Publishers need to cope with the plummeting value of distribution

Digital publishing is threatening traditional print publishing because it severs the link between content and distribution, according to an article by Scott Karp at Publishing 2.0. The value of distribution has changed radically, he says and the value of content and the value of distibution -- until now deeply intertwined -- are made separable by digital means.

Print publishing won’t be dead until the people who value print distribution are dead — and that’s going to take at least a generation. People will still pay for print publications when they DO value the print distribution, e.g. the newspaper on the doorstep, the book or magazine in your bag on the plane or at the beach.

But the reality that print publishers need to face is that the number of people who value print publishing will continue its long, slow decline, as the digital generation grows up. That means print publishers need to completely re-evaluate the economics of their print publishing operations according to a 50% rule, which means asking:

What if the number of people who value my print distribution dropped by 50%?

He goes on to say:

People ARE willing to pay for certain digital content, but they AREN’T willing to pay for the distribution — specifically, not the analogue distribution premium.

While the article spends most of its time talking about e-books and their impact on traditional book publishing, the observations about people's view of the value of distribution are useful to magaziners.