bea 2013: the digital spotlight:

7/28/2019 BEA 2013: The Digital Spotlight:

1/24

An in-depth look at everything digital at the show

The DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

BOOKEXPO AMERICA 2013

e-GADS!

MAY 2013

Charting the growth o e-book sales

Bill McCoys 7 digital myths

Where to fnd the digital vendors

An update on digital reading devices


2/24

The First-Ever Book

Publishing Hackathon

On May 18, developers, designers and entrepreneurs came

together for 36 hours to experiment in book discoverability.

The teams with the best projects were selected to

advance to the Grand Finale at BookExpo America.

A panel of leading venture capitalists, top publishing

executives and tech experts will select the winningteam and award them $10,000 and a breakfast

meeting to pitch their project to Ari Emanuel, co-CEO

of William Morris Endeavor.

Join us for the Grand Finale on Friday May 31,

3 PM at the Downtown stage.

SponSored by:

ant

to nowow

tosucceedasaubishingstart-up?

atc epaneswt puis ing

exper san ven u

recapitas s.

on ri ay ay at e

townstage.

D I G I T A L P U B L I S H I N G P O W E R


3/24

MAY 2013 The DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

1

The E-book Boom YearsThe ormat moved rom sideline to vital category in fve years

E-book sales o trade titles rose 44% in

2012 and have skyrocketed an astound-

ing 4,660% since the ormat frst began

to gain traction in 2008, according to

BookStats, the book industry statistical

program overseen by the Association o Ameri-

can Publishers and the Book Industry Study

Group. The increase in units tracked not too

ar behind, rising 43% in 2012 to 457 million

units sold, and jumping 4,456% since 2008.

As with any new product category, e-booksenjoyed their strongest gains, at least in terms

o percentage increase, in the frst ew years ol-

lowing their introduction. In 2008 and 2009,

driven by the launch o the Kindle and later the

Nook, e-book sales rose 354% and 198%,

respectively. As publishers began to make more

print books available in digital ormats, e-book

sales surged rom under $900 million in 2010

to over $2 billion the ollowing year, adding

$1.24 billion in sales in 2011. The slowdown in

growth in 2012 was not unexpected as e-books

have become a billion-dollar business, makingtriple-digit gains a thing o the past. Whats

more interesting than the 44% increase in sales

in 2012 is that in terms o dollars, e-books also

grew at a slower rate in 2012 than in 2011,

partly due to lower prices as well as lower unit

sales, adding about $933 million in new sales in

the most recent year. The increase in 2012 was

still good enough to increase the ormats share

o the book market to 20% in the year, up rom

16% in 2011, according to the BookStats data.

During the 20082012 period, trade salesoverall rose a total o 14.2%, with the increase

due entirely to the introduction o e-books.

During the period, sales o print trade books

ell 8.4%, rom $13.1 billion to just over $12

billion in 2012. The BookStats fgures docu-

ment the important role adult fction has played

in the growth o e-books. In 2012, e-book sales in the segment

rose 42%, to $1.8 billion, while sales o adult nonfction

increased 22%. Within the trade category, childrens/young

adult had the strongest gain, with sales jumping 117%, rom

$215.9 million to $469.2 million.

Acceptance o e-books by the public has been a key or the

growth o the ormat, and surveys done by Bowker Market

Research show the month by month growth in the percent-

age o book buyers who have bought at least one e-book in a

month. The 25% threshold was frst reached in summer

SOURCE: BOOKSTATS

SOURCE: BOWKER MARKET RESEARCH

E-book Trends in the U.S.Showing % o book buyers who bought at least one e-book

that month (blue) and the % who say they read e-booksdaily/weekly (orange)

E-book Sales Growth, 2008-2012 (in millions)

E-book Unit Growth, 2008-2012 (in millions)

2012

$3,042.0

44.0%

2011

$2,109.0

142.0%

2010

$869.0

198.0%

2009

$291.0

354.0%

2008

$64.0

--

YEAR

SALES

% CHG

2012

457.0

43.0%

2011

320.0

156.0%

2010

125.0

247.0%

2009

36.1

260.0%

2008

10.0

--

YEAR

UNITS

% CHG

2012; ater dipping a bit in the ourth quarter o the year, it

bounced back in early 2013 and hit the 26% mark in February.

The 20082012 period certainly qualifes as the boom

years or e-books, a period during which the ormat moved

rom something o a curiosity to a vital part o the publish-

ing industry. And while print sales declined in that same

period, what the most recent trends indicate is that digital

and print books can coexist. Over the next ew years, every-

one involved in the book publishing industry will be examin-

ing how that print-digital relationship plays out.

ByJimmilliot


4/24

MAY 2013The DIGITAL SPOTLIGHT

Discovering the Digital PlayersTo accommodate the growing number o digital companies that are now exhibiting at the

show, BookExpo America ofcials have revamped and expanded the exhibit area into a newDigital Discovery Zone. More than 70 companies can be ound in the zone, ranging rom

sotware providers to online retailers.

