Future of eReading

eReading  FuturesWhat  do  you  think?

Monique  Sherre7monique@boxcarmarke=ng.com

Why  publish?  

• To  communicate.  • Publishing  supports  a  basic  human  desire  to  express  ideas  and  stories.

• Publishing  supports  a  basic  human  desire  to  receive  ideas  and  stories.  

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What  Is  a  Book?  Magazine?

• Reading  experience

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What  Makes  the  Reading  Experience  of  a  Magazine  Different  From  a  Book,  Website,  

Collec=on  of  Wri7en  Content?

• Anything?  • The  a7ributes  that  define  a  magazine  are  simply  different  in  

terms  of  user  experience.  

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Is  Paper  an  Essen=al  Characteris=c?

• Physical  appearance  should  not  be  confused  with  user  experience.

• Separa=on  of  content  from  form  (or  content  from  container)

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Mequoda  Summary

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http://www.MequodaFree.com

7  Core  Essen=als  

Magazines  are:1. Linear2. Finite3. Periodic4. Cohesive5. Portable6. Textual7. Collec=ble

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6+1 Bonus

#1  Linear

•Designed  to  be  read  front  to  back:  covers,  table  of  contents,  series  of  ar=cles.

•Not  meant  to  be  read  in  en=rety.  Avg  =me  spent  with  avg  issue  of  a  magazine  =  1  hour.  

• Not  a  website:  hundreds  of  ar=cles,  arranged  with  taxonomies  and  hyperlinks.  Not  linear!  

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#2  Finite

• As  are  books,  movies,  but  not  websites.  Website  has  no  beginning  or  end.  You  can  never  finish.  • Magazines  offer  closure.  I  read  the  Feb  issue  of  Vanity  Fair  =  I’m  done  with  that.  

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#3  Periodic• Weekly,  monthly,  quarterly

• Delivery  based  on  how  oeen  the  user  wants  to  consume  content,  how  oeen  the  content  is  needed  and  changing

• If  you’re  a  kni7er  and  ideally  do  6  new  projects  a  year,  a  knigng  magazine  delivered  6x  a  year  is  ideal.  

• BUT  in  print,  produc=on  is  oeen  guided  by  a  print  process.  Time  to  print  on  paper,  postal  service,  costs.

• Print  to  digital  requires  a  mental  shie  –  what  is  the  organic  frequency  of  the  magazine  vs.  the  economic  frequency  imposed  by  physical  prin=ng  cycles?

• Maybe  I  want  Vanity  Fair  every  Friday  aeernoon  instead  of  monthly.  50  pages  instead  of  300?  Then  maybe  you  capture  my  a7en=on  for  an  hour  a  week  instead  of  an  hour  a  month?

• What  does  that  mean  in  terms  of  editorial?  Adver=sing?  Customer  sa=sfac=on?  Subscrip=on  reten=on  rates?

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#4  Cohesive

•Appealing  because  they  are  edited,  curated•Not  an  isolated  collec=on  of  ar=cles  but  rather  a  connected,  cohesive  series  of  content

• Frequently  introduced  by  a  Le7er  from  the  Editor  that  provides  context  for  the  issue

•Greater  than  the  sum  of  its  parts.  

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#5  Portable

• You  can  fully  experience  the  magazine  at  home,  in  the  coffee  shop,  on  the  bus

• Tablets  do  not  diminish  that  experience

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#6  Textual

• Editorial  content,  the  art  of  storytelling,  the  ability  to  write  engaging  paragraphs  of  text:  this  is  not  going  away

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#7  Collec=ble

• There  are  households  with  every  issue  of  Na=onal  Geographic  or  Reader’s  Digest

•Will  this  con=nue?

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What  do  Readers  of  the  Future  Expect?

• Content  is  available  to  them  everywhere:  desktop,  laptop,  tablet,  smartphone,  and  in  synch

• Content  is  searchable:  in  print,  content  could  only  be  searched  in  a  linear  manner  whereas  databases  allow  for  search  by  keyword,  category,  bookmark,  etc.

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Any  good  models  for  the  digital  magazine  experience?

Will  publishers  have  two  websites?  

Subscrip=on-­‐based  magazine  site  (linear,  one-­‐hour  month  experience)•   Enable  users  to  buy  and  download  individual  issues  or  12-­‐month  subscrip=on•   Powers  digital  issues  viewable  on  iPad,  tablet,  etc.  •   Searchable  archive  of  editorial  content  that  appears  in  the  magazine•   Subset  of  the  reference  site

Subscrip=on-­‐based  online  database  (reference  site)•   Different  beast•   Shorter  engagement  =mes•   One-­‐off  ar=cle  reading

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How  do  you  mone=ze  a  currently  free  digital  magazine  archive?

1.  Brand  Building• Magazines  issues  are  more  impressive  than  HTML  web  pages.  • Print  is  s=ll  associated  with  higher  quality,  curated  content  than  online.• Put  up  the  archives  as  sellable  content.  

