OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday
JOHNNIC e-Ventures (JeV), the Internet division of black empowerment giant Johnnic, has acquired 50% of South African digital publisher comPress in a bid to explore new publishing models and to open up publishing to the masses.
The new business will provide tailor-made publishing services to the corporate, academic, and traditional publishing markets, both in digital and in paper format.
The deal, which creates the country’s largest digital publishing business, also adds a new dimension to Johnnic’s existing media, entertainment and telecommunications portfolio, which includes holdings in print media businesses Times Media Limited, BDFM, Struik/New Holland, Caxtons and Random House.
“Digital delivery and on-demand production processes are revolutionising the legacy publishing industry, which was traditionally characterised by high risk and low margins,” said JeV CEO Jacobsohn.
“Andersen Consulting’s media division recently reported that the potential e-market for trade books alone will reach $3.2bn by 2005. Success stories such as the phenomenal sale of 500000 copies in only 48 hours of Stephen King’s e-book Riding the Bullet support such forecasts.”
Jacobsohn says one of the company’s primary aims is to give writers a marketplace. “Most manuscripts are rejected by publishers because of economics. Print-on-demand and online publishing will enable us to take a book to the market and let the public decide.”
comPress, the first digital publisher in South Africa to sell e-books, has established a strong presence in the emerging market of electronic publishing. By breaking down production and distribution barriers, it has targeted niche markets previously deemed unreachable.
Using the Internet as a marketing, sales and distribution mechanism, comPress has developed an e-commerce-enabled online catalogue through which it sells a wide range of downloadable e-books. Traditional paper books (but printed digitally, which makes short runs economical) can in turn be printed on demand.
comPress’ clients include traditional publishers, consultancies, independent authors, business schools and media personalities.
comPress joint MD Ross Frylinck pointed out that on-demand print processes, e-book formats and the Internet present incredible opportunities to anyone wanting to publish books, journals, corporate materials, manuals and newsletters.