NY-based Publishers Adapt to E-readers

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With one in six Americans now turning to e-readers, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll, publishers are examining the trajectory of the business and reinventing the wheel.

According to The Jewish Daily Forward, perhaps the biggest of the smallest digital publishers is Open Road Integrated Media, founded by Jane Friedman, a former president and CEO of HarperCollins, and Jeffrey Sharp, a film producer. The NY-based company publishes 12 to 15 new e-books a year, but its niche is digitizing backlist titles by such authors as Michael Chabon, Leon Uris and William Styron, the Forward notes. Open Road produces short films about its authors. The living ones talk about their inspirations and those who have passed on are the subjects of brief documentaries.

NY-based Emily Books, founded by writer Emily Gould and former literary agent Ruth Curry, also digitizes previously published titles. Gould told the Forward that the publisher’s list reflects “our enthusiasm for criminally underappreciated books.” Gould and Curry see themselves more as curators than publishers, and their goal is to foster an independent bookselling culture online, according to the Forward. An appealing aspect of Emily Books is that it’s a book club. Titles can be purchased individually or, for $159.99 a year, a subscriber gets 12 e-books, one per month, and Gould says it’s doing well.

The Jewish Daily Forward

[Editor's Note: The Jewish Daily Forward is a client of Trylon SMR, owned by Trylon Communications, Inc., the parent company of NY Convergence]