The future.
We’ve been pondering the future of publishing in the outdoor media world lately, specifically as related to fly fishing. Without a doubt, times are a changing.
Digital magazines, despite their obvious shortcomings which have been debated and discussed in a number of different venues and forums, continue to sprout like summer weeds in our front pasture. We heartily agree with those who argue that content is (still) king, photography alone (even if stunning) doesn’t a magazine make and that the ability to monetize the project is likely directly related to its longevity.
There are a few fly fishing books that have been converted to digital formats, though none so far appear to have taken advantage of the burgeoning technological developments that have surfaced (even in the past few weeks). We too find the conversion of ‘standard books’ to an ‘ebook’ format somewhat blah even if more convenient to read on the go.
The big publishing houses have held all the cards in terms of creation of high-end, multimedia rich digital content up until just recently; the software simply hasn’t existed or has been developed in-house and therefore inaccessible to the small publishing house or independent.
That’s no longer the case.
Apple’s iBooks Author and Inkling’s Habitat programs are a couple of game changers that deserve a watchful eye. We’re working on a couple of concept books right now (one being our long-promised Chi Wulff Friday Feast cookbook) that look very, very interesting in an interactive, multimedia format. The more we look at the potential, the more impressed and excited we are.
More to come.
