eReading: anytime. anyplace

The World Needs More Canada is a catchphrase we have used at Indigo and Shortcovers for a long time now, and the sentiment behind it is something we truly believe in.

With that in mind, we are incredibly excited to announce that we’ve just signed an agreement to carry thousands of newly digitized works from Canadian-owned publishers, made available through an initiative led by the Association of Canadian Publishers. The vast majority of works are being made available in digital format for the first time through Shortcovers starting in November.

These titles represent the richness of the Canadian book market – everything from groundbreaking fiction, non-fiction, regional voices and scholarly works. They also serve as a great example of how independent and regional presses are coming together as a group to find opportunities in the digital market.

We’re so proud to be the first retailer to take part in this initiative. We’ve always believed that book lovers should be able to get ebooks anywhere, anytime, and that Canadian content is something the whole world should be able to enjoy. Now it’s never been easier for the world to read more Canada.

Publishers taking part in this initiative include:
Annick Press
Anvil Press
Breakwater Books
Brindle and Glass
Coach House Books
Dundurn Group
ECW Press
Heritage House
James Lorimer & Company
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Napoleon & Company
Orca Book Publishers
Playwrights Canada Press
Rocky Mountain Books
Second Story Press
Touchwood Editions
Véhicule Press
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Wolsak & Wynn Publishers
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

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So many amazing things going on right now. Thousands of new books getting added every week. Over a thousand publishers sending titles. New apps in development. But while we’re getting bigger and better now, it’s worth taking a little time to talk about what’s missing from the current ebook experience and how it could be made better in the longer term. If the paper book has delivered value to book lovers for hundreds of years (No batteries! No instruction manual! Works when slightly wet!), what does the ebook need to do to inspire similar loyalty?

To take a first stab at some of these questions, I gave a talk at Tools of Change Frankfurt called “Your Reading Life, Always With You” about how ebooks could and should be better and how Shortcovers is working to get there. The TOC Frankfurt folks didn’t shoot video, but I did a dramatic recreation right afterwards so you can get close to the full conference experience. It has everything: teen romance, zombies, french horns, salacious reading, and a look inside the brain of a publisher in the digital age.

Your Reading Life, Always With You – Shortcovers at Tools of Change Frankfurt – blip.tv

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We’ve had a busy couple of weeks here at Shortcovers:

• We celebrated the release of the biggest eBook of the year
• We launched an insanely popular new version of our Blackberry application
• We added support for downloading ePub files for offline reading, or reading on your dedicated eInk reader

And tonight we have one more thing for you – Shortcovers for iPhone 2.0.

At long, long last, after 8.5 weeks in the iTunes App Store approval process, Shortcovers  v2.0 for iPhone is available for download!

Why is this a big deal?

Our users have been fantastic — providing us with suggestions, ideas, things they’d love to see, things that drive them crazy. This feedback guided us in putting together this release. Having been lucky enough to spend the last few weeks reading on a coveted early-release version, I can safely say it’s a whole new, radically improved experience.

Some highlights:

• A fully browsable store on your iPhone — check out books by category, browse bestseller lists, and check out new releases in a wide range of categories without ever leaving the app;
• Covers everywhere — a full-screen cover when you start a book, covers on all of our lists, a “cover only” view of the books you’ve purchased;
• Offline reading, with full titles saved to the device, but with everything still also safely stored in the cloud in case you move to another device, drop your iPhone in a lake (it’s happened!) or want to switch to the web and pick up right where you left off;
• New page-turn animations and reading display options;
• Bug fixes and performance improvements galore.

We think this release is another great step forward in creating a reading experience that enriches your reading life without complicating it, that allows you to bring more books, more choice, and more reading with you wherever you go. We hope you like it. Keep sending us feedback — here on the blog, via @shortcovers on twitter or to feedback@shortcovers.com. There is even more great stuff on the way. Enjoy!

Welcome to Shortcovers

List View

Browse Your Books by Cover

Browse Categories, New Releases and Bestseller Lists

Full Screen Covers

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Move over Stephanie Meyer!

In just one day, Dan Brown’s new book, The Lost Symbol, sold more eBook copies than the last one and a half months of Stephanie Meyer’s hit Twilight series.  On Shortcovers, customers can buy eBooks to read on any device – popular eReaders like the Sony Reader, popular smartphones like the iPhone, and their laptops, netbooks, macs and pcs.

