During times of recession, making money out of publishing books is not easy. Publishers are forced to change their ways, and they need to develop new strategies to sell their wares. E-books, digital bookstores and even digital publishing are all ways of trying to market and to sell more books. There have been encouraging signs that the experiment with digital publishing could be a success in Egypt. An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form that is readable on a computer or some other electronic device. Although sometimes defined as an electronic version of a printed book, many e-books in fact exist without any printed equivalent. Commercially produced and sold, e-books are usually intended to be read on dedicated e-book readers. However, almost any sophisticated electronic device that features a controllable viewing screen can be used to read e-books. Sales of laptops, computers, tablets and smart-phones have been on the rise in Egypt since the 25 January Revolution, which itself was thought to have been helped along by the online social networks. Adam, 19, a young reader found looking through books in a local bookstore, said that “we need more ‘digitalness' when it comes to e-books here in Egypt. Publishers ought to make use of all the fun and incredibly clever features of digital book applications when selling their products.” Worldwide, digital books now constitute some 25 per cent of book sales, says Alaa Zaher, head of strategy and innovation at one of Egypt's mobile network operators that has recently launched a new online bookstore. “We are trying to fill a gap in the publishing industry in Egypt and to provide Arabic readers with the opportunity to buy and download digital Arabic books online and for publishers to upload and publish their books online as well even before producing a print edition,” Zaher told Al-Ahram Weekly. There are many economic advantages to digital publishing. A decline in costs and an increase in market reach, particularly across national boundaries in the Middle East, are set to push up digital distribution. Publishers' profits may also improve in the opening stages of e-book take-up, meaning that the pain of costly investments will diminish. There are also plenty of tools available that can be used to mine data from social networks, so publishers can build meaningful consumer engagement without necessarily having to invest in physical customer service. Printed books also use three times more raw materials and 78 times more water to produce than e-books, though the manufacturing and distribution of e-book hardware consume materials and energy and its disposal creates electronic waste. “Publishers need new ways to get books in front of customers, so digital stores are a good opportunity to market more books and to reach a wider range of consumers,” said Moussa Ali, media coordinator at the Dar Al-Masriah Al-Lubnaniah Publishing and Distribution Company, representing one of the publishers signed up by the mobile network operator to publish on its digital bookstore. The newly introduced online bookstore has two functions, being both a digital bookstore and an e-book reader. Customers can download their chosen books on their Android or IOS devices. Publishers can easily upload their books and put on the desired price tags, which will still be 50 to 10 per cent cheaper than the price of paper editions. Ali said that his publishing house currently publishes books with several online bookstores, such as Nefsak and neelwafurat.com. It also has its own online bookstore. However, there are difficulties in marketing such books in Egypt. There are few bricks-and-mortar bookstores, and these are mainly located in Cairo or Alexandria. It may be difficult to use this physical network to distribute the growing number of e-books available. “We also have a problem of logistics,” Ali said. “We barely have any decent shipping services to different parts of the country, though digital bookstores could be the answer to this problem.” However, only about one per cent of book-buyers in the Arab world currently buy books online. “People may be afraid to use their credit cards online for security reasons. Publishers are also tired of piracy, and they may feel that making their books available in digital versions will make the matter worse,” Ali said. Customers using the new application will be able to pay for their downloaded books through their monthly bills or by deducting the value from prepaid cards. Some 40 publishers have thus far signed up with the new digital store to upload and publish their books, with renowned publishers like Al-Shorouk and Nahdet Misr being early adopters and young and upcoming publishers like Sefsafa and Kayan being not far behind. “Whether we like or not,” Ali said, “sales will continue to move online and publishers will continue to be pressed to invent new ways to let readers know about their books. But publishers still have a lot to learn about digital marketing and managing what should already be on consumer databases.”
