Micropublishing
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Micropublishing is used in three senses: *Publishing on microforms as pioneered by
Eugene Power Eugene Barnum Power (June 4, 1905 – December 6, 1993) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist, founder of the modern microfilm industry, and pioneer in the use of microfilm for the reproduction of scholarly publications. Life and career ...
. *The book publishing industry sometimes uses this term in discussing publishing companies below a certain revenue level. *It is also used to describe the use of efficient
publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and
distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...
techniques to publish a work intended for a specific micromarket. Typically, these works are not considered by larger publishers because of their low
economy of scale In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of output produced per unit of time. A decrease in cost per unit of output enables a ...
and mass appeal and the difficulties that would arise in their
marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...
. *In the digital sense micro-publishing is the posting of short articles, posts, reviews, thought pieces etc. to a public website. Micro-publishing is usually done with the express purpose of sharing the content via search engines, social media, email or other forms of digital content distribution. The remainder of this article is about the second use of the term. To make micropublishing more economical, the works are often printed using POD (
print on demand Print on demand (POD) is a printing technology and business process in which book copies (or other documents, packaging or materials) are not printed until the company receives an order, allowing prints of single or small quantities. While oth ...
) printing techniques. Those new to the industry often use companies called "POD publishers", while those who have more experience or who are more profit-focused tend to skip these middlemen. POD printing reduces the required up-front investment in book publishing, allowing many more individuals and companies to enter the marketplace, and allowing
niche market A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focused. The market niche defines the product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that it ...
s to be served as never before. The
ebook An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
market is taking this one step further.


History

Before the emergence of the
internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
, micropublishing was considered a "microtrend" that would not play much of a role in the publishing world, because costs per copy were too high. The internet has changed this by providing authors and micropublishers with an affordable medium through which to publish and distribute their works. The Internet is also evolving how the works from traditional publishing,
self-publishing Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pr ...
and micro-publishing are distributed. The long imagined dream of
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...
for published works is quickly becoming a reality. For micro-publications,
digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of digital media content (media), content such as Sound recording and reproductio ...
may enable greater numbers of authors and potential authors to enter the publishing industry to access readers who prefer to receive and/or consume content in digital form.


Present

Presently, digital versions of all publications are subject to copyright piracy since technology makes it easy to replicate perfect copies of digital materials. This is especially true when such materials are displayed on the Web where
scraper sites A scraper site is a website that copies content from other websites using web scraping. The content is then mirrored with the goal of creating revenue, usually through advertising and sometimes by selling user data. Scraper sites come in various f ...
routinely infringe the works of others. The
Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or s ...
(DMCA) lets copyright holders protect themselves by sending online service providers "take-down notices." Digital copyright holders, however, must first spot unauthorized copies of their works and then find the original infringer, a task made challenging by the vastness of the Internet.


eReaders

eReaders from companies such as Apple, Amazon, Sony, and Barnes and Noble may help both traditional publishers and micro-publishers solve the infringement problem and protect their works in the digital form. The use of
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
conventions (not just
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...
practices) to protect digital works is accelerating.


Distribution

Digital micropublishing sites like
Scribd Scribd Inc. is an American e-book and audiobook subscription service that includes one million titles. Scribd hosts 60 million documents on its open publishing platform. The company was founded in 2007 by Trip Adler, Jared Friedman, and Tikhon ...
and
Docstoc Docstoc (stylized as .docstoc) was an electronic document repository and online store, aimed at providing professional, financial and legal documents for the business community. It closed in 2015. Users could upload, share and sell their own docu ...
enable micro-publishers to easily distribute their digital works using
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
licenses. Licensing micro-publications simplifies protecting and tracking those works which are distributed digitally, an approached used for many years by software producers, and in the last decade by MP3 music distributors.Chandler, Stephanie: ''The Author's Guide to Building an On-line Platform: '', page 22. Quill Driver Books/Word Dancer Price, Inc., 2008. Micro-publishers and authors who use
intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
licensing sites are not limited to a specific medium (like eReaders) to distribute their works. This flexibility may allow micropublishing to significantly expand readership while protecting copyrights.{{Citation needed, date=March 2010


Notes


References

*Idris, Kamil (2003). ''Intellectual Property: A Power Tool for Economic Growth'', World Intellectual Property Organization. *Willinsky, John (2006). ''The Access Principle: The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship'', Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Publishing Ebook suppliers