Tag Archives: Publishing

The Future of Digital Books?

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There has been a lot of talk lately about the future of the publishing industry and the surge of digital publishing alternatives. The latest come from an article in the New York Times, which mentions upstarts Vook, WEBook, and Wattpad as new alternatives for authors looking to bypass the traditional publishing channels in order to control their own distribution. As adoption of digital editions increases, new tools continue to become available to publish and read the “digital word”.

YUDU had its start in the publishing industry almost a decade ago and has seen an evolution occur before its eyes. While printed books or magazines may never be completely replaced, digital editions offer rich interactivity unlike any other. The development team at YUDU has built a multimedia platform from the ground up in order to combine print, audio, and video for a complete sensory experience.

According to the New York Times Article, Sara Nelson, the former editor of Publishers Weekly and a publishing industry consultant, said “If you are going to put video in a book, it has to flow so naturally into the story that readers don’t even realize they are switching mediums.” As digital editions evolve, they will continue to improve the reading experience by making multimedia seamless.

While YUDU offers a rich interactive publishing platform, it will continue to evolve and add features that simplify the interface, improve the experience, and increase access.  Currently, YUDU is the only platform to offer both multimedia publications as well as a marketplace to sell them, however, as other technologies catch up it becomes even more important to find easy access to a source for great content. As the experience continues to improve, so will the adoption. Now is the time to experience digital books for yourself. Start with the YUDU library and tell us what you think.

How do you see yourself using digital books?

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Digital Magazines Drive Increased Advertising Revenue

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The traditional media world is suffering. Having been supported by advertisers for years, traditional media is becoming more and more fragmented and more “eyeballs” are moving online for their news and entertainment. Many media outlets are responding by raising their prices to maintain current revenue numbers. It’s no wonder that traditional media outlets are struggling to attract advertisers that see the value in declining readers combined with increased pricing.

However, what is beginning to flourish are niche magazines focused on targeted audiences. These niche publications are able to offer lower rates to advertisers because of lower overhead (due to the elimination of printing and materials) and are able to offer much more targeted results. As more eyeballs are moving online, readership of these niche publications is increasing as well.

Digital magazines are able to offer a multimedia experience that is simply not possible in a printed publication. With YUDU’s self publishing tool, you can even create live links within a digital magazine that link directly to the advertiser’s website. This ability to immediately react to an ad with a request for more information is invaluable to advertisers. In addition, with YUDU you can add audio, video, and even Flash animation to your publication.

Here are a couple of wonderful examples from the YUDU eMarketplace:

Natural Awakenings is a magazine and community focused on healthier, more balanced life. It also focuses on particular geographic areas with both content and advertising. It’s latest digital edition for Southwestern Virginia, for example, can be found here.

Muchmor Canada Magazine is a publication we covered previously on our blog. It is a lifestyle magazine for those living in, or looking to relocate to, Canada. Their latest edition can be found here.

The Adventure Cycling Association puts out their own magazine, Adventure Cyclist, as a way to add value to its recreational bicycling membership.

There is even a weekly Employment Guide for the Portland/Vancouver area.

The possibilities are endless. If there is a niche audience to be reached, digital magazines are a great way to target them with great content and relevant advertising.

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Do You Love Canada As Much As We Do?

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Chris and Jane Toombes, Owners and Editors of Muchmor Canada Magazine, have a not-so-familiar story. Both were marketing executives for some of the largest firms in the UK but were looking for a change. As Brits looking to emigrate to Canada, they not only fell in love with their new home, but learned a few things about the immigration process. They launched a blog-style website packed with information about the immigration process and Canada itself to help smooth the process for those who followed after them.

The website became so popular that in 2004 Muchmor launched a newsletter to accompany the website. As readership grew into the thousands, Muchmor decided to re-launch the newsletter as a full-fledged monthly digital magazine.

Muchmor Canada Magazine has evolved since its launch in November, 2005. Originally aimed at people looking to move to Canada, its readership was predominately people from Europe and the USA who were looking to make Canada their home. However, as more local residents read the magazine, it shifted to more of a Canadian lifestyle format with sections for immigration and relocation.

Muchmor Media is now expanding its properties to include MBN Magazine as a complement to its social network, which targets Canadian small businesses with networking, information, and advertising opportunities. Muchmor Media also provides marketing consulting services for small businesses and a Press Release service for Ontario-based businesses.

Muchmor prefers the YUDU digital format for its magazines not only because it gives Muchmor easier access to its worldwide audience, but according to Jane, “we are able to offer contributors and advertisers the benefit of interactive links in editorial and adverts allowing readers to click on and be forwarded to the advertisers website at the point of interest, something a printed publication is unable to do.” Also, according to Jane, “because we have no printing costs our overheads are lower and we can pass these savings on in the form of low advertising rates.”

Why go to all the trouble to create an entire publication dedicated to emigrating to and living in Canada? “Muchmor Canada Magazine evolved from our love of Canada we hope that this comes across in the magazine.”

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YUDU Wins Digital Magazine Delivery Company of the Year

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YUDU Media was once again recognized for its innovation and dedication to service. The Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) recognized YUDU Media as the Digital Magazine Delivery Company of the Year at their Magazine Production Awards 2008 event.

The PPA is the association for publishers and providers of consumer, customer and business media in the UK. PPA’s role is to promote and protect the interests of the industry in general, and member companies in particular. The association’s membership consists of almost 300 publishing companies, who together publish more than 2,500 consumer, business and professional magazines.

We here at YUDU would like to thank the PPA for the recognition. More importantly, we would like to thank YOU, our customers, partners, and the passionate evangelists that promote YUDU all over the world.

For a complete listing of the awards we have won (and keep winning), view our awards brochure here.

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Going Green…And Digital

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Ecoforyou has a mission – to bring you the latest news on the environment, green living, and corporate social responsibility without destroying the environment in the process. The digital only green magazine is built entirely on top of YUDU’s ePublishing platform and utilizes all of YUDU’s incredible features, such as live links, embedded Flash, video, and audio – and even e-mail collection.

By not creating a printed edition, is aiming to be a “100% carbon neutral publication.” The monthly publication is offered for free to subscribers. You can sign up at the Ecoforyou website and a link to the monthly editions is e-mailed directly to your inbox. It’s first edition was launched on the first of October.

According to the website, Each issue features:

  • Latest eco news
  • Tips on going green
  • Facts & features
  • Sustainable shopping
  • Green gadgets & gizmos
  • Networking opportunities

To find out more, visit http://www.ecoforyou.co.uk.

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Giving Academics a Voice

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We love to talk about experts here at YUDU. After all, that’s what we are all about – giving experts a voice!

Every once in a while we come across cool sites that we have to tell you about. One such site is Pronetos. Pronetos is a social community for academics. It is a place for professors, PhD candidates, researchers, and any others in the academic elite to come together, discuss, share, and publish their work – a great concept that has been a long time coming!

What we love about Pronetos is that it gives academics a voice. Before, they were confined to the old academic journal publishing model and getting published was a key metric for things like hiring and tenure. Under this model, only a small percentage of articles actually submitted were published. However, the authors of the articles had to sign over all rights during the submission process. That means the vast majority of knowledge shared by the world’s academics went unpublished.

Finally, using social media technology, academics have a chance to share their expertise with the world. YUDU and Pronetos are kindred spirits in that sense.

Any other examples of cool sites giving experts a voice?