Monday, February 1, 2010
Parenting and Digital Publishing
Wendy Zingher, VP Sales & Marketing
This has been a busy week for me, and I’ve decided it’s time I buckled down and started the Texterity blog I’ve been meaning to for months now. As an introductory post, I’ll take the liberty of being a bit personal. It’s been a busy and revelatory week for all of us in digital publishing. Texterity was hot on eReaders back in the early 2000’s and when they failed to appear, digital publishing on laptops and desktops was and remains good business, for us and for our publishers. So, as the first real eReader to matter to our magazine market was unveiled this week, it was a week full of thinking, planning, and excitement. I must confess, though, after the excitement of the Apple announcement, I was completely drained. My husband was out of town all week, so I was holding down the home fort. I got home that evening, made dinner, took care of my littlest one and put him to bed, and then took out my laptop for routine catchup. An hour or so passed.
And that’s when I was faced with bad parenting example #27. (You can buy me a drink if you want to hear about any of the other 26 examples). My two teenagers trooped in and said, “Mom, you really should have watched the State of the Union. It was really good.” That’s when I a) thought ‘what kind of civic involvement am I promoting by missing the State of the Union?‘ and b) sort of pondered that there’s something akin to parenting in what we do here in our business.
We’ve been raising this child called a “digital edition.” It’s been a great kid, but it’s growing up, and you can’t ignore that. Suddenly, there is a confluence of interest in truly transforming the content and the magazine experience. I could liken it to that period where a child enters adolescence, and suddenly worlds of possibilities appear, and with them, many pitfalls. It might have some really awkward moments! But here we are, at the threshold of adolescence, and it’s important to try new things, learn by doing, and build this new world together. I’m in a company that provides platforms and services for publishers at large scale, and those platforms need to work. Publishers also need to find value in reaching their audience in new ways, and when I mean value, I mean something that, either directly or indirectly, helps keep the lights on.
We’ll be guiding this child of ours to adolescence on the iPhone, the iPad, and a host of other mobile devices. We’ll be sticking with our “family values” of creating this experience for readers which respects the publisher’s connection with their audience, and doesn’t try to create an intermediary brand. There’s lots of passion and drive on our internal team, and we’ll be doing some wicked cool stuff. There’s lots of support from our publishing community. From a solid foundation, we’ll build something that will stand on it’s own. For me, that’s what I most fervently hope for as a parent as well. It’s looking like we’ll be having a lot of fun doing it!
This has been a busy week for me, and I’ve decided it’s time I buckled down and started the Texterity blog I’ve been meaning to for months now. As an introductory post, I’ll take the liberty of being a bit personal. It’s been a busy and revelatory week for all of us in digital publishing. Texterity was hot on eReaders back in the early 2000’s and when they failed to appear, digital publishing on laptops and desktops was and remains good business, for us and for our publishers. So, as the first real eReader to matter to our magazine market was unveiled this week, it was a week full of thinking, planning, and excitement. I must confess, though, after the excitement of the Apple announcement, I was completely drained. My husband was out of town all week, so I was holding down the home fort. I got home that evening, made dinner, took care of my littlest one and put him to bed, and then took out my laptop for routine catchup. An hour or so passed.
And that’s when I was faced with bad parenting example #27. (You can buy me a drink if you want to hear about any of the other 26 examples). My two teenagers trooped in and said, “Mom, you really should have watched the State of the Union. It was really good.” That’s when I a) thought ‘what kind of civic involvement am I promoting by missing the State of the Union?‘ and b) sort of pondered that there’s something akin to parenting in what we do here in our business.
We’ve been raising this child called a “digital edition.” It’s been a great kid, but it’s growing up, and you can’t ignore that. Suddenly, there is a confluence of interest in truly transforming the content and the magazine experience. I could liken it to that period where a child enters adolescence, and suddenly worlds of possibilities appear, and with them, many pitfalls. It might have some really awkward moments! But here we are, at the threshold of adolescence, and it’s important to try new things, learn by doing, and build this new world together. I’m in a company that provides platforms and services for publishers at large scale, and those platforms need to work. Publishers also need to find value in reaching their audience in new ways, and when I mean value, I mean something that, either directly or indirectly, helps keep the lights on.
We’ll be guiding this child of ours to adolescence on the iPhone, the iPad, and a host of other mobile devices. We’ll be sticking with our “family values” of creating this experience for readers which respects the publisher’s connection with their audience, and doesn’t try to create an intermediary brand. There’s lots of passion and drive on our internal team, and we’ll be doing some wicked cool stuff. There’s lots of support from our publishing community. From a solid foundation, we’ll build something that will stand on it’s own. For me, that’s what I most fervently hope for as a parent as well. It’s looking like we’ll be having a lot of fun doing it!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Coverleaf 2.0 is LIVE!
If you haven't been to Coverleaf today, it's your lucky day. We just released an updated version of the site. The layout is much improved based on feedback from all our users. Be sure to browse around and look in your My Stuff area - it's all there, but easier to navigate. Enjoy!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Etienne Says: Time to go Digital
We just saw the following letter to the editor in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Turns out, Etienne is an active user of coverleaf and an avid reader of many magazines. Thanks for the heads up, and you can be sure we'll talk with Entrepreneur!
