O’Reilly TOC Conference
NFAIS: Mobile Delivery of Content
30 October 2009
Neelan Choksi
CEO, Lexcycle
twitter: stanza_reader
Lessons Learned from the
Outline
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Who am I?
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Where do eBooks stand today?
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eBook Opportunity Drivers and Challenges
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An overview of Stanza
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How to work with Stanza
Who Am I?
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CEO, Lexcycle (acquired by Amazon in 2009)
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Former open source software COO,
SpringSource (acquired by VMWare in 2009)
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President and Co-Founder of SolarMetric (acquired by BEA Systems in 2005)
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Previous Employers – Exxon, Andersen
Consulting, TechTrader, MIT Blackjack Team
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BS from MIT, MS from Stevens Institute of
Last 10 Months in eBooks
• Jan 26 – Classics featured in iPhone TVadvertisement
• Feb 5 – Google Book Search for iPhone, Android
• Feb 9 – Amazon Kindle 2 Launch
• Feb 16 – Adobe Reader Mobile SDK
• Feb 25 – Indigo Shortcovers launched
• Feb 27 – Hearst announces plans for eBook reader
• Mar 4 – Amazon Kindle for iPhone Launch
• Mar 5 – B&N acquires Fictionwise
• Mar 11 – Sony Reader launch in Germany
• Mar 17 – Apple iPhone 3.0 O/S announced (eBook examples)
• Mar 19 – Sony and Google – 500,000 books
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Mar 23 – Borders UK ends iLiad for cheaper e-Book reader
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Apr 1 – Blackberry App World launches
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Apr 2 – News Corp. confirms looking into investment in “eReader
Technologies”
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Apr 8 – Lexcycle, Adobe, Internet Archive release catalog spec - OPDS
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Apr 11 – B&N / Sprint ereader discussions announced
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Apr 17 – Random House announces first to put books into Blackberry app
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Apr 22 – Penguin signs English eBook distribution in China
Last 10 Months in eBooks
• Apr 28 – B&N/Fictionwise add EPUB to Multi-format titles
• May 6 – Amazon announces Kindle DX
• May 12 – New Cybook update announced
• May 13 – Sony announces 3rd party advertising in Sony Reader
• May 15 – New BeBook Reader announced
• May 27 – Interead COOL*ER debuts
• Jun 1 – E-Ink acquired by Prime View
• Jun 2 – Google sets plans to sell eBooks
• Jun 8 – ScrollMotion in WWDC keynote
• Jun 9 – California to scrap school textbooks in favor of eBooks
• Jun 12 – S&S to sell eBooks on Scribd.com
• Jun 22 – ScrollMotion and LibreDigital announce 100,000 books and magazines delivered via iPhone
• Jun 30 – Borders release Elonex Reader
• Jul 13 – Stanza passes 2M users and 12M books downloaded on 1 year anniversary
• Jul 20 – Barnes & Noble launch eBook store
• Jul 23 – Shortcovers announce
discounted conversion service to EPUB
• Jul 29 – Google / Sony announce
1,000,000 public domain titles available
• Aug 4 – Sony announces 2 new Reader models
• Aug 8 – Astak PRO eBook Reader announced
• Aug 12 – Sony announces they will only sell EPUB content from Sony Bookstore • Aug 24 – Sony announces Reader Daily
Last 10 Months in eBooks
• Aug 27 – Asus CEO tells DigiTimes that its <$150 eReader will be available by end of 2009 at the earliest
• Sep 6 – Nick Cave’s “Death of Bunny Munro” combines video, eBook, sync’d audio
• Sep 9 – Interead announces 1+ million Cool*er devices sold
• Sep 15 - DNAML releases PDF to EPUB conversion software
• Sep 16 – Anthony Zuicker’s Level 26 rolls out as a “digi-novel”
• Sep 29 - Disney announces subscription for access to 100s of Disney books
• Sep 30 – HarperCollins delays eBook release of Palin memoir 3 months
• Sep 30 – Further rumors of Apple Tablet
• Oct 1- Simon & Schuster announces first set of Vooks – video/book hybrids
• Oct 7 – Amazon announces Kindle Worldwide (Oct 19)
• Oct 9 – Egmont + Penguin + EA Games to create eBook for on Nintendo DS
• Oct 13 – Jane Friedman launches
company that will republish old titles by big name authors as eBooks
• Oct 15 – Browser based Google Editions announced
• Oct 19 – Spring Design announces Alex eBook reader
• Oct 19 – Internet Archive announces Bookserver project
• Oct 20 – B&N announce Nook
• Oct 20 – B&N and Adobe to support RMSDK and eReader Social DRM
• Oct 20 – AUO unveils 20” eInk display
• Oct 22 – Amazon Kindle for PC announced at Windows 7 launch
eBooks – Rapid Growth
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$94 million Wholesale eBook sales in last 4 quarters
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$30.6 million Wholesale eBook sales - July/Aug 09 * Source: IDPF and AAP US Trade Wholesale Electronic Book Sales
Small %age but Growing Fast
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2008: 0.467% of all books sales were eBooks per the
AAP
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2008: 0.6% of all books sales were eBooks per Bowker Pub-Track
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Q109: 2.4% of all books sales were eBooks per Bowker Pub-Track
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October 2009 – For every 100 printed copies of a title sold, Amazon.com sells 48 Kindle books, assuming the book is available in both versions
Forrester Research predicts 3 million eReaders will sell in 2009 in the U.S. (up 50% from their May projections)
eBook Opportunity
Mainstreaming of e-books
New Hardware
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Netbooks
So Many More Devices
• Aztak Mentor EB-900• Bookeen Cybook Gen3
• Bookeen Cybook Opus
• Foxit eSlick
• Ganaxa GeR2
• HanLin eBook V3
• HanLin eBook V5
• Hanvon HandyBOOK N516
• Interead COOL*ER Classic
• iRex Digital Reader 1000
• iRex iLiad
• Pocketbook 360°
• Pocketbook 301 Plus
• STAReBOOK
• Asus E-Reader
• Aztak Mentor Electra
• Fujitsu FLEPia • Hanvon WISEreader N518 • Hearst reader • iRex DR800 • iriver Story • Lubix L’Book • Onyx Boox60 • Pocketbook 302 • NUUTbook NUUT2
• Plastic Logic Que
• Polymer Vision Readius
• Samsung Papyrus*
Improved Mobile Displays
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Larger touch screens w/ crisp color
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OTA, wireless
Mobile Reading
iPhone
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Stanza
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Kindle for the iPhone
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B&N Reader
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Shortcovers
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eReader
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Classics
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BookShelf
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BookZ
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Libris
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Wattpad
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Eucalyptus
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standalone books apps
Other Devices
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FBReader
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eReader Pro
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MS Reader
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Global-Reader
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Mobipocket ebook Reader
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Aldiko
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Word-Player
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… many more
e-book Alphabet Soup
Formats-
.LIT
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Mobi
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AZW
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PDB
