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Stanza tips for bookstores and writers: How to SELL ePub books for the iPhone and iPod Touch
November 18, 2008 | 12:18 pm
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By David Rothman
Stanza is one of the hottest e-book apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch, with more than 500,000 downloads. New York Times columnist J.D. Biersdorfer recently recommended Stanza in Tip of the Week: Turn your iPhone into an e-book.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could sell your e-books to Stanza’s growing number of iPhone-toting fans? By now, more than a few of these readers might want to extend their horizons beyond free public domain books. Just the other day, All Romance eBooks said it was offering Stanza-readable books for direct download.
Want to do the same? Or are you a reader eager to have your favorite bookseller accommodate your iPhone or Touch? Check out the Stanza Bookseller page. Within the Stanza FAQ, here are some handy links:
- How can I link to a book on my web page so that it launches Stanza on the iPhone/iPod Touch?
- How can I integrate with Lexcycle’s Online Catalog?
- How can I create ePub files from my books?
- I am a bookseller. How can I make my books readable on Stanza iPhone/iPod?
Important update, 11:11 p.m.: See Jane Litte’s comment, posted this afternoon. Jane couldn’t bring up a whole book for direct downloading from All Romance eBooks—just an excerpt
But bookstore COO Lori James tells me that Jane "didn’t click on the link to purchase the book at the end of the excerpt. If she had, she would have been taken directly to the page where she could add the book to her cart and check out…
"This isn’t an erroneous claim," Lori says. "It’s really working rather fabulously, and we’ve been hearing for the past couple days from lots of happy users." Read Lori’s comment.
I’ve asked Jane to see for herself if the above works, as I expect it will. Meanwhile I wonder if Lori’s store might not want to change the interface so people see the "buy" button at or near the start of the excerpt, too—not just the end.
The e-commerce angle: Generic specifics can be found elsewhere. But, yes, it is possible to use Stanza with many existing systems.
Tip: Stanza will work with oodles of formats, but ePub is the flagship one—the choice that displays best and offers goodies like italics.
The DRM issue: While Stanza does not support DRM, I myself am hoping that it can work with booksellers to establish a DRMless ecosystem built around ePub. Owners of the ePub-capable Sony PRS-505 and PRS-700 would also benefit.
Share your successes and knowledge: Booksellers and writers can share other pointers/tips here and brag of Stanza success stories to encourage others. Same for similar DRMless reading systems that allow direct downloads.
Reminder: eReader, though a proprietary format, is another possibility for the iPhone/Touch market, and I suspect that Fictionwise, the format’s owners, can happily work out arrangements with other stores. eReader offers direct download capabilities. If Mobipocket won’t give us sophisticated iPhone capabilities in a timely way, then it’s time for the e-book world to get more serious about alternatives.
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Comments:
This Stanza + ARE is a little misleading (not from you but from ARE and Stanza). There is no way to directly purchase an ARE book from inside Stanza. The files available are just short excerpts – one or two iphone pages. There is no direct link from inside the Stanza to ARE for purchase. Instead, you have to close out of Stanza, go to Safari, type in ARE. The ARE site is not optimized for the iphone. To some extent it is like Fictionwise/eReader relationship.
Appreciated the additional info, Jane; let’s hope that ARE’s Stanza arrangements can improve. David
Yeah, I was pretty excited when I first heard about it but was disappointed in the execution. I don’t think it’s very usable at this point.
Personally, I am really pulling for Stanza; not because I think it is the best eReader application for the iPhone (I think it lacks some key features.. since it doesn’t support images or style sheets in the iphone itself), but because it does not support DRM.
Ultimately, even if only 1 in 5 who download stanza actually get hooked on ebooks, that makes a very large market for e-books, perhaps too large to ignore. The more readers out there that use DRM free reading platforms, the more likely it is that publishers will realize that they are ignoring a potentially huge market.
Stanza seems to work great in terms of free downloads. My opinion is that for starting a real ecosystem around the ebook, one has to generate some cash. So what will be the ebook sales if the user has to pay for the content?
In fact there is another pretty good reading software on the iPhone which proposes contempoerary titles you have to pay for: Fictionwise eReader. Thus the question becomes, what are the Fictionwise figures for the iPhone?
