Web Development

When your stock-in-trade is information that drives innovation, people expect you to be on the leading edge. And so it is with the scientific, medical and technical (STM) publishing sector. While the STM market faces similar challenges to the rest of the publishing industry, its willingness to embrace electronic platforms and develop innovative revenue streams has positioned it well in the face of new competition brought about by the expansion of digital media. “The biggest challenge has been mastered, and that is the transition from paper to electronic for STM content,” notes Derk Haank, CEO of Springer Science + Business Media, the world’s

Audiobook sales were an estimated $923 million in 2006, a 6 percent increase over the previous year, according to the 2007 APA Sales Survey. The survey was released by Princeton Junction, N.J.-based Audio Publishers Association, a not-for-profit trade association, and analyzed 2006 sales data from a range of sales channels. Survey results also indicated that CD sales made up 77 percent of total audiobook sales, up from 74 percent the previous year. Cassette sales continued a steady decline, representing only 7 percent of sales compared to 16 percent in 2005, 30 percent in 2004 and 45 percent in 2003. Conversely, download sales continued to

Travel media company Lonely Planet, publisher of the Lonely Planet travel guidebooks, announced a partnership this week with Tempe, Ariz.-based Limelight Networks, a content delivery network (CDN) for digital media. Limelight will drive Lonely Planet’s new LonelyPlanet.tv travel video channel, which offers original travel programming via the Internet. “Choosing Limelight’s content delivery network has proven to be a smart business decision for our roll-out of LonelyPlanet.tv,” said Sohail Dahdal, digital manager, LonelyPlanet.tv. “We looked at all the different streaming services and found that Limelight was best-equipped to accommodate our future growth. Limelight’s infrastructure allows sites such as ours to rapidly grow and develop as

In the first half of this decade, sales were skyrocketing for LeapFrog SchoolHouse—a division of LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. and publisher of interactive, research-based assessment and curriculum content for the PreK-8 education market. The Emeryville, Calif.-based company saw a boom in net sales from $8.8 million in 2001 to $55.2 million in 2004. In 2005, however, the company faced some hard (and controversial) times, and its sales began to drop. Last winter, LeapFrog SchoolHouse made a number of changes to get the company back on a growth track, including restructuring the organization, hiring a new president and focusing on its strongest segment within the

HarperCollins Publishers has announced that it is making digital content available for the iPhone platform. The pilot program will allow users to sample from 14 new HarperCollins titles, available online, in an iPhone-compatible format via the HarperCollins Browse Inside application. Browse Inside allows consumers to view pages of HarperCollins titles online. LibreDigital—a division of NewsStand Inc., and strategic partner in the development of HarperCollins’ global digital warehouse and its online application—has adapted Browse Inside for the iPhone platform. iPhone users will be able to view the first 10 pages of chapters one and two of 14 books, with the option to click to

Martin Rowe labels his view of the book business “cynically optimistic.” The director of publishing for Lantern Books, a relatively small, independent publisher of spiritual, social, environmental and animal advocacy titles, Rowe draws upon a diverse career that has led to his well-rounded view of the business of book publishing. And this view, he says, is changing as rapidly as the industry itself. Prior to co-founding New York-based Lantern Books with the company’s CEO and president, Gene Gollogly, Rowe held positions in distribution, research and promotions, as an author, and in a handful of other roles that even included a job in a bookstore.

he idea is pretty straightforward: Release a book, create a Web site to go along with it, and, voila, you’ve got yourself a surefire marketing tool. Just putting something on the Web is no guarantee of success, however, which may be why, for many publishers, this simple formula ends up having a lot of variations. Book-companion Web sites—portals providing access to authors, blogs, online forums, games, contests and other multimedia offerings—play a significant role in the world of online book promotion. Standing at the intersection of traditional, publisher-designed marketing strategies, author-driven promotion and self-perpetuating “viral” marketing, thoughtfully planned book-companion Web sites offer

The June release of British writer Ian McEwan’s “On Chesil Beach” was accompanied by screenings of a 28-minute film profiling the author at dozens of bookstores in the United States. According to producer Powell’s Books, the film aimed to go beyond the traditional author reading to inspire “spirited discussion about great new books and their impact on readers’ lives.” This was, perhaps, an innovative and effective tool for promoting McEwan. But if proponents of the emerging tool of webcasting are proven right, the logistical challenges accompanying such an operation (and those inherent in luring a finite set of audience members to bookstores to watch

Italian author Robert Bernocco has completed his first book, which he wrote completely on a mobile phone and it will be published on Lulu.com, an online marketplace for digital content. The 384-page sci-fi novel, “Fellow Travellers,” was written on Bernocco’s daily commute to work on the train, via his Nokia 6630 phone, using the T9 system. “We live in an age when individuals are strapped for time due to work and family commitments, and this can often stifle creativity,” said Cristel Lee Leed, European vice president, Lulu.com. “Mr. Bernocco is a great example of the type of author we often encounter on Lulu—he has

Simon & Schuster Inc. and Internet video company TurnHere Inc. recently released the first of a series of online videos showcasing Simon & Schuster authors and sneak previews of new books. The videos are located at Simon & Schuster’s YouTube channel, BookVideos.TV. The channel will be cross-linked to many sites and also available at SimonSays.com. “By incorporating online video in our marketing efforts at BookVideos.TV and elsewhere, we are able to provide our readers with unprecedented access to their favorite authors, foster lasting emotional connections and create dedicated fans,” said Sue Fleming, vice president, online and consumer marketing for Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing