Experiments in online publishing have been under way for at least fifteen years, and for many larger publishers experimentation has given way to steady revenue streams. That experience has shown that, for any new entrant into the market, it is vital to make such a venture sustainable, to reduce the dependency on grant funding. This may require a large measure of consistency in how things are offered; with too many options (data types, business models) the offering quickly becomes too expensive to maintain it efficiently. Furthermore, the sales channels, and the methods to distribute and promote the use of digitally published materials have to be planned from the outset.
Brad Scott has worked in the information industry for 20 years and was digital publisher at Routledge to 2001, where he devised, managed and published a number of large-scale digital projects including the first digital Arden Shakespeare, and a number of projects with the National Archives. He has since been Account Director at Semantico, a Brighton-based software company specialising in solutions for the publishing industry. From 1998 to 2003 he served on the organising committee of the Digital Resources for the Humanities conferences and has presented papers at a number of industry events in Europe and North America.
