indian publisher with 1,800 titles to its credit in various fields including engineering, pharmacy, polytechnic and management. With the rising demand among students for smartphones, the company started offering digital services and managed to secure over 2 lakh subscriptions for their app. Talking to Indian Printer & Publisher, Seema Lunawat, head of business development at Tech-Max says, “Our readers use the digital edition through ePub3 format on smartphones and, so far, the response has been very encouraging. In fact, we have witnessed 40% rise in our business. Earlier, students used to buy books and access complimentary eBooks. Today, they can directly purchase the digital edition at half the price.” Speaking about the substantial sales drop of eBooks, Lunawat says that the market in the US has matured, whereas in India they have just started churning out eBooks.
“Electronic publishing is also being used for test-preparation in developed as well as developing economies for student education (thus partly replacing conventional books). In a way, ePublishing enables both content and analytics for the benefit of students. The use of electronic publishing for textbooks may become more prevalent. Due to ePublishing, we can respond quickly to evolving demands and save time lost in print. ePublishing makes a broad range of books available to the buyers, which could otherwise be hard to find at standard retailers,” she further adds.
User experience
Known for their stringent measures when it comes to content, Lunawat says, “The most important aspect of any service or product is the overall experience. It takes a lot of technological effort, usability testing and iterations of rework to make a product intuitive for users. The solution gives readers the ability to search for their favorite books and categories. Our readers are our priority. We wanted a solution that gives them the flexibility to access our books on all platforms, both online and offline, plus one that involves them in a community to share their views.”
To extend the reach of books beyond their traditional print distribution network, Tech-Max is making all titles available in ePub online at their website.
SWOT analysis
Being a traditional publisher, Lunawat shares the challenges faced in the digital edition, “It is easy to target more audience at a low price. Campaigns can be easily customized and made more focused as per the business requirements. Increasing Internet users helps businesses to reach and connect more people as well as saves time and expense due to cost-effective and efficient methodologies. This could lead to significant brand recognition and even its scope can be easily extended. However, if the brand or product fails to cater to the users’ needs, there are chances of generating poor reviews, which could severely damage the company’s reputation. Damage control of bad reviews or complaints on social media or digital platform is a daunting task and can even lead to substantial losses. With the growth of digital platforms, customers have become more vocal about their feelings and opinions, and thus they are vested with more power to either promote or damage a brand, which is a high risk for the marketers.”
Secure technology
Supporting files in ePub allows users to access content on phones and tablets. The technology offers multitier security to the system that helps restrict unauthorized distribution. Behind the scene is a robust control panel that allows the team to upload new eBooks, view reports and give authors access to their book sales. “Using our system, authors get to tap a wider range of audience. There are also negligible chances of piracy. In addition, they get transparent access to sales information from anywhere,” Lunawat shares.
