If you missed our August newsletter, read it here. We recently moved our office to NYC, which is inspirational, practical, and down right fun. You can now find us at DogPatch Labs, near Union Square. We’re looking for partners who want to add social reading to their content (or socially-read content to their site). So contact us.
This week Mashable posted an article “Social Experience is the Future of Online Content”
What really stands out is the phrase “Content acquisition alone can’t be the final answer.” This is true, and something you’ll hear us saying frequently at BookGlutton. Don’t get me wrong, we spend quite a lot of time in meetings acquiring content for our readers – it’s important to have the right books. But that will never be a major differentiating factor. Publishers want to sell through multiple channels in order to reach the maximum number of users.
For free books this is already obvious. You can download Winnie the Pooh from almost any online reading system or bookstore (it even comes pre-packaged with Apple’s iBookstore). No one seeks out the store that has this specific book. As time goes on no one will be going to a particular store to get Random House books or Penguin Classics just because that’s the only place to get them. Instead they’ll be available almost anywhere, and you’ll be going for the experience. The user interface, the animation, the ability to connect with others and share your thoughts, will be what really matters.
That said, I have to caution: don’t confuse experience with features. In many reading systems, features can be the equivalent of Photoshop filters, cool to play with but only really used on occasion. Many reviewers like to tally up features, as if the program with the most wins (one only needs to look at the success of Apple’s software to see simplicity and alignment with user needs can win out). After all, the ability to make your font purple is nice, but most users are more about utility and connection than customization. I know there are some that may disagree – I have a friend who would read everything in Adobe Jenson Pro if he could (though I often wonder if he would bother to change every application he installs to do so). But in the end the most successful tools in life are ones that fit in with how you live your life. And that’s something we’ve believed in for some time.
Great news! BookGlutton has been named a Webby Award Honoree in the Community Category. They tell us out of a whopping 10,000 entries submitted to the 14th Annual Webby Awards, less than 15% are awarded the status of Official Honoree. Entries came from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. It’s a big deal, and we’re humbled by it. Moreover, there are only two book sites listed this year – our partner Goodreads is the only other one we found. Represent!
This isn’t the first time BG has gotten a little Webby Love. In 2008 we were a bona fide finalist in the same Category (Community), against some of the heavyweights that are up there again: Flickr and COLOURlovers. We wrote about it here and here.
What else can we say, except THANK YOU! to our USERS and the folks at the WEBBYS.
It ain’t Christmas but it might feel like it over at BookGlutton HQ: all through the month of April, the large square ads on BookGlutton.com are HALF OFF! It’s a great deal. You send us a 250 x 250 image or, heck, we’ll even design it for you, and then in under 48 hours it’s in the site ad rotation.
If you are a writer or publisher this is a great opportunity to target real readers. Announce an upcoming book, link to your author site, point to your blog – there are many options. Here’s the Standard Ad size:
What does an ad cost?
1 month = $100 $50
3 months = $250 $125
Can you give me more info about BookGlutton?
Sure. BookGlutton Factoids:
For more information or to sign up, check out our ad page, or get to it at any time under “Advertise” in the footer.
Publishers! BookGlutton has a free content management system that reads EPUB, incorporates Onix, and uses the agency model. The BookGlutton Publisher Program lets you:
* -Maintain your publisher profile page
* -Interact directly with your readers and customers
* -Maintain a catalog of your EPUB titles
* -Instantly publish on a per-title basis
* -Control whether your files may be downloaded or not
* -Set your own prices on titles, changing them at any time
* -See real-time sales reports across all titles
* -Receive notifications whenever a title is sold
The basic steps to selling books with us are:
1. After signing up for the Publisher Program, upload a DRM-free EPUB file (for those not using an Onix feed).
2. Set any metadata not contained in the file, including price and cover image. You can set an ISBN to pull in GoodReads reviews, adjust price at any time, flip on download-capability using this menu.
3. Preview and publish the title, from the same menu.
You’ll always have a page that tells you which titles have sold the most, how much you’ve made, and what you’re owed. You can also set different email address to handle sales notifications and follow requests.
You automatically get a Publisher Page: post a logo, use the wall for announcements, manage followers, and show recently added books.
Signing up to become a publisher is easy and can be done at the bottom of any page
We’ve tricked out the BookGlutton content feed for Stanza! Check it out on your iPhone by downloading the Stanza App and going to Online Catalog > Books from BookGlutton.
Drilling down through the catalog to a Book Detail Page shows off the new design. Now you can tell how many times the book has been read on BookGlutton (Opens) and how many people have checked out the Detail Page on BookGlutton.com (Views). We also touched up the design to have more emphasis on cover art.
Scroll down to get detailed information, like a longer description, as well as the option to jump out to the BookGlutton.com mobile site. It opens in Safari, right inside Stanza! If, on the off chance, a publisher hasn’t cleared something for download, you can still access it inside Stanza – it just opens it via the mobile site right here. For most books, Stanza’s built in functionality is the norm, though, and you can download the title, just like you always have.
The new catalog arrangement now has the ability to find books by Publisher, as well as by Catalog. “Catalog?” you ask? Well, yes. The Unbound Reader on BookGlutton.com allows you to import from additional catalogs, so you can now do that here as well. Moreover, the Genres now match what you see on the BookGlutton site.
Finally, don’t forget the Surprise Me link!
Miss the January Newsletter? Read it HERE. Last month we introduced the mobile site, as well as updated you on recent press happenings, new books and helper videos.
Downloading is here! Grab a backup of the files you read socially on BookGlutton.com and store them for safe keeping. Most people prefer to read on online, via computer or phone – that’s much easier than dragging a file around. And of course, if you’re looking to talk to anyone about what you’re reading, BookGlutton is the best way to do it. But we get what you’ve been saying: it’s nice to have the option of downloading files. If the Publisher is game, so are we.
ISN’T THIS A STEP BACKWARD?
Not really. Most people are happy to read online and don”t really want to warehouse a file. But to the people who want to own something a little more tangible (well, as tangible as 1’s and 0’s can get), now you can feel like you’ve got things covered.
WHICH FILES CAN BE DOWNLOADED?
Most, but it depends on the publisher. If a publisher says it’s okay, we allow the download. Naturally if the book has a price attached you’ll need to buy it before that download button delivers.
WHAT FORMAT?
EPUB all the way, brother. It’s what we use on the backend, which is why we can flip it on like that.
WHERE ON THE SITE CAN I DO THIS?
Do this on any book detail page, right column; look for the icon that matches the giant one pictured here.
Read, chat and annotate on your laptop, then take the book with you via your phone. Read the press release: http://bookglutton.com/PR/bookglutton_goes_mobile_press_release_1202010.pdf
Here’s what we said in the January Newsletter:
BookGlutton has launched a mobile reading experience! Fire up your iPhone or Android phone, open a browser and head to http://www.BookGlutton.com to see the new, streamlined version. Access your books on the go and pick up where you left off on other devices!
The mobile site keeps you up to date: browse the catalog, see what others are reading, or jump into a random book.
READING ON THE GO On BookGlutton Mobile the maximum space has been cleared for text. Tap the right or left side of the screen to move through the book, tap the center to slide your menu up. Change font size, peruse the Table of Contents, and see where you are in the book.
READING ACROSS DEVICES Log in and pick up where you left off on your laptop for a seamless reading experience across all your devices. Instead of requiring you to download an app, BookGlutton has taken reading into the cloud.
COMMUNITY & COLLECTIONS Access your wall to stay on top of what people want to tell you – we’ve streamlined profile pages so just your wall postings show. You can also get to your friend list to see what books people have been reading
FrontMatters 
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