Text 2

Publishers believe their journey to the digital world will be different, and that they will not suffer the fate of those industries by going into slow decline. Publishers' experience will, indeed, be different—but not necessarily better.

In some ways the transition from paper to digital distribution is a blessing. E-books currently have high profit margins, and are free from the drawbacks of print. Peter Osnos, the founder of PublicAffairs Books, says the biggest challenge small publishers face is managing their inventories. Print too many books, and lots of them will be returned by stores. Print too few and publishers will give up sales while they order reprints. None of these problems exists when distributing books digitally.

Yet there are several looming hazards. The first is piracy. Digital-book files are tiny. Book readers may be an unusually honest lot, but they are not above getting stuff for nothing. E-books routinely pop up on file-sharing websites.

Piracy is a particular threat because of a second, bigger problem: the apparently arbitrary nature of e-book pricing. Amazon used to charge $9.99 for many of e-books, often selling at a loss to fire Kindle sales. Gradually it became clear that Amazon was undermining the perceived value of all books. So, last year, the biggest publishers used the release of Apple's iPad to push Amazon into "agency" pricing. Publishers now set their own prices and give about 30% of the sale to Amazon. That has meant higher prices for many new e-books, though a tide of free and cheap product is flooding the market. Self-published novelists, keen for attention, often sell their works extremely cheaply. Meanwhile publishers have moved to offer introductory discounts on some books.

Another problem is Amazon's market dominance. The firm accounts for less than a quarter of physical book sales. But Amazon sells 90% of e-books in Britain. Amazon appears set to launch a tablet computer to take on the iPad. And Amazon is becoming a publisher in its own right. It has signed big writers. This tightens its grip over the e-book market.

Perhaps the biggest problem, though, is the gradual disappearance of the shop window. Publishers rely heavily on bookstores to bring new releases to customers' attention and to steer them to books that they might not have considered buying. As stores close, the industry loses much more than a retail outlet. Publishers are increasingly trying to push books through online social networks. But nothing can replicate the experience of browsing a bookstore.

The book business has long been suffused with gloom, but this time the challenges are really daunting. Publishers have to confront many of the problems that have afflicted other media industries that have gone digital, as well as a few entirely new ones. The next few years will be a thriller.

6. E-books are better than physical ones in that______.

[A] they are free of inventory problems

[B] they can improve the printing technology

[C] they have no drawbacks

[D] they will save the declining book business

7. Which of the following could account for e-book piracy?

[A] Book readers are not honest enough to prevent piracy.

[B] There are no standard pricing rules and free e-books are easy to access.

[C] Copies of e-books are sent to readers routinely.

[D] File-sharing websites usually use e-books to attract users.

8. According to Paragraph 5, Amazon further strengthens the control of e-book market by______.

[A] offering discounts to e-book readers

[B] replacing iPad with its own product

[C] capturing the British e-book market

[D] cooperating with writers to publish books

9. Which of the following is true about bookstores?

[A] They are the only places for publishers to advertise new books.

[B] They are effective in attracting potential customers.

[C] They are threatened by online social networks.

[D] Their disappearance suggests publishers' inability to push new books.

10. What's the author's attitude towards the prospect of digital books?

[A] Optimistic.

[B] Skeptical.

[C] Concerned.

[D] Protective.