Turns out, Etienne is an active user of coverleaf and an avid reader of many magazines. Thanks for the heads up, and you can be sure we'll talk with Entrepreneur!
Labels: Coverleaf Letters
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Magazines Can Succeed on the iPhone
The recent Forbes.com article Magazines Struggle on the iPhone misses the point by focusing on iPhone developers who don't really understand magazines.The article is from the iPhone developer point of view, stating "...publishers also expressed interest in iPhone apps but wanted to pay the firm through revenue-share deals, meaning it would have to shoulder more of its development costs upfront." Translation: publishers don't feel like paying $50K for an iPhone app with an iffy upside.
It's still early days. The iPhone user wants a great reading experience: an application that blends branded content plus 'real time' information and a way to engage with other readers and the publication.
The challenge is that many iPhone developers don't yet understand the unique value of a magazine (i.e., the high quality layout and branded feel), and at the same time the magazine needs to significantly add value to what exists on the print page.
Texterity, working with our publishers, is developing a true next generation mobile application that leverages the branded content and the capabilities of the devices. This includes iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, and what we expect to come soon -- a "super smartphone" device with a larger display.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Texterity User Interface - Coverleaf Reader Tutorial
View our full tutorial video on the lastest Texterity digital edition reading interface -- the Coverleaf Reader. This 10-minute video covers all the features and benefits, including:
- The Technology Behind Texterity's Coverleaf Reader
- Increasing your Bottom Line
- Enhancing the Viewer’s Experience
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Asset International ai5000 goes "Designed for Digital"
A great example of a "Designed for Digital" publication which is "screen ready" is the new launch from Asset International, ai5000. Min online ("ai5000 Aims for the Super Money") noted the recent launch, stating "In tough economic times publishers can go one of two ways... Either re-target your content towards budget-conscious readers with belt-tightening tips, or look for the places where the big money still resides."
Revenue Generation is provided by sponsorships from Northern Trust, State Street, Bridgewater Associates, and PanAgora Asset Management. Using Texterity's platform, the digital edition can be viewed directly from the web via it's "branded" URL (www.ai5000.com), through google and bing web searches, twitter, and social networks. Asset International plans to re-market its larger suite of institutional research, webinars, conferences and sponsored round tables to high-end customers.
To view the inaugural issue, go to www.ai5000.com.
Revenue Generation is provided by sponsorships from Northern Trust, State Street, Bridgewater Associates, and PanAgora Asset Management. Using Texterity's platform, the digital edition can be viewed directly from the web via it's "branded" URL (www.ai5000.com), through google and bing web searches, twitter, and social networks. Asset International plans to re-market its larger suite of institutional research, webinars, conferences and sponsored round tables to high-end customers.To view the inaugural issue, go to www.ai5000.com.
Labels: Designed for Digital, Revenue
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Link to a page in a Texterity online magazine
One of our friendly readers (Torley) has posted a nice short video explaining how to share a page of a Texterity digital edition with others.
Link to a Page in a Texterity Online Magazine
Torley, thanks for sharing. Good news! In our new release of the Texterity reader interface, the "share" function is much easier to find and use. And, the URL line always has the page number included!
Link to a Page in a Texterity Online Magazine
Torley, thanks for sharing. Good news! In our new release of the Texterity reader interface, the "share" function is much easier to find and use. And, the URL line always has the page number included!
Labels: Texterity
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Introducing Coverleaf Reader: The Next Generation User Interface for Digital Editions
See the next generation digital edition reading interface. The Coverleaf Reader! Jam-packed with new features such as one-click social networking, innovative navigation, and customizable areas for video, social networks, and other add-ons. The webinar demonstration is tomorrow - you can register at www.texterity.com/webinar/.
Or, see the video:
Or, see the video:
Friday, June 5, 2009
Palm Pre - YAMD (Yet Another Mobile Device)
The mobile devices are coming fast and thick now with the release of the Palm Pre this weekend. This device is getting tons of publicity as a possible 'iPhone killer', but the early returns are that without significant application support, it will be a tough road.
As a provider of services to magazines, Texterity continues to develop our iPhone application suite and also is supporting the Kindle with future support for other XML based devices. Players such as Apple and Amazon (who have the distribution power) have the early lead, but magazines are still "second class citizens" behind ebooks and feeds for most devices.
As a provider of services to magazines, Texterity continues to develop our iPhone application suite and also is supporting the Kindle with future support for other XML based devices. Players such as Apple and Amazon (who have the distribution power) have the early lead, but magazines are still "second class citizens" behind ebooks and feeds for most devices.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Kindle DX provides path for magazine publishers
Finally it's official -- the Kindle DX was announced this morning.The most interesting aspect of this device is the size, and the ability of the device to display a "magazine" format with a full-page PDF representation. It remains to be seen whether an XML-based representation (allowing reflow and better linking) is better than the "PDF" mode, but we'll work that out.
Texterity is working with our publishing partners to make all our magazines available on the Kindle, both paid and controlled, as we have done already with the iPhone and iPod touch.
I am personally very excited to see this device, and think that it provides a real breakthrough in the reading experience. And, in expanding the audience for magazine and newspaper content.
Labels: Amazon Kindle, mobile
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