Your complete guide to launching an online magazine in 2025

What comes to mind when you hear the name Gutenberg? If you work on a website, you might think about the blogging platform WordPress and its Gutenberg content editor. If you’re a fan of e-books, you might think of the Project Gutenberg library of free titles. And if you’re a fan of the Police Academy movies, you might think of Steve Guttenberg.

But only one Gutenberg was the original tech mogul who disrupted the publishing industry. In 1439, this German inventor developed a kind of press that made it possible to print text in multiple copies. Of course, like many tech icons, Gutenberg was actually the second person to invent his device. Although it wasn’t widely adopted at the time, Bi Sheng created moveable type 400 years earlier in China.

It may seem funny to talk about books like a technology, the same way we talk about smartphones and apps. Despite their low-tech material of paper and ink, books are technology: an object invented to store information. That’s why we’re taking a look at how innovation has shaped the history of publishing, from ancient eras right up to today.

Handmade books

Before Bi Sheng and Gutenberg’s printing inventions, every single book around the world was made by hand. These manuscripts, or hand-written texts, came in two main formats. Scrolls had writing on a single, rolled-up surface. On the other hand, a codex would look much more like a modern book. They had multiple pages inside a pair of wooden boards. But compared to printed books, very few manuscripts existed.

In large part, handmade books were rare because of the time, effort and resources required to create them. Not only did you need someone who knew how to write—not easy to find thousands of years ago—you’d also need something to write on and with. Some common materials included clay and wax tablets, papyrus paper and parchment. Besides quill and ink, styluses and calames were also used to write. And once you gathered the materials and found a scribe, it could take years to copy out a text.

Because books and writing were advanced technologies most people never encountered in the handmade era, cultural information was stored in other ways. For example, the art and decoration on buildings like churches told visual stories to their viewers. Music, folktales and good old memorization were also important forms for sharing knowledge. However, the arrival of the printing press was about to revolutionize books. 

Publishing revolutions

Printing wasn’t special to the printing press, but the concept of moveable type was. For centuries, artists knew to carve a flat image onto a block of wood, cover it with ink and press it against a paper page to make a print. Gutenberg and Bi Sheng’s innovation was to produce images of individual letters, or characters. Then, these letters were arranged into the text of a page and set into a frame for printing.

Although it might not sound like much, this moveable type technology meant that printing a page took minutes instead of weeks. Printing a book of 100 pages took weeks, not years. Plus, making copies was simple. As a result, more and more books entered circulation. Books held more information and, in Europe, more people read them throughout the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Publishers began to print and sell books on a bigger scale than ever.

One reason why the audience for books exploded? Education expanded dramatically in many places across the world. A growing number of people could read and they bought books. History, science, fiction, philosophy, dictionaries, travel guides—publishers offered books in every genre as printing technology advanced. Presses improved, paper became cheaper and by the end of the 20th century, the business of making and selling books had spread into a global industry worth billions of dollars.

Digital experiments

But the story of publishing innovation doesn’t end there. The invention of computers and the Internet created new tools for writing. From the clay tablets and calames to desktops and digital formats, another huge technological shift has been changing publishing over the past several decades. Unlike printing, however, digital publishing has taken lots of different directions as audiences try new experiences.

For example, publishing books on CD-ROM was a major trend in the 1990s. As old-fashioned as that sounds today, CD-ROM publishing let users access a large amount of information easily. In fact, an early digital encyclopedia set was priced 86% cheaper than the equivalent 21 volumes of printed books. And the format could include multimedia audio, video and links.

While CD-ROMs were replacing traditional encyclopedias, more experiments were happening online. Twitter launched in 2006 and by 2008, people were using it to write novels 140 characters at a time. The Kindle launched in 2007 and by 2010, e-books made up an important part of sales. New channels, formats and ideas are still developing and evolving online very quickly. After all, who needs a CD-ROM reference publication when you have Wikipedia?

