Digital Drive Meets Distribution Drift in Higher Education Publishing, Educational Marketer Finds

Jan. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Significant growth in the digital textbook and course material market, along with textbook rental programs, is defining the growing higher education publishing market for 2011. According to Simba Information’s “Educational Marketer,” the current shift in distribution and product offerings, which gained steam in 2010, is expected to grow through 2011.

Sales of digital offerings, including textbooks and course materials, attained double-digit growth for large higher education publishers in 2010. Additionally, new platforms for content delivery are creating new businesses in the college space, repositioning traditional publishers.

“Platforms are the key medium for increasing the interaction of content and service providers with instructors and students,” says Kathy Mickey, senior analyst and editor of Educational Marketer. “Publishers are adapting quickly and have begun repositioning themselves as learning companies.”

Bursting with popularity in 2010, textbook rental programs have outpaced e-textbooks in terms of growth over a short period of time. Analysis of this trend reveals a strong preference for print textbooks with traction slowly gaining in digital rentals.

“Two solid years of revenue growth in this industry has bolstered confidence in the format and delivery evolution,” said Mickey. “The anticipation of continued growth in 2011 will test both online and campus rental programs.”

Continuous updates on changes occurring in the higher education publishing industry, as well as the PreK-12 publishing market are available in Simba Information’s “Educational Marketer,” an online bi-weekly newsletter, which offers fully searchable and indexed archives. It is available at: http://www.educationalmarketer.net/content/2011-college-o...

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