2 www.publishersweekly.com

3M Cloud Library DZ2163

ABOUT LIBRIFY DZ2260

Anthology Inc. C1683

Apex CoVantage DZ2071A

Aptara DZ1756

Aquaadas Inc. DZ2079A

Arinos Inosolutions (P) Limited DZ2079C

Audible.com/ACX DZ1860

BEA Authors Studio DZ1780

Bindworx DZ1779C

Bluefre Productions DZ2071C

Book Connect DZ1875A

Book Hub Incorporated DZ2265

BookBaby DZ2256Bowker DZ2156

Braahmam Net Solutions DZ1965

Brilliance Audio DZ1857

Cameo ePublishing Services DZ2066

Chidopi Co. Ltd. DZ1771C

Chinese Cubes (USA) Inc. DZ1966

CINE-BOOKS DZ2171B

Contentra Technologies DZ2062

Copia Interactive LLC2939

Copyright Clearance Center DZ2165

Courier New Media DZ1871B

CyberWol Inc. DZ2064

Datalogics Inc. DZ1871A

Datamatics Global Services Ltd. DZ2056

De Marque Inc. DZ2071B

DiTech Process Solutions DZ1971C

Douglas County Libraries and Calia 963

Easypress Technologies DZ2267

Enthrill Distribution Inc. DZ1962

Flipick DZ1979B

Hurix Systems Pvt. Ltd. DZ2079B

Innodata DZ1762

INscribe Digital DZ2157

Integra Sotware Services Pvt. Ltd. DZ1868

iPublishCentral/Impelsys Inc. DZ2167

Kindle Direct PublishingAmazon DZ1757

Klopotek DZ1961

Korean Printers Association 2521

LibreDigital DZ1967

MBS Direct Digital DZ2171A

MDC Publishers (Malaysia) DZ2261

MetaComet Systems DZ1778

Metrodigi, Inc. DZ1863

MPS Limited DZ2068

Newgen Knowledge Works DZ1979C

Ninestars Inormation Technologies, Ltd. DZ1763Open Road Integrated Media 2251

OverDrive 1438

OverDrive 1439

OverDrive DZ1957

P3D Education Ltda. DZ2171C

QBend LLC DZ2060

Real Sotware Systems DZ1864

Ringgold Inc. DZ1964

Samsung ElectronicsDZ2067

Slicebooks DZ1771A

Sony Reader Store DZ1867

SPi Global DZ2257

Supad DZ1979A

Tizra DZ1875C

Victoria Productions NYC DZ1871C

Virdocs Sotware DZ1767

Virtusales Publishing Solutions DZ1971A

Vook Inc. DZ1971B

Widbook Brasil Servicos de Internet S/A 2562

Xentral Methods DZ1771B

YUDU Media DZ1875B

Zola Books 1139

COMPANY BOOTH NO. COMPANY BOOTH NO.


5/24

p r e p r e s s | c o n v e r s i o n | a p p s | c l o u d

c o n t a c t : s a l e s @ n e w g e n . c o

evolve

Booth #DZ1979C


6/24



The Seven Deadly Myths

of Digital PublishingByBill Mccoy

E-books may now outsell mass market paperbacks, but

successully selling digital editions o novels and other

text-centric titles is only the frst phase o a proound

transormation o all segments o the traditional book

publishing business.

The immediate challenges in realizing the opportunities o

e-books are many: navigating among the retail titans, plac-

ing your assets in the right hands and into the right channels,

using Big Data eectively to optimize reach and revenue,

and engaging directly with readers and building community.But we are poised or even more dramatic change as entirely

new kinds o digital book reading experiences are enabled

by the shit to tablets and smartphones, via HTML5 and

ePub 3. As the worlds o apps, browsers, and e-books collide,

and a new generation o digital natives emerges, a total

transormation o education and reading is imminent.

To succeed, publishers, authors, and other participants in

the book industry clearly need to steer through the near-term

tactical issues o todays ecosystem. But its also critical to

develop a longer-term strategy to exploit the next phase o

the digital transormation. William James said We have to

live today by what truth we can get today and be readytomorrow to call it alsehood, and in digital publishing

tomorrow is coming ast, and many o yesterdays truisms

are ast becoming misleading myths. Here are seven o the

most dangerous o these true lies o conventional wisdom.

Myth #1: E-books Only Workfor Novels and Linear TextsThe multi-billion-dollar U.S. e-book market has been driven

by sales o novels and other plain-text titles. Sales o highly-

designed illustrated and enhanced digital books have, by

contrast, remained low. And costs to develop such illustratedand enhanced titles have been prohibitively high, particu-

larly given lower sales volumes. Conclusion: e-books are

only viable, at scale, or digital editions o novels and linear

non-fction.

But sales o dedicated e-readers using E Ink technology are

plummeting, while digital readers are rapidly migrating to

tablets and large-screen smartphones. E Ink devices, with

slow black-and-white displays, were really only suited to

plain text. But as the digital reading platorm shits rom

dedicated devices to tablets, all types o contentcolor illus-

trations, videos, interactivityare becoming viable. And as

support or the latest HTML5-based ePub 3 standard proli-

erates in authoring tools and reading systems, the costs o

developing and distributing ixed-layout illustrated and

enhanced content are dropping. Best practices or creating

and structuring this content are emerging. And most o all,

global competition is driving

exponential innovation in tablets

and smartphones. In two years,

tablets as good as todays iPads

will cost $69, while high-end tab-

lets and smartphones will be almost unimaginably improved.

Myth #2: Digital Reading Is aSolitary, Disconnected Experience

(Like Reading a Print Book)E-readers were, or the most part, not ully connected devices,so reading was a largely solitary use o stand-alone artiacts

(with analytics jealously guarded by reading system vendors).

But on tablets and smartphones, your readers are always

one click away rom the world. This implies very dierent

expectations about connectivity and social integration o

reading. This urther implies new opportunities and trials or

publishers and authors in engaging more directly with con-

nected readers.

Myth #3: E-books, Apps and Web

Sites Are Fundamentally DifferentThingsThere is an ongoing debate about whether to deliver titles as

e-books, apps, or Web sites. Until now these channels have

required signifcantly dierent approaches to content devel-

opment, content management, and distribution. While all

three may represent valid business opportunities or mone-

tizing premium content, publishers generally cant aord to

reauthor digital content or many dierent platorms, so

have had to make tough choices between these options.

But now the Web platormHTML5 and related stan-

dardsis evolving beyond Web sites viewed in browsers andbecoming universal. The latest version o ePub, ePub 3, is

built on HTML5, and increasingly, native mobile/tablet apps

are built with Web technologies under the hood. So publish-

ers can structure content, rom simple text to high-design

interactive contentto be delivered via ePub 3 as stand-

alone e-books, readily deployed via Web sites to browsers,

and where appropriate wrapped into native apps. And in an

increasingly connected world, the boundaries between

e-books, apps, and Web sites will only urther blur.

Myth #4: EPub 3 Isnt ReadyEPub 3 was rolled out as a standards specifcation in late

2011, promising support or rich interactive content and

tighter integration o e-book standards with the ull Web

platorm. Eighteen months later, while many reading systems

support ePub 3, several prominent reading systems still sup-


7/24

cPTitle ManagementMANUSCRIPT TO MARKET

U.S. +1 610-940-1700;UK +44 (0)1865 261437; Spain +34-607 261 801

www.codeMantra.com [email protected]

From Manuscript to MarketDelivering all Formats, to all Channels, Worldwide

Contact us to learn more about

collectionPoint 3.0 and our publishing solutions!


8/24


port only the older ePub 2 standard. And even the vendors

that do already support ePub 3 dont support 100% o its

eatures. How can publishers use a standard i its not uni-

ormly supported across the industry?

There are two parts to resolving this dilemma. First, pub-lishers can deploy ePub 3 content today that has enhance-

ments that work on ePub 3 reading systems, but the content

is also ully usable on ePub 2 reading systems or ePub 3 read-

ing systems that lack some eatures. Every OReilly Media

title published in 2013 is ePub 3, and in a Web post, the

OReilly team explains how to structure content that is

uture-prooed as well as backwards-compatible. Secondly,

realizing the need to raise the bar o ull ePub 3 support

ASAP, more than two dozen vendors and publishers have

banded together to collaborate on an open-source ePub 3

implementation, orming last March the new ReadiumFoundation (or more on Readium, see p. 20).

