A new chapter for publishing

Major challenge

Digital publishing in China was again a major theme at the Beijing book fair this year. Callanan says it remains a major challenge for the publishing industry.

"A lot of re-imagination still has yet to occur. Many of the digital output formats are still very closely aligned with their print counterparts, such that they closely resemble them," she says.

The publishing executive believes digital has the potential to revolutionize academic books, in particular, since new formats enhance the learning experience and make it easier.

"We see the emergence of some very new trends that move beyond linear sequential text. You only have to look at what YouTube has been able to do in terms of very quick, easily digestible experiences that can facilitate people to learn."

According to some industry observers, China is a complex market in this regard since there remains a legacy of textbook rote learning, while at the same time young consumers obsess over the latest digital gadgetry.

Callanan, however, does not think there is much value in thinking about China as a special case.

"I suspect there are far fewer inherent differences in how people learn. It is more about cultural norms that have been established over the years, based on the availability and nature of different learning materials," she says.

One of the publishing challenges in China has been copyright, with many popular books pirated and sold on the streets－textbooks being particularly vulnerable.

Callanan says she is actually less concerned about copyright theft in China than in other markets.

"I am just a few weeks into the job, so that is a big caveat, but I am not so much worried about China than in other parts of the world. I think, from listening to my colleagues, there is respect here for copyright."

One challenge that Callanan meets in her in-basket is Brexit and how the publishing industry will navigate its way around the UK leaving the European Union.

"I think it is too early to be definitive on this issue," she says. "If, however, we can create the right value frameworks for scholars to come together, to innovate, to share, to expand on a more rapid process of originating research and knowledge, then those boundaries that exist today around governments and geographies and languages will recede."

Callanan says it's important for the publishing industry to be diverse, which is why China is such an important market now.

"When I look at the way the China story is being told, it often has a Western filter. What diversity should mean is that we really do have a diverse perspective and allow voices from countries like China to be unfiltered and directly heard," she says.

Contact the writers through andrewmood@chinadaily.com.cn