The Lost Symbol eBook went on sale yesterday at 3.01AM EST.  If you pre-ordered it like me, you woke up in the morning, grabbed your mobile device – and it was just there – at the top of your reading list, ready to go.  Some Dan Brown fans were already reading it at 3.02 AM EST, and twitter traffic (#lostsymbol, #shortcovers) was buzzing throughout the day.

This will easily be the biggest eBook of the year, and perhaps the biggest eBook so far.  Everyone who has been watching the eBook space (publishers, retailers, device manufacturers…) will no doubt be using Dan Brown as a proxy for what eBooks will do to physical book sales, and how to size the overall opportunity.  While still nascent, eBooks are for real & their growth will be closely watched over this upcoming fall & holiday season.

Here are some stats after Day 1 of the Lost Symbol:

• Pre-orders became available at 3.01AM EST.  The first customer bought it minutes later
• Most purchases were made on the web.  Mobile purchases by platform: 37% iPhone, 31% Palm Pre, 29% Blackberry, 3% Android.  Web sales were driven by our brand new feature (Adobe/ePub) enabling a customer to buy an eBook with us and download it to their desktop, eReader or smartphone.
• Yesterday beat our biggest sales day by almost 2X, and the same day last week by 3X.
• We sold more Lost Symbol yesterday than the last 1.8 months of selling the Twilight Series – our number one “category” to date
• I am on Chapter 18 myself, reading it across my iPhone, Blackberry and MacBook Pro Seriously.  I can’t wait to go to Washington, D.C.   For now, I am going to focus on finishing it today!

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In a few short hours, there will be only one place you can purchase and download the Lost Symbol eBook and read it on your iPhone, Sony Reader, Blackberry, Android Smartphone, Palm Pre, laptop, online, or pretty much anywhere else.  Proving that Shortcovers means it when we say “you should be able to read any book on any device,” today we officially launch support for ePUB downloads for your eReader, laptop, netbook, Mac or PC.   You can buy eBooks at Shortcovers, and take them wherever you like to read (well, except one closed device, but that’s another blog post).

In the six months or so since we first launched, one thing we’ve learned is that readers want to read on the device of their choice, and that can vary depending on whether they are on the go or at home in their favorite chair.  They don’t want to be told how to read, or asked to buy an expensive device, just for the privilege of buying an eBook. We want Shortcovers to be an open platform that serves all devices and all the ways you want to read.  Supporting ePUB downloads and Adobe ACS helps us achieve that goal, in conjunction with our web service and popular smartphone Apps for iPhone, Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre.

In addition to the Sony Reader and the top smartphone platforms, you can use Shortcovers as your eBook store for other dedicated eReaders, including those produced by Astak, BeBook (Endless Ideas), Bookeen, COOL-ER, Elonex, Hanlin Reading Device,  IREX Technologies, and Neolux Corporation.  No doubt, more are coming.

Want to make sure your eBooks don’t mysteriously disappear?   Download them from your Shortcovers library to your desktop for safekeeping, reading, or just plain offline convenience.  Want access to your library from anywhere?  Simply login to your Shortcovers account, and access your library in the cloud.

I am reading The Evolution of God (heavy, I know) right now on my Blackberry Bold / iPhone 3GS.  Regardless where, how, who or what you like to read, we’re here to provide you with the best eBook experience.   In a few hours I am going to start reading the Lost Symbol.  For all you Dan Brown fans – we are the only place to buy the Lost Symbol, to read on your eReader, Smartphone and Desktop.

I encourage you to come check out our latest news for yourself at www.shortcovers.com.  If you have existing free or purchased items in your library, download the ePub files now – to your desktop, laptop, or eReader.   If you have an Sony eReader, and you want the convenience of buying eBooks at low prices, accessing your library on the go from your smartphone, backing up your precious library AND reading on your eReader – come check us out, you won’t be disappointed.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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Today we released new versions of our popular app for browsing, discovering and reading eBooks on your Blackberry.   The new app has improved discovery and browsing of our catalog, and a new reading interface with improved navigation & fonts, making the bookstore in your pocket even better!    This is our best Blackberry app yet, and I hope you’ll try it.