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FB2
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RTF
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BBeB
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EPUB DRM
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Microsoft Reader
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Adobe Adept
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eReader
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Mobi
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Apple FairPlay
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DNL
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many others
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HTML
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RB
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CHM
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OEB
iPhone Distinctions
As an eReader:•
International reach
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Color display
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Multi-function device
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Built-in wireless
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No external light required
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App Store
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15% of smart phone market; 50% of web hits
Stanza iPhone & iPod Touch
• 2.5+ million users in 75+ countries
• ~15 million books downloaded
• 115,000+ books available (half free)
• Books in 25+ languages
• Featured in:
• NY Times, Boston Globe
• Time “Top 11 iPhone Applications”
• Forbes
• Wired “10 Most Awesome Apps”
• iTunes Top Applications of 2008
• App Store 1 Year Anniversary Featured Application
Geographic Breakdown
Top 10 Stanza Downloads
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US
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UK
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France
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Germany
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Canada
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Australia
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Russian Federation
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Japan
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Italy
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Spain Sales
North America Europe
South America Asia
Stanza User Customizations
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App available in 12 languages
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21 fonts options
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Wide range of font sizes
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135+ font colors
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135+ background colors + nearly 30 background textures; choose your own background image
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Completely customize layout: alignment, hyphenation language, margins, line spacing, paragraph spacing, paragraph indentation
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Adjust behavior: page turn effects, book rotation
Primary Usage
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In bed – 32%
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Commuting on bus / train – 27%
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In waiting areas – 13%
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At home – 13%
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At work – 6%
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At a bar or café or lunch or dinner – 5%
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On an airplane – 5%
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2 write-ins mentioned “In the bathroom”
Readers enjoy having access to their library at all times in their pocket or handbag
Stanza Bookbinder
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Create standalone books applications for sale directly in iTunes App Store
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LibreDigital and others soon - aggregator
Bookbinder
What We Did Right and
What We Got Right
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Holistic view of the entire experience for a reader:
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Not enough to focus just on one piece. Readers expect more. Search / browse content Find book Start Reading Down-load book Pur-chase book
What We Got Right
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Focused on the reader’s experience
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Every reader is unique
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Respected users’ historical eBook investments
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Free/public domain content
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Partnered to extend reach
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Supported standards, where possible
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Active at events and with PR
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Translated app to 12 languages and added catalogs with foreign language content
What We Got Right
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Innovated very quickly
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Fast releases (historically 1 per month)
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Honest and open
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Admitted when we didn’t know something
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Community around the software
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Actively listened and participated
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Admitted when we made mistakes
What We Need to Work On
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More foreign language and international content
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Haven’t made commerce as easy as we could
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Have not merchandised well
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1 newsletter ever focused solely on Stanza eBooks
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Publisher promotions can tie better into purchasing
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Are not using social media enough
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From within Stanza: Twitter, book clubs, etc.
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Outside of Stanza: Help our community show their Stanza pride
Lessons Learned – Readers
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The bar is constantly moving up on everything
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Reading experience
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Purchase experience
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Discovery
Publisher Lessons
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Make sure your books are available
electronically:
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Minimum formats: PDF, AZW, EPUB
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Keep experimenting – be bold
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Have a budget for marketing e-books
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Better integrate your physical book marketing
Publisher Lessons
(continued)
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Figure out ways to support your authors better in the electronic world
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Websites
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Blogs, Twitter, social networking, Book Trailers
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Understand the technology
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Don’t let this just turn into a blockbuster industry:
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Find self-service methods and appropriate revenue splits for mid-tier authors
NFAIS 30 October 2009 Neelan Choksi CEO, Lexcycle [email protected] twitter: @stanza_reader
Lessons Learned from