Myth #5: DRM Is About Reducing PiracyDRM (copy protection) is oten marketed as an antipiracy

technology. Tor, the rst major English-language publisher to

experiment with DRM-ree content, recently announced

that ater a year o selling e-books without copy protection,

piracy had not increased. In act, DRM is not about limiting

piracy, as is well-known by savvy publishers; its about limit-

ing oversharing.

Ursula Mackenzie, Little, Brown U.K. CEO and U.K. Pub-

lishers Association president, was very direct about thiswhen she told TheBookseller last year: We are ully aware

that DRM does not inhibit determined pirates or even those

who are suiciently sophisticated to download DRM

removal sotware. The central point is that we are in avor o

DRM because it inhibits ile-sharing between the main-

stream readers who are so valuable to us and our authors.

A key implication o the growing realization that DRM has

nothing to do with reducing piracy is that lighter-weight

orms o DRMincluding watermarking and other social

approaches that dont technologically bar sharingare more

attractive than a quixotic arms race to deploy more and moresophisticated technologies that will only rustrate consumers

and lead to them being locked in to proprietary platorms.

Myth #6: Authors Dont Need PublishersA number o individuals have ound success selling e-books

on a sel-published basis, i.e., without a traditional publisher

contract. Many are hybrid authors who in the past, pre-

sent, or uture had, have, or will have a publisher contract.

This has led some to argue that, in the digital world, publish-

ers are a superfuous intermediary.

Clearly sel-publishing is here to stay, and publishers need

to ocus on where they add compelling value; publishers can

no longer count on being privileged gatekeepers, and the

ability to get books on the shelves o bricks-and-mortar

bookstores is less and less critical. And the imperative to

bankroll print runs is also ading. But most titles are really


collaborations between authors and publishers, with only a

small minority o authors able to act as editors, art designers,

typographers, marketers, etc. As illustrated and enhanced

titles mutate in the tablet-powered digital world, content

will become even more complex and collaborativelyauthored, with the publisher/editor role becoming akin to

that o a producer o a video game or mobile app. And in a

connected world, segment-specic publishers will be a natu-

ral ocus or community-building that will typically

(although not universally) transcend the platorms o indi-

vidual authors while being narrower than e-retailer store-

ronts. Overall, in the new digital world the role o the pub-

lisher may end up larger than ever.

Myth #7: The Monopolists Have Won

In the U.S. and several other countries, one e-retailer repre-sents a substantial majority o e-book sales. And because that

vendor deploys content in a closed, proprietary ormat, con-

sumers are locked in to that vendors systems. Sometimes it

eels like its already game over, and that we are all about to

be assimilated into the Borg, or at best be subject to an oli-

gopoly o a handul o proprietary vendors. But we need to

remember that market leadership is oten feeting, especially

during disruptive transitions, and that we are in many ways

only beginning the real transition rom print to digital. There

was a time when AOLs domination o Internet access and

online content seemed equally inevitable, but in hindsight the

AOL era was only part o the prehistory o the Internet.Changing actors in the e-book market tend to avor a

more open ecosystem. First, the migration o digital reading

rom dedicated devices to multi-purpose tablets and smart-

phones inherently weakens the ability o any one company

to control content usage. Secondly, publishers and authors

can use connected devices to directly engage with, and dis-

tribute to, readers, reducing the need or an e-retail interme-

diary. Lastly, the Open Web Platormwith HTML5 and

ePub 3is becoming the universal content architecture.

With a level playing eld or content standards, no one com-

pany will end up controlling the content ormat standard.

Conclusion: Its Game On,

Not Game OverThe next phase o the disruptive digital transormation o

the book business will bring risks and threats as well as

openings. But we can take comort rom the act that in the

rst phase o consumer adoption, as e-books have achieved

scale as a multibillion-dollar business, by and large, publish-

ers and authors have continued to thrive. By charting a stra-

tegic course based on emerging truths, not yesterdays reali-

ties that are already becoming dangerous myths, publishing

industry participants can continue to thrive now and into

the uture.

Bill McCoy is executive director of the International Digital PublishingForum, whose annual conference is being held May 2930 at the JavitsCenter.


9/24

2013 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

Start a new chapterin publishingRediscover how protable publishing can be with HP Digital Printing.

With our extensive portfolio of high-end sheet and web-fed digital presses,

and a large variety of substrates, you can handle high-value and high-volume

jobs. So from books and manuals to glossy magazines and newspapers,

youll deliver print to be proud of chapter after chapter.

Attend one of our three LiveView talks at Midtown Stage:

Dierent ways to get to a better bottom line - May 30th - 12:30 p.m.

New supply chain models that maintain protability as

run-lengths decline - May 31st - 9:00 a.m.

A protable future for illustrated books - May 31st - 3:00 p.m.


10/24



Digital Readers: E Ink, Tablets,

Phones, and PhabletsByCalvinReid

Tabletsl SURFACE PRO

PRICE: $899

SCREEN: high-res

10.6-

in. HD

touchscreen

OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 8

PROCESSOR: dual-core 1.7 GHz Intel Core

i5CAMERA: front and rear facing cameras are

both 1.2MP.

Titles/APPS: millions of for-pay and free

e-books via Window 8 apps; about 120,000

apps via the Windows store.

Battery Life: estimates range from 6 hours

(Surface RT) to 7.5 hours (Surface Pro)

Storage: Surface (32GB, 65GB); Surface Pro

(64GB, 128 GB) expandable

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

HYPE: Microsoft gets in the hardware

business with two cleverly designed tablets(running two different OS): the Surface

RT, released in 2012, runs a scaled-down

version of Windows 8; the Surface Pro, re-

leased in February 2013, runs the full Win-

dows 8 OS.

lARCHOS TITANIUM

LINE

PRICE: ARCHOS 97

TITANIUM ($250), AR-

CHOS 101 TITANIUM($200), ARCHOS 80 TI-

TANIUM ($170)

SCREEN: 10.1-in., 9.7-

in., and 8-in. high-res

IPS touchscreens

OPERATING SYSTEM: Android 4.1 Jelly

Bean

CAMERA: front (2MP) and back (5MP)

facing

TITLES/APPS: millions of for-pay titles and

700,000 apps via Google Play and e-book

retailer apps, as well as music and millions

of free e-books

PROCESSOR: 1.6 GHz dual core processor

BATTERY LIFE: 510 hours

Storage: 8GB internal plus expandable mi-

cro SD card

Connectivity: Wi-Fi

Hype: While they may not be built like an

iPad, the Archos Titanium line of tablets of-

fers three high-performance devices (theres

a fourth device thats not on sale in the

U.S.) in a range of sizes at startlingly rea-

sonable prices.

lACER ICONIA A1

PRICE: $169 (8GB),

$199 (16GB)

SCREEN: 7.9-in. IPS

touchscreen

OPERATING SYS-

TEM: Android 4.2.2

Jelly Bean

CAMERA: front (0.3

MP) and rear (5MP)

facing cameras

TITLES/APPS: millions of for-pay titles and

700,000 apps via Google Play and e-bookretailer apps as well as music and millions

of free e-books

PROCESSOR: 1.2 GHz dual core Mediatek

Processor


STORAGE:8GB; 16GB

CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi

HYPE: Coming to the U.S. market in June,

the Iconia A1 is yet another budget tab-

let, a solidly produced device likely to com-

pete with Googles Nexus 7 tablet.