To be continued

In short, the book is a technology that has been renewed to meet the needs of readers for hundreds and thousands of years. As publishers face digital challenges in the 21st century, there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the future. Handmade, machine-printed or digital: books are always adapting so that more people can access them—and the knowledge inside.

Read this article in our 7th issue of Calaméo Magazine, as well as many others on the theme of renewal and innovation:

And if you haven’t read all the other issues of Calaméo Magazine yet, you can find them right here.

Because the connected world changes fast, every fall we bring you a look at the most important trends to know for next year. But in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic created major disruption across every industry—including online communications. So today we’re highlighting five digital publishing trends for 2021 that you can count on, no matter what else the year might bring.

Read on to learn which strategies will help you make the most out of online publishing in 2021.

No-Code Tools

In the future, 2020 might just be remembered as the year that everything was online. Due to safety restrictions, many people were required to stay home for long periods. The Internet allowed businesses to operate, schools to educate and friends to meet up virtually. However, as users scrambled to upload huge amounts of content, simplicity was a key priority. Digitization services needed to just work.

Don’t expect that need to change in 2021. Indeed, this trend will grow into the demand for “no-code” online services. In other words, users will continue to adopt tools that let them make websites, e-shops and digital communications without custom developments. Want to turn your plain PDF into a shareable, trackable HTML5 publication? It’s easy with a best-in-class, no-code digital publishing platform.

User Experience

Now that so much content has moved online, the next big challenge for many publishers is standing out. Since we’re shopping, learning and hanging out on the Internet all the time, it’s important to offer something different. That’s where user experience comes in. By paying extra attention to how users interact with your content, you can create exceptional experiences that audiences will remember.

Of course, the first step is having great content to share. Next, consider what digital formats will help you break through the days of videoconferencing and PDFs that users face in lockdown. Enriched media can create strong connections with online audiences. And remember that the details matter to great UX. Make your content easy to access, fun to consume, part of your brand and—ideally—just a little bit delightful.

Service First

Over the course of 2020, useful content rose above the rest to become the real winner online. Although no one sets out to make a not-useful contribution, the COVID-19 pandemic showed that audiences respond to content that solves problems. News publishers saw huge traffic as people searched for clear information and guides of all kinds, from bread-baking to home-schooling, were reliable hits all around the Internet.

In 2021, the digital publishing trend of service content will develop even further. Smart publishers will concentrate on their audiences’ most urgent questions and create made-to-order answers. To stay ahead of the curve, keep in touch with your users through social media and support. Once you know where best to be useful, it’s as simple as putting your expertise to work in a publication. (And optimize for search!)

Ad Uncertainty

Any business that relies on advertising knows how unpredictable it has been this year. Unfortunately, next year does not promise a return to stability. The biggest disruptions have hit traditional channels like TV commericals, billboards and print ads. But even though digital advertising is making a comeback, it’s not clear that things will be back to normal any time soon.

However, digital subscriptions are still growing steadily. That means 2021 will be a perfect time for publishers to take a serious look at their subscriber situation. If you already have a strategy in place, plan to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t have a strategy, start thinking about ways to build a subscriber base. Having loyal readers can help make up for an uncertain advertising outlook.

From the Heart

Last but not least, authenticity will be a key digital publishing trend in 2021. Since the pandemic and its effects seem likely to stretch into the new year, it’s important to stay flexible and acknowledge the challenges ahead. In practical terms, that means making clear and honest communication with your audience top priority. Focus on giving accurate and up-to-date information first.

In addition to being direct, authenticity can also call for finding a more personal voice. But don’t confuse bold branding with the power of a personal message. Although it may not be the right time for ironic memes, something as simple as a letter from the CEO will add warmth and sincerity to your business’s communications. Or invite employees to share a few words for another authentic perspective.

As always, one thing that all these digital publishing strategy trends for 2021 have in common is strong content. If you’re starting to prepare, give your publications a boost with Calaméo. Publish in a snap, customize and embed your content anywhere. Create your free account and get started today.