links for 2008-10-30

• The Column - October 2008 - Page BB2
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Nxtbook Media Now Offers Kindle Support

Nxtbook Media is proud to be the first digital magazine producer to provide content on the Amazon Kindle, the most successful e-Ink device to date. Publishers using the Nxtbook Media platform will now have the ability to have their content viewed on a device that continues to gather support both online and from personalities like Oprah Winfrey.

Digital magazines can be accessed from the Kindle via the device’s integrated browser. Though users will find this feature on the Kindle’s "Experimental" menu, reading the Nxtbook is no different than reading a book on the device.

"Rather than serving up oversized pages and artwork to a device which lacks color and brilliant resolution, users of the Kindle will receive a modified version of Nxtbook Liberty, our text-based solution which has been developed for screen readers and mobile devices," says Marketing Director Marcus Grimm. "Developing a Kindle-specific version was a natural extension of a product that’s designed to take magazine content to new places. Though it would’ve been just as easy to serve up magazines in their original format, the text version delivers content in a manner which the intended audience has already pledged their approval of.

Nxtbook also says that Kindle support will be offered at no additional cost to customers of Nxtbook Media’s Liberty program. "As people use an ever growing array of devices to get content, it would be wrong for us to charge simply to reach a specific device, as other companies have for the iPhone. The Liberty program is our way to ensure publishers their content will appear across the spectrum of emerging devices. Moreover, until the Kindle moves the web browser from the "Experimental" menu, we expect to continue development as both they and us refine the web surfing process on the device."

A Grand Idea…

Paid content struggles to get around online, which is why it’s always cool to see a publisher with paid content offering the digital edition for free online. GRAND Magazine is a very slick publication for grandparents. Their business model? See print subscriptions, but offer digital for free. Contrary to fears, this won’t hurt paid subs. and will lead to additional benefits:

* ability for potential subscribers to see the magazine in print
* ability for GRAND to position itself as a cutting edge brand
* ability for GRAND to offer advertisers premium opportunities
* ability to GRAND to send other promotional offers to digital subscribers (who trade their e-mail in exchange for the digital sub)

Congratulations on a smart launch, GRAND!

The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling…

To hum an Anne Murray tune from 1983, we sure could use a little good news today. It seems like every day brings more doom and gloom and overall Eeyored-ness to an industry that has the potential to innovate and explode from these times just as well as they have previous days (or perhaps better).

Keep in mind that amidst all the carnage are some awesome success stories. The most recent issue of LiNKED Magazine features publishers making money and building readership right now. Surely there’s an idea or three you can apply to your own organization within those pages.

If you’re a Nxtbook customer, here’s a quick tip: As we’ve said before, 1/3 of all customers are currently using their Nxtbook for revenue generation. However, a recent survey showed that nearly 70% of publishers actively using our Digital Edition Revenue Generation Guide are making money (in addition to saving money on printing and distribution). In other words, you have to make an effort and use the tools available. And if you do that, there’s a better than average chance you’ll succeed.

Digital Magazine Webinar - JOIN US!

We’re excited to announce our latest webinar, and hope you can join us! Allan Brown from Graduate Prospects and Anne Drobish from NewBay Media will be on hand to discuss what they’ve learned from their digital magazine launches! This webinar is ideal for those considering adding a digital magazine leap and for those who’ve made the leap and hope to jump higher. You can sign up for the webinar by going here.

Does Oprah’s Influence Have a (Spending) Limit?

Some are wondering if Oprah’s almost-holiday-shopping-season endorsement of the Amazon Kindle will lead to a run on the product. It’s hard to say - no doubt she can sell $20 books all day (and night) long. But $400 gadgets? Stay tuned. UPDATE: Use Oprah’s influence to save $50 on the Kindle.

In other e-inkish news, the Plastic Logic reader showed up on a CNN video the other day. It’s no Oprah, but it’s a start.

Nxtbook @ FOLIO

Here’s a video preview of our Digital Magazine Revenue Generation Guide which was shot at the recent FOLIO show.

We’re Number 10!

Hey, you take it where you can get it… Forbes has listed Lancaster, PA as the 10th best place to ride out the economy. They talked about the low unemployment rate (We’ve helped that one!) and the fact when the rest of the country was super hot w/ housing, we were only super warm.

Like everyone else, we’re preparing for the remainder of 2008 and 2009 to be an interesting year, but our recession-insulated location is just one reason we’re expecting next year to be even better than the past one.

The Best Rex Hammock Quote of the Week…

Asking people if they use RSS is like asking people what size air filter goes in their car.

Click here for Rex’s take on if blogs are dying and if anybody uses RSS. While many publishers still don’t know what to do with the RSS feeds of their digital magazines, we’ve been including one (for free) for our customers for two years because - while you don’t know exactly what the air filter does, it makes for a much smoother ride when you have one.

Tremendous Jones - R.I.P.

Pennsylvania author and motivational superstar Charlie "Tremendous" Jones has died.

In 1993, I was a very young copier salesman who had the luck to be selling in the territory that included Charlie’s bookstore. I walked in, amazed to have stumbled into the office of someone’s whose books had helped get me through many long weeks of cold calls.

Though I was a stranger to him, when Charlie learned that I’d read some of his works, he wrapped me up in a huge bear hug. He spent the next hour giving me a guided tour of the bookstore. As I recall, in the end I left with about ten books - but he only charged me for three of them.

In many ways, his style was so old-school that he could be misconstrued as being out of touch. But then again, maybe not. Charlie’s signature line was, "Five year from now you’ll be the same person you are today, except for the books you read and the people you meet." When I juxtapose that line with the fact that digital publishing is making it easier for people to read new content and social media is making it effortless to build relationships across oceans, it’s not too hard to think that maybe Charlie was more right than ever.

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