Phabletsl SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 SMARTPHONE

PRICE: $600 (UNLOCKED),

$150 (CONTRACT)

SCREEN: 5-in., super HD

AMOLED high-res touch-

screen

OPERATING SYSTEM: An-

droid 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

CAMERA: front (2MP) and

rear (13MP) facing

TITLES/APPS: millions of

for-pay titles and 700,000

apps via Google Play and

e-book retailer apps as well

While Amazon

and Apple

continue to

dominate the

digital reading

marketplace with their

respective devices, that

hasnt stopped other manu-

facturers from introducing

new upgraded e-readers,both dedicated E Ink

devices, tablets, and

hybrids. Microsoft released

the Surface Pro early in

2013, and a growing num-

ber of budget-priced

high performance tablets

check out Archos and Acer

beloware the newest

trend in mobile reading.

Probably the oddest phe-

nomenon is the rise of thePhablet, a Frankenstei-

nian amalgamation of

phone and tablet that offers

the consumer a smartphone

with a screen nearly the size

of a mass market

paperback. Yes,

it may look a lit-

tle odd being

held to your ear

for a call, but itcouldnt be bet-

ter when it comes

to easy-on-the-

eyes reading

time.

In this updated guide to

the digital reading device

landscape weve added new

and/or upgraded e-ink

devices as well as tablets.

Remember, in the brave

new world of digital read-

ing, its not only about the

book youre reading, but

what device youre reading

it on.


11/24


12/24



as music and millions o ree e-books

PROCESSOR: 1.9 GHz quad core


STORAGE: 16GB internal, expandable micro SD

CONNECTIVITY: 3G, 4G, Wi-FiHYPE: Hot, hot, hot, this is Samsungs it phone o the

moment with enough cool eaturesa screen the size o a

small TV, eye-tracking, and air gesture unctionality that

lets users scroll content without touching the screento

make even Apples Tim Cook a little jealous.

l HTC ONE

PRICE: $550 (UNLOCKED), $100 (WITH

CONTRACT)

SCREEN: 4.7-in. Super LCD 3 high-res

touchscreenOPERATING SYSTEM: Android 4.2.2

Jelly Bean

CAMERA: ront and rear acing

TITLES/APPS: millions o or-pay titles

and 700,000 apps via Google Play and

e-book retailer apps as well as music

and millions o ree e-books

PROCESSOR: Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.7 GHz quad-

core processor


STORAGE: 32GB; 64GB, non-expandable

CONNECTIVITY: 3G; 4G, Wi-FiHYPE: Wildly praised by the technorati or its big brilliant

screen, ast processor, and slick design, the HTC One joins

the Galaxy S4 as a major Android competitor to the iPhone

as both a phone and a digital reader.

E Ink Digital ReaderslAMAZON PAPERWHITE

PRICE: $119 (WITH ADS) $134 (NO

ADS)

SCREEN: 6-in. 16-level grayscale

touchscreen with built-in lightTITLES: millions o or-pay and ree

e-books as well as lendable titles via

Amazon

BATTERY LIFE: 8 weeks

STORAGE: 1,100 books plus cloud storage

CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi

HYPE: Amazon now oers a higher resolution and higher

contrast screen and a built-in light source that allows this

e-ink device to compete with backlit tablets in the all-im-

portant read-unobtrusively-in-bed category.

l NOOK SIMPLE TOUCH GLOWLIGHT

PRICE: $119 (NO ADS)

SCREEN: 6-in. touchscreen with adjustable Glowlight tech-

nology that illuminates the screen

TITLES: three million e-books via Barnes & Noble

BATTERY LIFE: a month using

Glowlight

STORAGE: 1,000 books expandable

with micro SD card

CONNECTIVITY: Wi-FiHYPE: B&Ns newest entrant in the

illuminated e-reader race is an up-

graded Nook Simple Touch.

l KOBO AURA

PRICE: $170

SCREEN: 6.8-in. high-res Pearl E Ink

touchscreen

Titles: two million or-pay e-books, one

million ree e-books via Kobo

BATTERY LIFE: 2 monthsSTORAGE: 3,000 e-books plus expand-

able micro SD card

CONNECTIVITY: Wi-Fi

HYPE: Not to be let out, Kobo oers its own sel-lit EInk

device with a aster processor and higher price aimed at

hardcore book readers.

l SONY PRS-T2

PRICE: $129

SCREEN: 6-in. 16-level grayscale Pearl

E Ink touchscreen

TITLES: several hundred thousandor-pay e-books and millions o ree e-

books via Sony eBookstore

BATTERY LIFE: 2 months

STORAGE: 1,200 e-books plus ex-

pandable micro SD card

CONNECTIVITY:Wi-Fi

HYPE: Despite pioneering the digital e-reader feld, Sony

oten disappears rom view, only to resurace rom time to

time with upgraded devices that oten oer too little too

late in a super competitive market.

lTXTR BEAGLE

PRICE: $70 EST.

SCREEN: 5-in. Vizplex e-ink screen

TITLES: see Hype

BATTERY LIFE: AAA batteries

STORAGE: fve books at a time which

can be replaced by owner

CONNECTIVITY: linked by Bluetooth

to the consumers smartphone

HYPE: Tied to the e-books on a con-

sumers smartphone, the Beagle is a

dedicated e-reader that allows you to read previously pur-

chased e-books. It launched to be a subsidized device (like a

phone) oered via a new channel (mobile carriers); though

originally projected to cost less than $20, it is rumored now

to likely be about $70 when ofcially released in the U.S.


13/24

2013 Cenveo. All rights reserved.

For more information, contact [email protected]

Cenveo Publisher Services is a global publishing partner that combines the technology, experience and end-to-end support of Cadmus Communications, KGL, Glyph International and Nesbitt Graphics.

