Though there isn’t a specific date that can pinpoint the origins of digital publishing, it can be traced back to when the first computers started emerging. ‘Bhaskar highlights ‘digital technology only went mainstream…in 1977 after the Apple II computer and the 1981 release of the PC’ (Bhaskar, 2013) This kickstarted digital publishing, but without any internet the potential was limited, until the ‘World Wide Web was created in 1990’ (Bhaskar, 2013) Further down the line, ‘electronic books aka e- books become known and were thought to not only alter the industry but come to replace everything in 1999’ (Gomez, 2008) The traditional book publishing industry was still thriving and keeping its sales up, this was until 2007. Amazon launched their first e- reader specifically designed to target avid readers but also the rest of the world. Three years later in 2010 ‘the kindle became the most popular e-reader in the world.’ (Bhaskar, 2013)

Now due to almost having access to the internet and being active users, over half the world’s population are able to purchase and download e-books. (Clement, 2020) In contrast to buying physical copies, which in turn results in the publishing industry faces obstacles in its sales of consumer books. Furthermore, with digital publishing there are a few trends that provide reasons for the success of it. Firstly, impulse buying plays a role in sales as the books app on Apple has a multitude of e-books for lower prices than paperbacks. This also directly links to collecting where readers buy a block of different books but may not necessarily read them all.
with the story, by posting comments of their thoughts and reactions. In a sense this almost provides a safety net for the author if they decide to self-publish or a publisher if they seek out the book, if there is already a strong fan following and reception of the book. Additionally, the distribution process also becomes vastly simpler if there is already a solid fan base, the access to internet and technological devices.

However, it isn’t all glory for digital publishing as there are legal concerns as copyrighting work on platforms such as Wattpad can be quite difficult. Copyright is the ‘legal right to control the production and selling of a book, play, film, photograph, or piece of music.’ (Dictionary.cambridge.org, 2020)
Since the writers on the site are amateurs there are a lot of stories which are incredibly similar, especially when a story goes viral but hasn’t been published. Since copyright doesn’t protect ideas, it can be difficult for wr