Jane and David -
You can purchase directly from Stanza. When you get to the end of the excerpt, there is a link to purchase the full link. You just touch the link. You don’t have to close out Stanza. Safari will open. Stanza doesn’t have a shopping cart. You pay ARe for the purchase. A link displays at the end of the pay sequence. Click the ePub link and the book opens automatically in Stanza. It’s a pretty seamless process. I found this blog earlier today where screen shots were posted. We are looking for feedback from early adopters and we do intend to keep refining the process. So please – do try it out and do send suggestions. With continued input from the users I know we can make this work better and better as time goes on.
http://www.teddypig.com/2008/11/all-romance-ebooks-on-stanza-ebook-buyers-update/
Lori James
COO
All Romance eBooks
I sat down on Sunday with the iTouch to test this new Stanza/ARe feature, I followed the directions that ARe mailed to their customers and I was able to purchase without closing Stanza by following the link at the end of the excerpt. I purchased a book and it opened automatically in stanza no problem.
I have to say so far I am very pleased with the Stanza application.
Lori, many thanks for your note, to which I’ve linked from the original post. I hope some good comes out of this. As noted, you might want to tweak the interface so the “buy” is harder to overlook.
David
I would not purchase anything from Stanza, but that;s because I prefer to always have a backup copy on my computer, and there is no easy way (perhaps this is the iPod’s fault, not Stanza’s) to transfer files back and forth. I really like the Fictionwise/eReader pairing because I can download right from the iPhone, but also log into the same account while on my computer and download backup copies. And if it is a non-DRM multi-format book, I can download backup copies in other formats too, for example to read on the eBookwise. Much more flexible for me than something where you buy only on the device, like the Kindle or Stanza.
Ficbot,
You can do the same thing with the Stanza/ARe interface.
With Stanza you can download directly onto your iPhone and also log into your ARe (All Romance eBooks) account while on your computer to make back-up copies. The books in our custom Stanza catalog are non-DRM, and the Stanza application will allow you to make back-up copies in a many different formats, including the eReader format. You don’t have to buy just on the Stanza device. You can buy LIT, PDF, HTM, PRC, and other formats from any place and read them with Stanza Desktop (MAC or PC) or Stanza for the iphone. I’d encourage you to play with the application some more, especially if you have an iPhone or iPod touch.
Lori James
COO
All Romance eBooks
David -
I just saw your suggestion about making the buy link more prominent. I added that one to the enhancement list last night after reading Jane’s initial comment. We’re hoping to have that feature in place very soon.
Lori James
COO
All Romance eBooks
I have Stanza, and eReader. I have been using Stanza to convert my books so I can read them on eReader.
Now I don’t have too. I can purchase and read from ONE Application with ARe and Stanza. It was quick and easy. I was able to use paypal, (easier for me than a credit card).
For DRM (digital rights managed) I will still have to use eReader, but for everything else I can use Stanza and I don’t have to touch my computer at all. Ya!!!
Nice going, Lori. A more prominent buy link would help a lot; I could very well have made the same mistake that Jane apparently did. Keep us updated as your system evolves. The gold standard, of course, would be “Kindle-simple” so people didn’t even have to worry about the B word (browser).
Thanks,
David
Here is a link with a more detailed explanation of how it works and another satisfied customer.
http://www.teddypig.com/2008/11/all-romance-ebooks-on-stanza-ebook-buyers-update/
I can’t seem to get this to work (but then I can’t get the BooksonBoard thing to work either so my iPhone tech skills may be called into question). Whenever I tap on the area with the link, it brings up menu screen for the Stanza. I am glad that it works for other people.
@Mike – I have already been changing my buying habits from MS Lit to eReader because I really love the notes feature on the eReader program. There are some quirks with Stanza GUI that I don’t love. (Although the cover flow book art is awesome).
Jane, as noted in my latest Stanza-related post, I really hope you and Lexcycle and/or BooksOnBoard can solve the mystery. At the very least, the documentation may need to be improved. Or perhaps there’s a Stanza or iPhone glitch. We also need to see about the backup issue. Here’s to hands-on stuff of the kind you’re doing! If you’re having trouble, others may. You’re way above average in tech savvy.
Question: You’re using the latest Stanza, aren’t you? I wonder if that could make a difference.
Thanks,
David
David -
The more prominent ADD TO CART button has been added before the excerpt so that readers will see it more clearly.
Jane -
I’m going to offer to give you a call. I think I know what the issue is. I was experiencing the same thing when I was a new user.
Lori James
COO
All Romance eBooks
Regarding the backup issue, do note that all your books are backed up to your computer every time you sync your iPhone or iPod with iTunes. The backups are in an opaque format, but should you somehow lose the book or for other reasons need to restore your collection, you are able to restore the book from a backup.
Note also that books purchased for Stanza are in the standard ePub format. Most storefronts will allow you to download the book multiple times, meaning that you can take the same book and read it in Digital Editions or on the Sony Reader. There is no device lock-in taking place here.