What is the future of publishing in the Internet age? Many people are asking themselves this question, in particular the publishers, book sellers and authors who will be participating in an international e-book conference, IfBookThen, to be held in Milan from 2-3 February. The encounter, which will be entirely in English, was organized by Bookrepublic, the leading Italian company for online sales of electronic books. For now, the only thing sure is that there is great interest in the subject.
Marco Ferrario, the co-founder of Bookrepublic and promoter of IfBookThen, says: “Past trends are being confirmed with regard to the growth of the e-book market in Europe, which now vies with Asia for second place (America is first), with regard to the progressive decline of the market for traditionally printed books, and with regard to the growth of the market for digital books in the United States.”
Besides offering abundant input on the subject, the conference will give participants the chance to share their experiences in this area and evaluate the different responses adopted to meet the situation.