Forming Hybrid Innovative Communities in the Book Publishing World: An Exploration

By:
Prof. Nina D. Ziv
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Communities have always existed in the book publishing world. Some well known physically-based book publishing communities include book clubs formed by readers with common interests and the tight knit communities of book publishers whcih exist in large cities such as New York. This paper explores the notion that technological innovations have been the catalysts for the development of new hybrid (digital/physical/mobile) kinds of communities in the book publishing world. Such hybrid communities use the World Wide Web as well as the mobile platform as enablers and are characterized by a vibrant,intricate set of human relationships. While these communities may change over time, for the most part, they have a stable, core raison d'etre that sustains them.

Examples of these communities include online literary salons such as Salon.com; www.WritersServices.com and www.AuthorsDen.com, websites which bring authors and readers together; travel forums such as Fodor's online Travel Talk Forum, which is an outgrowth of the publisher's travel books; www.eHarlequin.com a new website which provides subscribers with content from Harlequin books on their mobile phones and encourages participants to chat and contribute ideas; and book selling websites such as Amazon.com which offer readers the ablility to participate by writing their own criticisms of books for other readers. In addition, the book publishing community itself has evolved from just being domestically focused to a more global business in part enabled by the use of the technological platform.


Keywords: Hybrid Communities
Stream: Information Society, and Print and Electronic Texts
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
Paper: Forming Online Innovative Communities in the Book Publishing World: An Exploration

Prof. Nina D. Ziv

Professor, Department of Management, Institute for Technology and Enterprise, Polytechnic University
UNITED STATES

Nina Ziv is the Academic Director of the Institute for Technology and Enterprise, the research and learning hub of the Department of Management of Polytechnic University in Manhattan. For the past six years, she has led the strategic initiative at the Institute on the impact of technological innovations on the media industry and has conducted extensive research on the newspaper, music, and book publishing businesses.

Ref: B06P0013