Desktop publishing promised to save money and time. We eliminated typesetters but it came with the purchase of computers and networked storage and support people. Production editors needed to be responsible for kerning and trapping and in some cases imposition and creep.

XML only took hold when it was coupled with lower costs in India. But the increased standard of living in India is putting pressure on wages there and this, along with a devalued dollar, means that the savings associated with off-shore production will not be as attractive in the future.

Book production, which used to be a craft, is now basically a glorified trafficking position, one step removed from the mailroom.

Editorial development takes too long and is too risky so this work was left to literary agencies.

Publishers are looking for the blockbuster best-seller to carry the day rather than doing the long, hard work of nurturing a backlist. A short series of years without a blockbuster is ruinous for a publisher whereas the conscientious, judicious development of a backlist takes more work but can help a publisher weather changes in the market.

Now the Internet and the iPhone and other attendant gadgets promise new revenue streams if only publishers can find the right business model, develop the right tools/software, and create content in the right format.

Publishers, who are almost constitutionally adverse to risk, are reluctant to put their toe in this water.

There is no clear winner in the business model arena. Will users read books on their iPhones? What is the proper price for an iPhone-ready ebook? What about DRM?

Why work on an iPhone app when others are probably already working on this and could do a better job?

Why struggle with file formats? This would require changes to production processes and more negotiations with the Indians. Wait for the standard.

I suppose these questions are precisely the point. These are all answerable questions but better to leave the answering to the publisher sitting in the desk in front of you. You can always look over his shoulder.

Publishers need to decide what business they are in. Are they selling paper, nicely cut and folded and bound? Or are they selling an experience? If so, is it a cozy, comfortable, curl-up with a codex experience or a digital, on-demand, interactive experience? Is the content enough or do we need to hang some bells and maybe a few whistles on and around the words? The answer is probably yes to all of these questions.

Today’s publishers are in the business of making money. This is as it should be. But are we building a long-term business that can deliver consistent returns or are we going for the short-term gain and cutting out anything–people, processes, fat, muscle–that don’t have an ROI of six months?

Over reliance on the quick-win blockbuster has left little money for experiments. We need to find the next best-seller.

The real answer to the question of whether publishers should be in the software business: yes. If our readers are in these areas, we need to be in these areas. Certainly partnerships with software development companies can help spread the risk and focus each party on the areas they do well in. This is the sweatspot that Liza Daly mentions.

Other concerns, such as technical support and maintenance and feature enhancements, must be addressed. These concerns imply a longer commitment but they are nothing that can’t be backed away from.

What I encounter more often than a “wait and see” approach is an over-reliance on large one-size-fits-all platforms. That works well in some types of publishing with uniform content (e.g. journals) but less so with books (especially non-fiction). The trick is in finding economical ways to do custom development on a cookie-cutter budget.

I’ll keep an eye on CompletelyNovel…