Get it now on Blackberry AppWorld, or get it from www.shortcovers.com/blackberry.  We are running a special offer for Blackberry users – get 25% off your next purchase with discount code BB25!  Act now – this offer expires Friday, September 18th at 12AM EST.

We know a lot of our Blackberry users are using Storms these days so we are working on an optimized version for the Storm.  We’ll also be working on a number of new features for all Blackberry Apps.   Let us know what’s on your wishlist at feedback@shortcovers.com.

In the meantime, we’ll keep working on bringing you the best eReading experience on any device.  P.s. Our new iPhone app has been waiting for approval for 7 weeks now.  For those that want to try out a developer version, let us know.

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You can now grab an OPML package of our merchandised eBook lists here.

You can use the ATOM feeds inside to integrate eBooks into your website, widgets, desktop or mobile application.   This lists included will be updated daily.  Let us know if you have any questions at developer@shortcovers.com.  Today the lists included are: 

• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Book Of The Week
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/NYT Bestsellers – Fiction
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/NYT Bestsellers – Non-Fiction
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Classic Books
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Thrillers
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Economy
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Short Stories
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Great Mysteries
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/High School Reads
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Literary Fiction
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Classics On Film
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Young Adult
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Get Fit
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Food and Drink
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Parenting
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Your Money
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Vampire Fiction
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Harlequin
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Romance Books
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Politics
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Music
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Sports
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Faith-Based Fiction
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Travel Books
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Horror
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Horror
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Star Trek
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Poetry
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Free Plays
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Gay Pride Week
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Canadian, eh
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Biographies and Memoirs
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/WhatsNew
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/Featured
• http://www.shortcovers.com/feeds/lists/MostPopular

Enjoy! 

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If you ever wondered what a last-minute, embargoed title release looks like, our Wednesday afternoon went something like this:

12:21pm - Random House calls up and lets us know that they’ve secured the rights to release an ebook version of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol on September 15th. Do we want to make it available for pre-order? It’s an early warning only – no public mention until later until we get the go-ahead from Random House.

12:24pm – Biblio and price data arrive from Random House.

12:28pm – Development, Marketing, IT in my sweltering office (AC broke today). Turns out we can’t do pre-orders yet. It’s on the development to-do list.

12:32pm – Dev lead has an idea, departs for the dev pit to consult with freely sweating developers. Marketing preempts email that was supposed to be going out tomorrow.

12:42pm – Dev lead returns. Has figured out a workaround. Some work to do behind the scenes between now and the 15th, but we can start taking preorders as soon as we can get a page up. Unsuspecting merchandiser kidnapped to write copy. Cover scan found. Marketing departs to marshal her armies. Pricing analysis starts.

1:12pm – Marketing armies marshaled. PR people on the case. Releases being written.

1:36pm – Pricing decision – $9.99/11.99 on pre-orders and for a limited time afterwards.

1:38pm – We get the go-ahead from RH to start talking publicly about the title.

1:39pm – Indigo.ca reserves us space on the home page (centre-mid, 230×250)

1:48pm - Blog post up.

1:53pm – Twitter: @shortcovers: Lost Symbol coming to Shortcovers Sept 15th — stay tuned for more details! http://bit.ly/6qypM

2:30pm – Twitter @shortcovers: Shortcovers announces $9.99 USD/$11.99 CAD eBook for Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol.

3:45pm – Copy for pre-order page done. Slight snag in our workaround – anything we aren’t immediately charging for has a “free” graphic on it. Compensate with massive $9.99/11.99’s wherever possible. People will get the idea.

4:12pm – Email copy for promo email done.

4:30pm – Final edits on pre-order page. Approved for promotion to production servers.

5:00pm – Pre-order page live.

5:53pm – Graphics ready for Indigo.ca and Shortcovers main page.

Still lots to do — the media release is being edited, the email to Shortcovers users goes out tomorrow, got to get the graphics promoted.  But it’s up and live and taking orders. At 12:30, we couldn’t do pre-orders. By 5pm, we could. It was pretty amazing to see it all come together so fast. And the best part: nobody freaked out, no shouting, nobody said “can’t do that”. Just got done. It’s a nice business indicator and a pretty sweet cultural indicator too.