MultipleInputs

AutomatedComposition

SecureProcess

MultipleDeliveries

PDFProofingWorkflow

Flexibleand

Scalable

CustomizedStyling

ExpeditedProduction

Features Include

Custom workflow solutions for book,

journals and professional publishers

Automated pagination and

composition

Option to use experts to manage

complex pagination including

assembly and figure sizing

Structured web-based and

collaborative PDF proofing workflow

Flexible tools and scalable process Outputs for XML, print, ePub, web

Web-based tools, no software required

Secure portal and process

Cloud-based Production

Cenveo Publisher Services (CPS) Cloud-Basedproduction process offers publishers unique

solutions for fast and efficient publishing of

their content. Simple uploads of Word or XML

content flow into customized styling tools

to quickly deliver PDF proofs in a structured

proofing process.

Publishers have the option to make corrections

or pass the file to our team of experts for more

complex pagination requirements.

The CPS solution allows the publisher to

quickly and efficiently produce and deliver

large volumes of high-quality pages.

Cenveo Publisher Services workflow experts

can work with new or existing layouts to design

customized styling templates.


14/24


The year 2015 may be a landmark year or many edu-

cational publishers, says CMO Rahul Arora o MPSLimited. Most o our clients have inormed us that

they have a committed program and leadership impe-

tus toward transorming into a truly digital organiza-

tion in three years time. Publishers also recognize that their

in-house talent may not necessarily have all the skills and

competencies required or this transormation, and so they

plan to lean heavily on partners such as MPS to help them

realize this transormation. As such, our conversations with

clients have become more strategic in nature, where we are

invited to share innovative ideas on how we can lead them

toward a digital uture.At the same time, he nds that publishers are switching to

digital-rst workfows and trying to do it as ast as possible.

In the past, many have chosen to have separate print and

media or Web production departments, but this is a luxury

that is likely to disappear in the coming years. Already, there

is an emphasis on training print project managers to also

manage the production o media assets.

But most publishers are grappling with determining their

needs or an integrated system and migration path or legacy

systems and data. Some publishers already have large XML

repositories that have been built up at the back-end o the

print production process. The challenge now is to buildworkfows to integrate these databases into a digital-rst

process, adds Arora.

Publishers also have to deal with other issues such as prac-

tical device restrictions on video, audio, math rendering, and

Unicode compliance. These are possibly as inhibiting to

educational publishers as is the question o digital cannibal-

ization, observes Walter Walker, executive director o pub-

lishing services at codeMantra. But whether it is about ePub

3.0 or any o the multitude o alternative ormats, it is the

educational publishers who represent the next major

demand or digital services.Recent months have seen the Common Core standards

complicating the lives o those in the k12 educational seg-

ment. As an editorial vendor, our role is to create or revise

content, or to do both, to meet Common Core standards as

required, says president Amit Vohra o Contentra Technol-

ogies. Many clients that we work with are adding new

materials or revising as needed to show that all Common

Core requirements are being addressed and met. In some

instances, just a ew words are sucient to do the job. He

points out that supplementary material publishers have also

shown a keen awareness o the standard.

Such awareness o industry ormats and specications

coupled with increased internalization o knowledge about

the digital production process have been increasing recently.

As president Maran Elancheran o Newgen Knowledge

Works points out: Gone are the days when a book pub-

Navigating the Digital Path


lisher might just ask its prepress vendors to provide XML

along with the print les, and to suggest a suitable DTD orthe purpose. Nowadays, a request to supply XML tends to

be accompanied by exhaustive text-capture instructions or

a customized incarnation o a particular version o a specic

DTD.

The same clarity o prescription is emerging in requests or

e-book ormats as well, adds Elancheran, who nds it a wel-

come trend or those o us who oer digital pre-press ser-

vices, particularly whenas is commonly the casewe have

been involved by the publishers in evolving these specica-

tions. But perhaps even more welcome has been a consequent

trend to re-examine existing digital workfows, a willingnessto re-engineer workfows to accommodate the myriad new

delivery ormats smoothly, rather than simply to treat those

new ormats as appendixes to an established process.

Speaking o e-books, Oliver Holden o IBS Bookmaster

Americas says that many small- and mid-tier publishers

have been reluctant to sell to consumers directly or a variety

o reasons, including not oending the 800-pound gorilla.

Yet, with the way the gorilla is dictating terms, small- and

mid-tier publishers can eel like their prots are slowly sink-

ing in quicksand.

By building their own direct-sales mechanism, principally

through an active customer-oriented Web site that is tightlyintegrated into the back-end systems, these smaller publish-

ers, according to Holden, can add 30% protability to

every sale simply by eliminating the cut the aggregators take

out o them. For every 3.3 copies o a title sold, it is tanta-

mount to selling one more book on those Web sites, and

without any overhead, too. Bookmaster and Rightsmaster

suites o solutions would enable these smaller publishers to

achieve just that.

On the ollowing pages are highlights o what some com-

panies in the digital space are doing at BookExpo America.

codeMantraSolidiying its services

and sotware oerings

or the entire publish-

ing chain has been the ocus at codeMantra in the past two

years. Helping to drive a publishers workfow rom manu-

script to market is our mantra, says Walter Walker, executive

director o publishing services. The integration o ull com-

position and project management capabilities as well as new

sotware modules in collectionPoint [cP], or instance, is

aimed at oering customers solutions or asset composition,

management, conversion, and distribution.

cP 3.0 is codeMantras trademarked Web-based digital

asset management and distribution platorm. We have

adopted powerul new XML tool sets and InDesign plug-ins

to expedite ull composition and pagination workfow, says

ByTeriTan


15/24

www.IBSbookmaster.com

IBS BOOKMASTERLEADING PUBLISHERS

THROUGH CHANGE

.net

MEET US INBooth DZ1769

The only functionally

complete supply chain

software solution for

Digital, POD and Print

Publishers, Distributors

and Wholesalers


16/24


Walker. At the same time, our oshore production acility

[in Chennai] uses a systematic XML conversion at the pre-

composition stage to optimize elements and components or

easier digital conversions in the post-production phase. Cli-

ents would see cost savings through the new workow aswell as a substantial added value in terms o improved time-

to-market.

The companys strategic alliance with ePubDirect, an

international ull-service e-book distributor, has also enabled

codeMantra to oer customers access to an indirect reseller

or their contentone that can place their content with hun-

dreds o smaller retailers worldwide,.

Walker points out one o the surprising ways in which dig-

ital workow aects publishers bottom lines and product

decisions. Take one recent project rom the Metropolitan

Museum o Art in New York. Its publishing division has longwanted to preserve and make possible the recreation o its

many high-qualityand out-o-printart monographs and

show catalogues. However, the original production fles or

many o these titles date back to the 1960s and have long

since disappeared. So our team used high-resolution nonde-

structive scanning processes to reproduce the POD fles with

remarkable idelity. Then, working together with Acme

Bookbinding, Yale University Press, and the Met, we set up

protocols and processes to provide direct-to-consumer POD

sales, as well as the shipment o fnished monographs. The


Met has since reported very encouraging sales on many o its

out-o-print titles.