2.  Traffic  Genera=on• Best  digital  magazine  soeware  generates  pages  with  unique  URLs  that  can  be  indexed  by  

search.• If  content  is  shareable,  it  is  discoverable.  • If  content  is  shareable,  you  can  make  it  findable  by  crea=ng  blog  posts  that  reference  and  

link  to  back  issue  content.• Back-­‐issue-­‐generated  traffic  can  produce  traffic  to  current  content

3.  Lead  Genera=on• Even  if  you  keep  the  back  issues  free,  digital  magazines  provide  a  reason  for  new  users  to  

visit  your  site,  register  for  email  newsle7ers,  download  content.  These  are  opportuni=es  to  gain  subscribers

4.  Retail  Visibility• Even  if  you  distribute  them  freely  through  Apple,  Amazon,  Zinio,  the  visibility  in  these  

channels  can  lead  to  new  customers  discovering  the  magazine

•

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By  the  Numbers2011  MPA  Survey  (magazines.org)  “The  Mobile  Magazine  Reader:  A  Custom  Study  of  Magazine  App  Users”  

• 58%  of  those  surveyed  said  they  typically  found  magazine  apps  through  the  Apple  iTunes  store  or  another  electronic  magazine  newsstand.

• 63%  reported  visi=ng  a  magazine’s  website  aTer  viewing  some  form  of  its  electronic  magazine  content.

• 55%  read  both  current  and  back  issues  than  only  reading  current  issues.

• 48%  are  “reading  fewer  copies  of  printed  magazines.”

• 77%  of  respondents  want  to  know  the  real  cost  of  a  digital  magazine  app  up  front,  without  any  confusion  in  the  message.

• 73%  “somewhat  agree”  or  “strongly  agree”  to  paying  a  fixed  amount  to  access  the  digital  magazine  content  on  any  plaXorm  or  device  they  choose.

• 70%  of  users  would  like  the  opportunity  to  purchase  products  directly  from  digital  magazine  ar=cles.

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Best  Angles  of  Approach?

•  Transform  the  best  stuff  for  digital  delivery

•  Build  websites  designed  to  a7ract  your  target  audience

•  Build  websites  that  empower  direct  to  consumer  sales

•  Build  consumer  databases

•  Build  rela=onships  with  Amazon,  Apple,  and  every  other  digital  media  retailer  who  makes  a  significant  contribu=on  to  selling  digital  books  and  periodicals

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Resources  to  Review

• h7p://www.magazine.org/• h7p://zinio.com• h7p://issuu.com/• h7ps://developer.apple.com/devcenter/ios/newsstand/

• Amazon:  Kindle  Newsstand

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Break

• Lab  on  Tues:  bring  laptops.  • Sign  up  for  Pressbooks.com

h7p://pressbooks.com/wp-­‐signup.php• Download  and  install  Sigil  

h7p://code.google.com/p/sigil/

Copyright  &  DRMDigital  Rights  Management

• Anything  that  controls  access  to  copyrighted  material  using  technological  means.

• Technology  that  controls  what  the  buyer  can  do  with  the  digital  media:  share  a  song,  read  an  ebook  on  another  device,  copy  a  DVD

• aka  Digital  Restric-ons  Management

• Takes  the  possibili=es  of  digital  technology  and  micromanages  usage  op=ons

Piracy

• File  sharing  on  peer-­‐to-­‐peer  networks

• DRM  seeks  to  limit  distribu=on  of  copyright  materials  via  these  networks

Free  Content

• Paid  content  that  the  customer  is  able  to  read,  use,  share  without  limits  of  filetype  or  device  respec=ng  the  spirit  of  copyright.

• Free  as  in  libre,  not  free  as  in  gra-s22

The  Holy  Trinity  of  DRM

1. Establish  copyright  for  a  piece  of  content2. Manage  the  distribu=on  of  that  content3. Control  what  the  consumer  can  do  with  that  

content  once  it’s  been  distributed

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User/Creator,  Content,  Usage  Rights

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Pros?  Cons?  Approaches?

• Pro:  Tool  meant  to  protect  copyright  and  revenues  for  publishers  and  authors

• Pro:  Meant  to  protect  consumers  from  poor  quality  products,  low  produc=on  values,  risks  to  hardware

• Con:  Physical  purchases  can  be  lent,  shared,  parted  with,  and  consumed  whenever,  wherever  and  however  oeen

• Con:  Makes  it  more  difficult  to  buy,  consume  (plaworm  exclusivity,  i.e.,  Kindle  book  only  on  Kindle)

Where  there  are  locks  there  are  thieves.DRM-­‐arms  race.

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Prep  for  Wed/ThursContent:  15  min  presenta=on  

• Scope  and  requirements  that  came  out  of  the  kick-­‐off  mee7ng  (remind  us  of  where  we  came  from)

• Walkthrough  the  Informa7on  Architecture  (get  us  all  on  the  same  page—naviga7on  decisions,  intended  func7onality)

• Hand  off  to  Design

Design:  30  min  presenta=on

• Present  the  basis  of  your  brand  guidelines  (broad  strokes—tone,  decisions  made  on  logo  refresh,  colours,  how  it  supports  what  you  understand  about  the  audience  and  brand)

• Walkthrough  the  design  comps

Tech:  15  min  presenta=on

• Outline  the  technical  scope  and  requirements  you  iden7fied  from  the  kick-­‐off  mee7ng

• Brief  outline  the  suggested  solu7on  (not  too  technical:  db  exports  xml  (file  format  readable  by  other  db),  wp  imports  xml;  Wordpress—why  seems  like  best  op7on,  what  tech  requirements  it  addresses)

• Demo  your  progress  (in  par7cular,  edit  an  author  profile,  show  how  easy  it  is  to  use  the  wysiwyg  editor)

• Conclude  with  next  steps  (Take  Alan/David  feedback  into  considera7on,  build  what  we  can—manage  expecta7ons  here,  ok  to  set  up  social  media  accounts)

All  Groups:  Update  your  docs