Alternative Business Models in EM

Some interesting "new" models.
Some are public domain, but the majority are copyrighted based on adds.
Some, such as Freeload, seems to have some pretty well developed DRM protections,since they also offer paid-copies in different formats.

Models with Books in Public Domain

• Authorama

  Authorama is a project by German blogger and programmer Philipp Lenssen to create a non-comprehensive repository of public domain books in "easily readable HTML format" (Lenssen). Using textual sources such as Project Gutenberg, Lenssen formats a more or less random assortment of public domain fiction and non-fiction works into XHTML 1 Strict and chapterizes them for easier reading through the Authorama website. The status of the project is unknown. Lenssen, who appears to be the sole maintainer of the website, has a full list of his projects and websites at http://www.outer-court.com/ and can be contacted at info[at]authorama[dot]com.

• Literature.org - The Online Literature Library

  Similar to Authorama, Literature.org is a project run by enthusiasts to provide "full and unabridged texts of classic works of English literature", already in the public domain ('An Online Library of Literature'). The project uses previously transcribed content at such sites as Wiretap and Project Gutenberg ('Literature.org FAQ'), re-formatted in HTML and cataloged according to author's name. The status of the project is unknown. The Literature.org domain name is registered under Peter Galbavy and supposedly supported by Knowledge Matters Ltd. (also run by Peter Galbavy), whose contact is listed as peter[at]literature[dot]org.

Models with Copyrighted Books

• BookBoon

  BookBoon.com is an online publisher of free ebooks, downloadable in PDF format, and containing "relevant advertisements on every third page on average" [[Bibliography for Item 11 in EM|('About BookBoon')]. "The books are targeted at engineering students, IT students, and students of economy and finance" [[Bibliography for Item 11 in EM|(ibid.)]. All titles are written for and only available from BookBoon. BookBoon.com is owned and run by the Danish company Ventus Publishing ApS; the website claims that it is the fastest growing publishing house in Europe, that 2 million of their books are downloaded a year, and that a maximum of four advertisers will be in any single ebook [[Bibliography for Item 11 in EM|('Information for advertisers')]. They also offer free travel guides.

• Flat World Knowledge - Open Source textbooks. See:
  
  • Flat World Knowledge: an open-source textbook revolution?
    

• Freeload Press and TextBookMedia
  • TextBookMedia hold the patent ELECTRONIC PUBLICATION ADVERTISING SYSTEM
  • User statistics of TextBookMedia

• Pharmpedia

Established Publishers

• Selling eTextbooks via College Bookstore Kiosks
  • see NACS Press Release: http://www.nacs.org/news/091908-ms.asp?id=cm

• SafariU
  • "SafariU is a new custom publishing service offered by O'Reilly Media, Inc. and The Pearson Technology Group. An alternative to expensive print textbooks or print-on-demand services, this innovative Web-based education portal allows academic instructors and corporate trainers to create custom print books, build online syllabi, and share learning objects for Computer Science and Information Technology courses. Educators can easily compile and publish just the information they choose to teach—in print and online—and save students a good bit of money over the cost of primary and supplementary texts." (https://safari-u.dev.java.net/)

• HarperStudio
  • Not EM, just alternative publishing ideas
  • 50/50 royalties scheme with authors
  • Bundling: physical book + free audiobook and ebook versions
  • Selling iTunes-like gift cards for ebooks at physical bookstores
  • See relevant blog post + comments!!: Why E-Books Cost Money to Publish

Independent publishing

In general association or author experimentation

• Principles of Marketing
• Making Photographs
• Math Open Ref (geometry)
• Psychology 101
• The Open Life: Philosophy of Open Source
• The Scientist and Engineer's Guide to Digital Signal Processing

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/07/18/textbooks_free_and_illegal_online/

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/19/1316227

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-textbook18-2008aug18,0,4712858.story

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3375/textbook-marketing-radiohead-style

Navigation

Bibliography for Item 11 in EM
Back to Educational Materials
Back to Report April 2009#Educational Materials