The Publisher Desk Incubator program has announced the opening of 2024 applications. It is a program focused on providing digital publishing companies with a comprehensive suite of support and services. The ten chosen digital publishers will receive services and tools valued at up to $50,000, enhancing everything from monetization to SEO and content strategy.
The application is open to all digital publishing platforms and once that has been submitted, they will proceed to the interview portion of the qualifying companies chosen. The program outlines a set of standards that the companies chosen must display in order to be considered for the award. There are no publicized stipulations in reference to location, subject matter, or specific parameters that the company must have in order to qualify. However, they emphasize that the companies that will receive the awards are ones that display a promise of growth and innovation.
“There is a tremendous amount of creativity and drive among publishers online, and we know that it often takes a boost to take a publisher to the next level,” said Chris Ward, Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer of The Publisher Desk. “Our program is geared toward growth-minded publishers and entrepreneurs who want to take their content and maximize it in a way that scales their business.”
Incubator Programs
The Publisher Desk Incubator Program is not the only one of its kind. There are many similar organizations offering services and tools to companies that are working to establish, or even expand, their companies that need assistance to navigate the most optimal paths forward.
Some programs are even offered at universities. They open applications to their students. Then dependent upon how many the program has allotted for; those students are immersed in an intense and unique curriculum intended to provide services and tools to encourage mastery.
An incubator program’s purpose is to give companies access to mentorship, investors, and other support to help them get established. In the case of The Publisher Desk Incubator they integrate advanced monetization strategies, proactive website monitoring, and strategic keyword research, all designed to enhance content visibility and optimize revenue.
Another example of an incubator program for digital publishing that companies may consider is Le Labo de l’Edition (the Publishing Laboratory). It is a digital publishing incubator based in Paris. “Le Labo is unique in that it’s developed by and funded by the city of Paris itself, aiming towards educational collaboration and partnership. The goal of the incubation program is to assist traditional publishers to evolve in response to the shift to digital publishing. Le Labo connects members of publishing community to develop a continued strategy for growth and development of the organization.”
Taking the Initiative
With a growing demand for digital content, and specifically for scientific, technical, medical, legal, and business text, competition will become more intense. Enrolling into a program like The Publisher Desk Incubator will offer these digital publishing companies an edge over their competitors. It will also prepare them for the potential challenges that other companies have already faced, offering them an insight into how to prevent falling victim as other publishers have inevitably done.
According to Technavio’s market analysis, “The Digital Publishing Market size is expected to grow by USD 138.76 billion, accelerating at a CAGR of 13.12% during the forecast period.” Speculations cite the “digitization of paperback books is notably driving the digital publishing market.” However, there are still pitfalls that can result in the failure of companies like, “high subscription costs may impede market growth.”
Enrolling into a program that offers insight into these positives and negatives, while also being educated about the various tools and services offered, will provide digital publishers with the power to make educated decisions that will best benefit them. As the industry grows companies that take initiative into reinforcing their growing potential will statistically prove better equipped to maintain relevance and have a higher chance of success.
According to Technavio, if digital publishing continues the current trends, then between 2024 and 2028 the market dynamics speculate that three major challenges will hinder digital publishers. They are:
- Real-time monetary transactions in digital content entail potential financial loss for consumers if critical data is lost, fueling consumer concerns about the security and privacy of their account details and potentially hindering market growth.
- Piracy remains a longstanding threat in the content industry, set challenges such as file sharing, copying, and downloading from illegal online sources, emphasizing the critical need for premium digital content protection among the service providers.
- Illegal downloading of digital content results in billions of dollars in losses, restricting the growth of the global digital publishing market.
The Publisher Desk Incubator program will educate their chosen publishers on how to combat these challenges. The purpose is to provide the most comprehensive information in order to provide the building blocks necessary to be successful in such a booming industry. With the saturation of competition there are ample reasons for publishers to look into the resource that offers such an edge over the competition.