Direct to consumer" is not about selling books through your Web site.
Rather, it is a philosophy that puts your consumer, the reader, first and foremost in each and every activity that the business undertakes. That might seem straightforward enough, but with decades of complex author, agent and retail agreements piling up - not to mention territorial licensing, franchise deals and the like - readers may have taken a bit of a back seat in publisher corporate strategy.
The first phase of the digital evolution of the industry has taken place, and where we go next depends on publishers shifting their business away from B2B - we are no longer in the exclusive domains of resellers and middle men. Whoever makes the most of the unparalleled direct access to the consumers that digital platforms provide will emerge as the next dominant player in this ever-changing ecosystem.
