The newspaper and magazine segments are the largest contributors in revenues to the global publishing industry – contributing close to 52% of global publishing revenues. It would therefore be safe to assume that of all the challenges faced by the industry, none would be as altering (in terms of revenues) as the challenges faced by these two segments. The newspaper and magazine segments have already lost considerable revenues on account of dip in ad revenues. This is directly attributable to the global economic slowdown, which has led to decrease in consumer and corporate spending.
With the publishing industry facing cost pressures, change in consumption patterns and struggling to sustain its revenues, it only seemed logical that the industry as a whole would outsource more. To truly understand how the industry value chain perceived outsourcing, we at ValueNotes Sourcing Practice decided to conduct a publishing survey.
The newspaper and magazine segments are the largest contributors in revenues to the global publishing industry – contributing close to 52% of global publishing revenues. It would therefore be safe to assume that of all the challenges faced by the industry, none would be as altering (in terms of revenues) as the challenges faced by these two segments. The newspaper and magazine segments have already lost considerable revenues on account of dip in ad revenues. This is directly attributable to the global economic slowdown, which has led to decrease in consumer and corporate spending.
The publishing industry has been undergoing a transition. Starting with increasing costs of production and print, the industry is struggling to address the increasing demand of digital content as opposed to print. In the midst of this transition, the global economic slowdown prompted lesser spending by consumers and corporate spenders. Over the past few months, we have seen publishers try a variety of approaches – going digital, reducing print publishing, and cutting costs.
Over the last few years, there has been a trend among Indian service providers to build complementary capabilities by acquiring smaller publishing service companies in the US. Naturally, the all-time-low valuations have helped seal deals faster for service providers, who are looking to complete the missing piece of ‘high-value content’ in the end-to-end service provider puzzle.
Indian writing in English in the trade category is becoming more accepted as also well-established, with acclaimed authors ranging from Naipaul, Rushdie, Vikram Seth to Jhumpa Lahiri and Kiran Desai. Indian English writing, if I may say, has arrived …! Apart from various other factors, the growing curiosity about different cultures and the stories of these characters has led to a growing readership… Imagining India undoubtedly interests…
Getting up at 3.30 AM is not a good way for me to start my day… especially if I need to dress up in formals. But one flight to Chennai and twelve hours later, I can safely say it was worth it!
Recently I had discussions with managers at some leading publishing companies to assess why there is hesitance to offshore some creative services – especially book cover design, illustrations, image design etc. in a big way. I find that most responses are ‘colored’ … with their perceptions about outsourcing and that too ‘outsourcing high-end’ work … Until … I spoke to a small UK-based publisher who was sold out on the concept of outsourcing and has over the last two years managed to offshore his entire production, design and even sub-editing! And is happy being an almost ‘one-man show’ at his UK office.
