Comments on: Let’s help a George Washington Univ. senior’s project

By: Daniel Udsen

Daniel Udsen — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:09:10 +0000

i though someone should at least mention Thomson reuters and the rather big revenue they take away from providing rather digital libaries of articles and ebooks in a wery domain specific area.

Encyclopedia britania and microsoft encarta is different examples of almost E-only publishers with what looks like a viable business.

It might not fit strictly into the definition but again it’s often when your offer isnt just what everyone else imagine the right thing is that things go interesting. i would personally be much more intested in business models that isnt based on the same asumptions as the kindle or the sony store.

By: Cat Faber

Cat Faber — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 02:28:50 +0000

Baen Books and FictionWise sell books in many formats that can be read on readers, computers or PDAs.

One thing you’ll need to keep in mind is the number of competing formats means that you’ll either have to choose one section of the market (just Sony Reader format, or just Mobipocket format (which is at least widely available) or just something else (ePUB?)), or you’ll have to be able to translate your offerings into many formats (manybooks.net does this with free Gutenber Project e-books).

Digital rights management adds another layer of complexity, for you and your readers, that you might do well to avoid if possible.

Baen does quite well without DRM and I believe FictionWise does also; you might consult them on the issue.

By: alex

alex — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 01:22:37 +0000

I think that a good place to start would be to look at the major players such as Amazon and Sony as well as the newcomers Plastic Logic and Readius and see how and why their business approaches differ. Also take a look at websites that are focused on high volume low cost sales such as fictionwise. You can also take a look at sites like scribd.com that allow almost anyone the chance to publish and distribute their own works.

By: J. v. D.

J. v. D. — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:12:09 +0000

Well great to see another student think alike! I’m doing the same project with three other students as well! But we’ve even taken the idea a little bit further than the initial plan of an e-reading service. Because we’re not doing this as a study project but are planning to get this project commercially viable we are not ready to completely open up about the idea. However we would really like to share our insight of the market and the research we’ve been doing with Allison. I think we can learn a lot and help eachother in this way!

Just a simple recommendation instead of answering the questions (which isn’t possible in a small comment anyway), read the e-reading blogs and look up info about the devices on the gizmodo’s and engadgets because all the answers are in there already! You might need some help on the consumer market information but there are quit a lot of reports and outlooks available through the websites off all kinds of consultancy companies.

So if Allison wants to contact me, just give me here email address

By: Garson O'Toole

Garson O'Toole — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:49:15 +0000

Allison writes “I am in the process of creating a business plan for an e-book subscription service.”

NetLibrary and Overdrive operate in a sector that is distinct from but closely related to the target business mentioned. These two organizations both provide collections of e-books and electronic audiobooks to libraries that then lend individual items to the general public. Libraries also sometimes provide access to collections via websites without the option of downloading.

These companies may be worth contacting to see if they are willing to share any data or contract details. Maybe some information is available via government records for the libraries that are public institutions. How much does a library pay to use the services of NetLibrary or OverDrive? How many items are utilized by patrons during a given time period? How has this changed over time? A gregarious branch librarian might provide a helpful perspective here.

Overdrive actually has an expansive mission according to their website. They provide services to libraries, schools, publishers, retailers and enterprises that are aimed at enabling them to “securely manage, protect, and lend or sell digital audiobooks, eBooks, music, and videos.” Missing from the list of Overdrive customers are individual consumers.

NetLibrary is a division of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center), a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization. There website states that more than 69,000 libraries in 112 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials.

I apologize if the above was already obvious to you. Also, sorry for not providing any data and instead giving possible pointers to data.