Read it and weep: why eBooks must change the record

Few media companies now believe they can survive the digital revolution without adapting.

If high pricing and restrictive technology sound familiar, it’s because record companies made the same mistakes when digital audio became so popular in 2000. Their actions forced the demand for MP3 files onto illegal sharing sites like Napster – it’s astonishing that publishers are planning to follow in their footsteps.

The real way to prevent eBook piracy is for publishers to rethink their approach, taking their cue from the way consumers now download music. EBook stores will need to recreate the experience of browsing in a book shop by developing visually stunning websites where customers can appreciate cover art, browse virtual shelves and flick through 3D copies.

Consumers should also be given more control over how they buy their eBooks. Publishers will need to start selling them by the chapter or begin giving away the first 20 pages for free. Some book launches should be subsidised by high-profile sponsorship deals – a strategy that will appeal to young consumers who prefer free, ad-funded content.

The approach to the classics market will need to be even more radical. Because classics aren’t covered by copyright, this area will be hardest hit when eBook readers become cheaper and more common; customers can already download the entire works of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Jane Austen for free. Publishers will need to let consumers build their own book by allowing them to choose from a range of introductions or notes or letting them pick which poems they want in an anthology.

Books are not about to become redundant but a new eBook market will emerge and eventually affect physical sales. If the publishing houses can work with online sellers to provide a unique, easy and flexible product, they could reap the rewards of a new revenue stream. If they don’t, consumers will start the eBook revolution without them, just as they did with illegal music downloads.