For more inormation on cP 3.0 and other codeMantra

solutions and services, please contact Walker at wwjwalker@

codemantra.com.

Contentra TechnologiesKnown ormerly as Planman Technologies, the new name,

Contentra (and its colorul logo), represents the companys

renewed ocus on content transormation services and service

expansion. With at least hal o its

business coming rom the U.S., Book-

Expo America is the perect venue or

president Amit Vohra and his team to

spread the word about Contentras

new identity and goals. As a trustedpartner or the book, library, and news

industries, we plan to take our services

to newer markets and industries. Our view is that all organi-

zations in every industry are content publishers, with unique

content lie cycles and extraordinary amounts o content to

be created, repurposed, and distributed. Through our part-

nership with these publishers or content creators, we have

broadened the scope o our services, and, as such, the new

name is reective o our new capabilities and specialized

oerings in transorming content.


17/24


The companys end-to-end deliveryrom authoring to

conversionwill bring substantial savings in terms o cost

and turnaround time, adds Vohra.

Naturally the team has plenty o projects to showcase its

capabilities. New to Contentras portolio (and a bonus toU.S. educational publishers) is its capabilities in, and exper-

tise on, the Common Core standards. We have developed

numerous language arts and mathematics titles in Common

Core, or which we have written specic materials including

assessments to meet the standards. The math standards are

more challenging because o the way the concepts are pre-

sented and the requirement to continue the presentation

throughout the grades.

Then there was the iBooks Author project or middle

school and high school textbooks that in total covered

12,000 pages, 13,300 illustrations, and a huge number omath equations. Another project on psychology requiring

animation using HTML5 had the team creating static assets

or all digital object storyboards, producing both Flash and

HTML5 versions o the animation, and making the HTML5

animations compatible with both iOS and Android plat-

orms.

To nd out how Contentra can help with a publishers

next print or digital initiative, or assist in tackling problems

in standards such as Common Core, head over to booth

DZ2062.

15

DiTech Process SolutionsRadical yet evolutionary is STUDYeBUDDY, a one-stop

solution or aggregating academic and reerence content

rom publishers worldwide or students on the Indian sub-

continent. Created byDiTech ounder and

CEO Nizam Ahmed,

STUDYeBUDDY sup-

ports both B2B and

B2C modelsthe rst o its kind in the Indian digital mar-

ketplacewhile also enabling ofine sales o ancillaries.

Currently, we are the only aggregator o multi-publisher

digital content in India that is ocused only on academic

content or curricula and reerence. Among the 50 partici-

pating houses are large and well-known names, including

ve rom the k12 segment, two medical, three engineering,and two test preparation and exam companies.

With the number o Internet users expected to grow rom

the current 100 million to 237 million by 2015, the potential

market or STUDYeBUDDY is huge. Now that digital read-

ing is rapidly gaining acceptance, there is visible enthusiasm

among institutions and universities to convert and monetize

their huge repositories o print content. The digitizing, which

involves scanning and embedding search mechanisms and

other enhancements, will lead to the creation o numerous

virtual libraries, one o the main actors that prompted


18/24


Ahmed to create STUDYeBUDDY, which addresses the lack

o aordable paperback editions o international titles and

the urgent need or such content.

The portals February 8, 2013, launch in New Delhi has

since garnered a lot o interest rom academic publisherslooking into distributing their content in India. For Ahmed,

the portal is a natural evolution o the digital services that

his team has been providing to publishing clients worldwide.

DiTech oers end-to-end solutions rom content creation

to content sales. Our goal is to partner clients in creating and

developing content as well as championing their book sales

through our digital platorm STUDYeBUDDY. So we are a

pre-press supplier, a technology company, and a content

aggregator rolled into one, adds Ahmed, who will be at

booth DZ1971C to showcase such projects as one done or

an STM publisher that involved total project management obooks and journals with print PDF, ePDF, and XML deliver-

ables, as well as another turnkey legacy digitizing project or

one major publishing house.

For Ahmed, the creation o STUDYeBUDDY enorces his

idea that it is crucial to view purchasers o contentin the

orm o e-book, app or learning moduleas brand champi-

ons. In that sense, we need to develop products where the

consumers can interact directly with the creator o the con-

tent, thereby making the reader or consumer a part o the con-

tent development process.

IBSFor Sweden-based IBS (Interna-

tional Business Systems), its busi-

ness is providing solutions or

publishers and distributors to manage the integration o sys-

tems or both digital delivery and the more traditional chan-

nels o print and print on-demand. Its Web-to-consumer

integration capabilities, or instance, are able to match the

rapid delivery demanded by todays consumers and busi-

nesses.

IBS recently announced Rightsmaster, a complimentary

sotware suite to its agship product, Bookmaster. Manypublishers are being orced to change their business pro-

cesses in the ace o a rapidly evolving licensing environ-

ment, says sales director Oliver Holden o IBS Bookmaster

Americas. They are fnding that royalties and rights man-

agement is adding a level o complexity or which they are

not prepared. With Rightsmaster, publishers can manage

copyrights, royalties, and permission processes in one go.

They can see a payback in as little as six months while

improving the accuracy o their records. It simplifes the

entire process while providing a real competitive advantage.

Publishers and distributors, adds Holden, are fnding it

tough to manage everything in one integrated system espe-

cially when aced with demands o digital, print, and POD

deliveries at the back-end as well as direct-to-consumer,

business-to-business, and aggregator order ulfllment at the

ront-end. So our Bookmaster division has come in with


solutions aimed at alleviating these headaches with a com-

prehensive suite o sotware to manage all aspects o the dis-

tribution process.

The latest release o Bookmaster completely integrates

Web-to-customer ordering or ulfllment and delivery odigital products. Regardless o the delivery method,

whether or e-book, authorized access, or subscription,

Bookmaster provides or customers to enter orders and view

real-time inormation on prices, temporary promotions,

inventory availability, and catalogue data. The ulfllment o

that title is immediately processed when the customer clicks

Submit, adds Holden.

Rightsmaster, oered as both a stand-alone and an enhance-

ment module to Bookmaster, will make its debut at BEA.

Head over to booth DZ1769 or a demo or make an appoint-

ment with Laurie Iseman at [email protected]. or morediscussion o Bookmasters ft to your set o issues and priorities.

MPS LimitedThe biggest news rom MPS in

recent weeks is the defnitive agree-

ment that it has entered into with Element, under which MPS

will acquire the Florida-based ull-service k12 publishing

player, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing

conditions. Educational publishers will beneft rom the

wider range o services that Element will now be able to oer

by leveraging on MPS, and we will support Element com-

pletely rom our multiple business units to create compellingsolutions or k12 publishers, says CEO Nishith Arora.

