Changing Landscapes: What Are Those Publishers Up To?

Last week I took a look at publisher's websites and considered audience here. What I discovered was that most publishers gear their websites towards consumers, despite the fact that most consumers do not go to these sites to buy books. Why are publishers trying to appeal to a market that largely ignores them?

There are a few possible reasons for this. My first thought was that they were crazy, but then I remembered that they probably have smarter people than I in their employ. If publishing houses aren't crazy, then what the heck are they doing?

Maybe publishers market to end users because they are running scared and don't know what else to do with the new and emerging tools made available by internet technology. I certainly felt overwhelmed by all of the website features, and it makes me think that they are just trying it all out. No company wants to be left behind, so better to use every marketing channel available and see what works.

Or not. It's more likely that publishing houses are planning for the future. These sites may not get a ton of end-user traffic now, but as multi-media channels and e-books develop, that can change. One of these new electronic wonder toys will likely be the catalyst that begins to drive consumers directly to publishers. Users won't be buying physical books as often, and soon enough, publishers won't need to work with booksellers. Positioning themselves as store fronts is a logical step towards the future. Publishers will continue to cultivate their brand names and ride on current loyalty and trust to increase web presence. Once a dominant e-book platform evolves, publishers will really begin to push online marketing boundaries and reshape their identities towards more specific content. Eventually, when consumers want a science fiction novel, they will browse the publishing house that has created an online niche and name for itself within that genre.

I find this vision of the future of publishing particularly interesting when compared with my initial reactions to these websites. What would make me think that publishers were crazy or scared? Have I fallen prey to the media frenzy that suggests the sky is falling, when really publishers are quietly positioning themselves as the information regulators of the future? If I were a big publishing house, I'd quietly let outsiders think that we didn't know what we were doing and that the industry was on the verge of ruin too, because let's face it, anyone with exceptional online marketing skills and a few great titles could be the next big thing.