Gene Therapy: Embracing E-books

The primary purpose of the Reader, of course, is to introduce the convenience, economies and portability of e-books to consumers. As with all re-flowable reading devices and platforms, the books that most benefit are one-color general trade and reference works that do not have complex text and graphic element structures. (Because text can flow freely into the available screen area when, for instance, font sizes are increased, tying text to graphical elements is a challenge.) However, the Reader sports eight shades of grey, and handles images and illustrations quite well, according to Daniel Albohn, Sony Reader manager of new business development, who for the past six years has been working in the publishing industry’s digital space, and is seen regularly at IDPF, BookExpo America and many other industry gatherings evangelizing for the Reader and strengthening Sony’s relationships with publishers and librarians.

A major goal of Sony’s eBook Store (eBookstore.Sony.com), which features more than 50,000 titles, is to make available the most popular and sought-after fiction and nonfiction along with a solid backlist from large, mid-size and smaller trade publishers, according to Albohn.

Publishers wishing to make e-book titles available for the Sony Reader can execute a simple terms-of-sale agreement with the Sony Store by contacting Kelley Allen, director of eBooks acquisition, at Kelley.Allen@SonyConnect.com. Allen, a veteran of the fledgling e-book space, joined Sony after stints at Random House, e-Reader, Hachette and Warren Adler’s Stonehouse Press, according to Sony.

Most commonly, making a title available in the Sony Reader format is an element of a publisher’s total commitment to e-books for any given title or list. Most major conversion houses (mentioned in Part I of this column) will include the Sony Reader format among the multiple platforms they produce, and will also handle the distribution of files and metadata to Sony.