The only major publishing-services company listed on

Indias stock exchanges, MPS has made signifcant progress

with technology platorms since the last BookExpo. Says

CMO Rahul Arora, In addition to our e-book distribution

portal, ContentStore, we have launched ScholarStor, a plat-

orm or journals and reerence content, which has a manu-

script submission and peer review system. Most signifcantly,

we have upgraded the MPSTrak worklow management

platorm rom one restricted to journals to an integrated sys-

tem or journals, books, and major reerence works.MPSs DigiCore platorm, in particular the online editing

component, DigiEdit, has also undergone considerable

upgrading. This system allows authors to make changes

online to content while protecting the underlying XML layer.

The same content can then be auto-paged by the DigiComp

component, boosted with rich media eatures in DigiEnrich,

converted to various mobile ormats with DigiCon, and dis-

tributed via ScholarStor. The entire workow is managed

intelligently via MPSTrak, Rahul Arora says. Another plat-

orm, MediaSuite, now supports HTML in addition to Flash

and delivers a variety o mobile ormats.

We are making rapid inroads into the higher education

space with our integrated print and digital asset production

model, leveraging our established relationships with publish-

ers and our vast portolio o book production services. We

continue to thrive and grow in the STM market as well as in


19/24


our strong legacy journal production business, says Rahul

Arora, adding that the surge in content production resulting

rom open access has certainly beneted his company. Mil-

lions o pages are converted at MPS every year to a variety o

ormats as publishers seek dierent ways to present theircontent.

For urther discussion on platorms and the uture o pub-

lishing, head over to booth DZ2068, or contact the MPS

technology team at [email protected] to arrange or

demos o DigiCore, MediaSuite, MPSTrak, ScholarStor, and

other platorms.

Newgen Knowledge WorksI 2012 was the year o service extension and experimentation

or Newgen, then 2013 is one o simplication o digital pub-

lishing workfows. It is a theme that we are pursuing in ourconversations with clients and industry bodies, says New-

gens New Jersey-based president, Maran Elancheran. But

because we have a maverick side, too, we also appreciate our

clients openness to experiment with new ormats and new

approacheswhether in digital publishing, with one-o book

or journal apps and cloud-based content-management solu-

tions through our Cloud Matters division, or more generally.

At the moment, Elancheran and his team are bouncing

around ideas with one client about how Newgen can publish

academic books within two weeks o the author submitting

17

the nal manuscript. Mind

you, 10 years ago, we might

have been having a similar

conversation about the easibility o 10-month schedules.

With other clients Elancheran is looking at new solutions orpublishing enhanced journal articles that better address the

needs o researchers, developing accessible content as part o

the workfow or undergraduate textbooks, extending our

advanced editorial automation to handle European languages,

and typesetting trade books in the cloud within a ew sec-

onds.

Last year, increased demand or mobile products drove

two large projects at Newgen. For one journal client, we

took 20 journals onto the iPad via Adobe Publishing Suite,

reormatting the print product or optimum display on a

tablet. This trial proved so successul with subscribers thatthe next tranche o 100 journals is being lined up or mobili-

zation. For another publisher, we digitized the bulk o the

rontlist or mobile distribution in a custom application.

This year, Newgen expanded its existing portolio o devel-

opment work in proessional and academic law and medi-

cine publishing with the acquisition o Connecticut-based

NETS, a ull-service provider o k12 materials or teachers

and students. NETS oers editorial, art and design, compo-

sition and pre-press, and interactive media servicesthe lat-

ter an excellent t or Newgens Cloud Matters division in

LEARNINGBROUGHTTO LIFE!

Contentra delivers full life-cycle contentPDQDJHPHQWVHUYLFHVWROHDGLQJSXEOLVKHUVFRQWHQWDJJUHJDWRUV)RUWXQHFRPSDQLHVDQGJRYHUQPHQWRUJDQL]DWLRQVVXFKDVQDWLRQDOOLEUDULHV

Trusted for more than 10 years andby more than 100 delighted clients.If you are thinking content,think Contentra!

FLQGXVDW%RRWKZD2062

3ODQPDQ7HFKQRORJLHVLVQRZ

a PLANMAN group company

OUR DIGITAL SERVICES

(QKDQFHGH%RRNVH3XE.)L%RRNV$XWKRU

)ODVKWR+70/5HSXUSRVLQJ3URGXFWLRQ L3DG6PDUW3KRQH$SSV

'LJLWDO5LJKWV0DQDJHPHQW6ROXWLRQV

OUR PUBLISHING SERVICES

.&RQWHQW'HYHORSPHQW(GLWRULDO6HUYLFHV

'HVLJQ3URGXFWLRQIRU7H[WERRNV

6XSSOHPHQWDO0DWHULDOV

2QWLPH2QEXGJHW3URMHFW0DQDJHPHQW

$UW'HYHORSPHQW3KRWR5HVHDUFK3HUPLVVLRQLQJ

ZZZFRQWHQWUDWHFKQRORJLHVFRP

Visit us at Booth#ZD2062


20/24


Chennai, which spent 2012 building cloud-based solutions

and mobile applications or publishers.

For more inormation on Newgens products and solu-

tions, please contact Elancheran at [email protected].

QbendProviding a platorm where publish-

ers can create and brand their own

presence in the e-book world is

Qbends ocus. In the long term,

publishers want to have control o

their e-book strategy while connecting directly with their

consumers, says COO Kaushik Sampath, adding that

Qbends customized e-bookstore platorm enables selling by

chapters, rentals, custom publications, and subscriptions.

Such eatures are oered at no upront cost, thereby elimi-nating a major entry barrier to e-book retailing.

Qbends main theme at this show is selling direct. We

help publishers understand what the needs o the consumers

are, and then use our e-bookstore platorms various sales

models as well as our patent-pending robust publishing

engine S.N.A.P. [Search, Navigate, Assemble, Publish] to

deliver the contenton-demandin the right ormat, says

CEO Kris Srinaath. At the same time, our built-in robust

analytics tools provide in-depth behavioral patterns, pur-

chase trends, discounts, marketing campaign perormances,


and other critical analysis to enable publishers to fne-tune

and streamline their marketing activities.

In-depth analytics, adds Sampath, are something that pub-

lishers do not get rom traditional retailers. As a rule, con-

sumers oten do not explicitly state their needs, thus makingit difcult to understand them or their needs. This is where

consumer behavior analytics come into play. Qbend helps

publishers derive behavioral patterns that show what con-

sumers want, and tailor the oerings accordingly.

