Digital Inc.: From Print to E-Book-Inside the Transformation of the Book Industry

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Richard Curtis

Digital Inc.

Name: Digital Inc.
Price: 52.35 AUD
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9781953943729

From Print to E-Book-Inside the Transformation of the Book Industry

Richard Curtis

$61.95 $52.35

Hardback

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English

Rivertowns Books
06 January 2026

E-commerce: business aspects; Media, information & communication industries

The digital transformation of the past fifty years has been widely chronicled, but the story of how the book industry went from print to digital has never been adequately told.

As a widely admired literary agent and the founder of one of the very first e-book publishers, Richard Curtis was present at the creation. He knows the whole story as only an insider can. Digital Inc. is the first book to recount in detail the conversion of printed books to digital and the struggles of publishers to embrace a new business and creative paradigm after five hundred years of dedication to print on paper. The upheaval changed not just books but the people who write, read, and publish them.

Digital Inc. blends a thoroughly researched history with an account of how Curtis and a team of hotshots built their electronic book company from scratch and turned it into a multimillion-dollar company in the vanguard of digital transformation, pioneering innovations that still shape the book business today. The story of how the e-book morphed from an idle fantasy into an industry-shaping powerhouse is told against the backdrop of decades of tumult in publishing, from the birth of international media conglomerates and the explosion of social media to the rise of Amazon and the emergence of new business models unimaginable a generation ago.

In the tradition of Hackers, Fire in the Valley, and Soul of a New Machine, Digital Inc. explores the personal, social, and creative complexities-as well as the daunting technical and economic hurdles-that the progenitors of the e-book revolution had to overcome. Curtis's wise and witty voice brings to life the colorful characters who revolutionized publishing and continue to transform it in the rapidly-dawning age of AI.

For everyone who cares about books and their continuing impact on our culture-from writers and publishing professionals to countless avid readers-Digital Inc. is an absorbing, eye-opening guide to today's new world of books and how it came to be.

By: Richard Curtis
Imprint: Rivertowns Books
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 22mm
Weight: 644g
ISBN: 9781953943729
ISBN 10: 1953943721
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 06 January 2026
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Richard Curtis is a leading New York literary agent, publishing authority, e-book pioneer, and authors' advocate. While running his eponymous literary agency, he wrote numerous columns, blogs and articles for Publishers Weekly and other writers' publications, leading to four information-packed books about writing, agenting and the book business. He was the first president of the Independent Literary Agents Association and subsequently president of the Association of Authors' Representatives.Curtis's fascination with emerging media and technology led to his founding one of the first commercial e-book publishers - seven years prior to the introduction of the Kindle and the advent of the E-Book Revolution. He developed e-book business and royalty accounting models that are still in use today. His popular blog, Publishing in The Twenty-First Century, describing the wonders and challenges of the digital paradigm, was followed by both professionals and lay audiences.Curtis is also author of dozens of works of fiction and nonfiction. His satirical end-of-year verses for Publishers Weekly, published over a span of 45 years, made him the unofficial poet laureate of the book industry. His plays have been performed in a variety of venues in New York. He has written, produced and directed a number of podcasts.

Reviews for Digital Inc.: From Print to E-Book-Inside the Transformation of the Book Industry

""Digital Inc. is really astonishing. I'm sure no one else will ever attempt what Curtis has done here, giving the entire history of the e-book with this level of detail. There are details that are great fun and sentences worth savoring throughout. It deserves a serious place on the physical (and digital) shelf.""-Bob Miller, CEO of Phaidon Press and former President of Flatiron Books ""A fascinating and informative trip through perhaps the most transformative period in book publishing history. When the gun went off to start the digital revolution, Richard Curtis was at the starting line!""-Jack Romanos, former CEO of Simon & Schuster ""For anyone who lived the e-book revolution in publishing, this is a must-read. For anyone concerned with how book publishing may cope with future changes for which it is never ready, Richard Curtis's account is an essential study.""-Donald Maass, literary agent and author of The Emotional Craft of Fiction