I have blogged intermittently under the Off the Page handle for the past three years – writing and sharing thoughts and ideas about the book industry – to no predetermined schedule or ideological agenda. Writing about publishing and in particular the changing supply chain for books led me to remember that the reason I joined the book industry in the first place is that I love what happens when books come alive in peoples’ hands and minds: what happens when ideas leap off the page. One of the benefits of convalescing (I was unwell earlier this year) is time to read and think. What I’ve been reading has all reinforced the sense we’re living and working in an era where the notion of ideas jumping off the page is not just a metaphor describing the rich inner life of the imagination that regular immersive reading gifts to readers: it’s the reality of everyday life for the kinds of ideas & information that used to be stored in books passively awaiting discovery.
Our industry has no choice but change. It’s not just “our industry” any more. Books no longer exist as discrete printed entities delivered to consumers via bookshops and libraries and whose treasures can only be unlocked in quiet study or through being read out loud. The content that traditionally waited passively in books is now leading a full proactive life online as part of an engaged community of ideas, and the businesses we run have to accept and participate in that reality.
That’s why I’ve established Off the Page Ideas – back to running my own business after a hiatus of 13 years with the IPG and then NBNi. I’m thinking and writing about how we operate and change traditional businesses in a world where the content is blown off the page and into the ether. I’ll be working with individual businesses on a variety of projects, and the Off the Page Ideas business plan includes publishing programmes further down the line.
I’ll be writing about my intellectual and professional journey here to share and invite discussion about what I’m finding…
Good luck with your new venture. We should talk sometime! I have gone the other way and am now permanently employed by Pearson Education in their International Content & Digital Management Division.
Hello Craig – thank you for reading and commenting. Your new role sounds great. I’ll be in touch…