Publishing
This industry focuses on the selection, production, and distribution of written content, including books, newspapers, and academic journals, in both physical and digital formats.
Why it exists
Publishing exists to produce, curate, and distribute written content—news, books, research, and analysis.
Why it’s necessary
It sustains knowledge transfer, accountability, education, culture, and long-form thinking in a world dominated by short-form noise.
Key components
Editorial creation
Rights and licensing
Distribution platforms (print, digital, audio)
Subscription, advertising, and syndication models
How to evaluate businesses
Look at subscriber growth, churn, revenue per user, advertising mix, and cost per article or title. Strong IP ownership, niche audiences, and pricing power beat scale without loyalty.
How the industry could be improved
Smarter paywalls, AI-assisted editorial workflows, dynamic pricing by reader segment, better archival monetization, and tighter bundling with education and enterprise knowledge systems.