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People have been talking about eBooks for almost a decade, and BAM! in the last year, a virtual eBook tsunami hit and now you read about eBooks everywhere, everyday.  In the halls of publishers and booksellers, there are a lot of ‘discussions’ about pricing, formats, cannibalization, what happened to the music industry, and what to do next.  Gartner thinks eBooks are at the Peak of Inflated Expectations.  Some journalists think the jig is up, game over, the Kindle is here.  Meanwhile M&A activity has picked up – both on the startup front and even in the retail sector.  That said, in a recent survey, a large majority of US consumers hadn’t even seen an eBook yet. 

There’s been a ton of action.  I draw at least 3 conclusions:

1. The market is huge, and growing much faster than I expected
2. We are in the early innings of the eBook market
3. It’s Amazing

#1 – The market is HUGE, and growing much faster than I expected

The more that time passes, and the more that I learn about purchasing behaviour the more I believe this is just a massive opportunity.  The US book market is ~$25B, and I’ve heard some publishing execs say they think between 25% and 50% will go digital in the next 5 years.  The market looked amazing at 5-10%.   3 years ago I remember hearing 1% by 2010. 

How much does it take before publishing and bookselling as we know it is changed for good?

At 20% in 5 years, this is a $5B market in the US alone.  Add in the UK, the EU, Australia and Canada and you can double that number.  There is certainly enough room to create a global alternative to the incumbent booksellers and eBooksellers.

#2 – We are in the early innings of the eBook market

There is going to be a lot more innovation than we’ve seen to date AND there are forces at play that are going to make this a far more open market, then say, music.  

Devices – I swear I hear about a new device or a new eReading screen technology every week.  Laptop OEMs are getting into the game.  Smartphone makers are getting in the game.  Asian manufacturers that most Americans have never heard of are getting into it.  New screens are emerging.  Alternatives to eInk.  Colour.  OLED.  Low Power Reading modes.  Super Accessories.  Super All Singing All Dancing Apple Tablets… Device Innovation is happening, and it is going to far outstrip what any one company can provide to consumers, at an every shrinking price.

Distribution – Big box, small box, bookseller, department store, electronics store, phone store – the number of entrants in this space is going to vastly increase.  You should be able to get an eBook almost anywhere.  After all – a lot of people do buy books at gas stations, Walgreens and Walmarts.

Content – Black, White and Text All over.  That’s what eBooks equals today.   Not my idea of exciting, high tech, future, fun.  Nothing my kids would use.  eBooks are going to get more interactive, colourful, personalized, organized and magical. 

I firmly believe we are in the early innings, and as mentioned above – most people haven’t even seen an eBook yet!

 #3 – It’s Amazing

There’s this Conan O’Brien video that I thought was hilarious & recommend you watch called Everything’s Amazing, Nobody’s Happy…I thought of it when I met Paul Boutin recently (The Future of Books is Smartphones).  He was like – ‘Dude – this is Amazing!  I can pull my iPhone out of my pocket as I’ve boarded my flight, and in a few seconds – I can have any new bestseller to read for my flight.  Amazing. 

It’s been 166 days since we launched and it has been Amazing!  

• People can use Shortcovers on the iPhone, the Blackberry, Android and Palm Pre smartphones
• Almost 400,000 people have downloaded our apps, many more have visited our website
• People from over 198 countries have visited us, and people from over 116 countries have registered
• We have top books like Twilight from the world’s leading publishers like Random House, Harper Collins, Hachette, Penguin…and hundreds more are signing up
• We have thousands of FREE eBooks like Pride and Prejudice, and FREE Books of the Week like FREE, by Chris Anderson – now a NY Times Bestseller for $9.99 US / $11.99 CAD
• Almost 1 in 10 visits result in an eBook download (free or purchase)
• People that buy, buy ~2 times per month, about the same as a loyal retail customer

For a startup ‘experiment’ inside of large retailer – we have had a number of successes, made many mistakes, and have learned immensely every second of the way.  We were not first, not with a device, nor an app, nor an ebook store.  And we certainly are not perfect, but:   

• We are signing up customers…
• We have a great team with bookseller DNA and technology chops…
• We have great relationships with vendors, retailers and technology partners
• We have a HUGE global market opportunity…
• And we are in love with eBooks, in love with making eBooks accessible to everyone.

I can promise you that we have a ton in store in the coming weeks and months to bring eBooks and the best eReading experience to a device & retailer near you.   

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