Currently, publishers rom more than 15 countries use

Qbends platorm to power their e-bookstores, most o

which are localized in terms o languages, currencies, and

payment methods. We also allow publishers to have dier-

ent e-bookstores in dierent geographies with dierent

product pricingagain, at no extra cost, notes Sampath.

This summer, Qbend extends its host o e-retailing eaturesby allowing consumers to put together customized publica-

tion rom a publishers content repository. This eature is

most beneicial to researchers and students who oten

require content rom dierent titles rom the same publisher.

On the other hand, it will provide an attractive revenue

stream or publishers who are able to de-chunk their content

and allow customized e-books, Sampath explains.

For more inormation about the dierent ways Qbend can

help to accelerate your e-book business, drop by booth

DZ2060 during BEA.

8,000+ pre-publicationreviews per year

183,000+ reviews database

2,300+ author interviews

51 weekly issues per year

Weekly Bestsellers Lists PW Select self-publishingsupplement

International supplements

8 e-newsletters

5 podcasts

Webcasts

Blogs

And more

No other magazine is as dedicated to providing you the latestnews and trends affecting the publishing industry today asPublishers Weekly. PWsubscribers get unlimited accessanytime, anywhere in the world to the most comprehensivedatabase and collection of news, reviews, author interviews

and more. Tap into our digital editions available on allmobile devices and online today.

Navigate the publishing industry withyour subscription to Publishers Weekly.

24/7 digital access to exclusive gated content

Stopbybooth125

2

foryourlimited-ti

me

BEAsubscriptiond

iscount.

Oraccessyourlim

ited-timeBEA

subscriptiondisc

ountat:

Publishersweekly.com/BEA

offer


21/24

Republication Rights,

Right Now

Copyright.com:The Centralized Marketplace for

Third-Party Reuse Rights

Using CCCs Republication Service,you can more easily secure rights to

republish content rom the worlds most sought-ater works in a single transaction.

Use this service on copyright.com to:

Quickly secure print and digital permissions rom hundreds

o participating rightsholders

Avoid the high costs o one-o negotiations

Decrease your time to market

Earn more revenue for your content

As a seller, this service provides the pricing exibility and automation you need

to efciently manage and grow this critical part o your licensing

business and maintain control over how your content is used.

Learn more at

www.copyright.com/republication

BEA Attendees

Learn more about CCCs

new services:

Visit our booth: DZ2165

Book a meeting:

[email protected]


22/24



March 25 marked an important step orward in the

evolution o digital publishing: the introduction

o the Readium Foundation, a membership-based

nonproft ormed to develop commercial-grade,

open source e-reading sotware. The components

developed by the oundation will accelerate adoption o

ePub 3 by the publishing industry.There are more than 25 initial members o the new Read-

ium Foundationwhich includes publishers, retailers, dis-

tributors and technology companies worldwide (among

them: Baker & Taylor, Kobo, Firebrand Technologies, IDPF,

Eden Livre, Hachette Libre, and Sony). The ounding members

are collectively contributing signifcant fnancial and develop-

ment resources to the organizations frst two key projects:

Readium Web and Readium SDK. Both o these eorts are

ocused on helping the digital publishing industry as a whole

realize the ull potential o the ePub 3 e-book fle ormat.

ePub3 is the latest version o the ePub2 standard that was

initially standardized in 2007 as a successor ormat to theOpen eBook Publication Structure or OEB, which was

originally developed in 1999. The new standard embodies

the industrys hopes or rich, interactive books o all kinds

that can be easily read on a broad range o desktop comput-

ers and mobile devices. ePub3 incorporates the evolving

HTML 5 standard and adds support or important core ele-

ments, such as the inclusion o embedded audio and video,

page numbering, mathematical equations, improved accessi-

bility, and many other enhancements to the ePubormat.

Readium.org was originally launched in 2012 by the Inter-

national Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF) to support thedevelopment o an open source ePub3 reading system that

runs in Web browsers. This project matured into a popular

Chrome browser extension (available on the Chrome Web

Store) that enables users to read ePub3 e-books in their

browser. The project will now all under the wing o the

Readium Foundation as Readium Web, which is being

extended to work with all modern Web browsers.

Readium SDK is a new open source project ocused on the

development o a Sotware Development Kit (SDK) that

can be used by developers to create native code desktop and

mobile reading applications that support the ull ePub3 fle

ormat. Its important to note that youre not likely to see a

Readium app in the utureinstead, youll see a number

o dierent apps that were created by a variety o companies

that all utilize the open source Readium SDK code libraries.

Think o the Readium SDK as an ePub 3 reading application

The Readium Foundation Revs UpAn ePub 3 user extols the virtues of the digital

publishing standard and an industry effort to

widen its adoption

engine. It will purr under the hood.

Why Open Source?As my company, Bluefre Productions, dove deeper into

adding more robust ePub3 support to our e-reader applica-

tions, we ound that the spec is open to a considerable

amount o interpretation. We also recognized that publisherswill need to know that the books they publish will look great

and unction as intended no matter which reading applica-

tion is being used. So we started talking to other like-minded

industry players. What evolved was a collaborative eort to

build a robust, open source ePub 3 application engine that

each o us (and others in the industry) could use to build

commercial-grade applications. This group now has a name:

The Readium Foundation.

The ounding members recognize that coming together to

jointly create a single open source ePub 3 application engine

will be more efcient than each company separately devel-

oping proprietary solutions, and will create the momentumnecessary to expand the digital publishing market. The goal

is to raise the bar or ePub 3 support across the industry so

that ePubmaintains its position as the standard distribution

ormat. Open markets require this kind o standardization.

Publishers cannot be expected to develop unique fles or

multiple proprietary reading systems.

The Readium Foundation will be separate rom IDPF

which ocuses on developing and promoting standards.

Development o commercialized technology is optimized

when the adopters are the drivers. The IDPF will continue to

oversee several open source projects related to promotingthe ePub standard, including ePubcheck or validating

ePub fles and the EPUB Reading System Test Suite.

The Readium SDK will support fle-level DRM extensions,

but will be DRM agnostic and can be deployed with or with-

out DRM. Bluefre plans to create an Adobe Content Server

(ACS4) enabled solution that will allow retailers and pub-

lishers to distribute protected ePub3 e-books on tablets,

smart phones and desktop computers.

We dont expect the Readium SDK to be a silver bullet, and

it is unrealistic to think that every e-book platorm in the

world will utilize this engine. However, we do believe that the

use o common, shared code components across a wide spec-

trum o large and small companies will be an important step

orward or us, our customers, and their customers.

Michah Bowers is ounder & CEO o Bluefre Productions.

ByMicahBowers


23/24

DZ2060


24/24

bea 2013: the digital spotlight:

Documents