The Seybold Report

Introducing the Going Digital Conference: November 8 and 9, 2012

In May we launched the Digital Publishing Report, but we kept working on something else behind the scenes: a new conference we are calling the Going Digital Conference. It is for anyone who has content they want to publishing in digital form. More details later, but the site is up, so take a look. We hope to see you there!

Meredith Selects WoodWing for Digital Publishing

Meredith has implemented multi-channel publishing, including e-publishing to tablets, for its flagship magazines using WoodWing’s Enterprise digital publishing platform. The company is now reengineering its workflow to further align production with its digital publishing strategy, which involves Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, and Fitness. more 

Condé Nast to Provide Digital Edition Advertisers with Reader Metrics

Condé Nast has decided to offer advertisers in digital editions of magazines metrics on a 10-week cycle beginning with each issue’s newsstand, on-sale date:

• Total Issues Opened (count of unduplicated readers who have accessed this issue of the digital edition),
• Total Sessions to the Issue (number of sessions),
• Avg. Session Length (avg. number of minutes spend within the issue per session-in minutes),
• Avg. Reader Length (avg. number of minutes spent within the issue per reader-in minutes), and
• Total content view.

For clients who invest in links, premium or premium plus advertising, the following additional metrics will also be provided: number of unduplicated readers who have accessed a given ad, total number of ad engagements, and the average time spent on ad (in seconds).

A Condé Nast representative reports the publisher is seeing several trends:

• Reader behavior remains very close to interaction with the print magazine.
• Front to back reading still the norm.
• Length of reading session not a good guide to advertising engagement.
• Reading sessions of varying length yield similar number of page exposures.

BJU Press Creates E-Book Platform

Christian education publisher BJU Press has introduced as e-book platform using an e-content hosting product developed by MPS Limited. The e-books are available as interactive whiteboard modules via MPS’  MediaSuite tool, which also makes the books available in VBK and PDF formats. The package includes a sales and distribution platform to host the books. more 

Ingram Opens Lightning Source Australia

Ingram Content Group has announced the opening of Lightning Source Australia, its fifth globally networked POD facility. The extension of the program will make more than 1.3 million titles from more than 400 worldwide publishers available to Australian readers via book retailers and library suppliers including TheNile.com.au, Emporium Books Online, Dennis Jones & Assoc., ALS Library Services, James Bennett, and DA Information Services. more

Wharton Introduces Digital Press Initiative

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has announced the Wharton Digital Press, a global, all-digital book publishing initiative that will publish business and other books in a variety of formats including e-books, enhanced e-books, mobile apps, and print-on-demand. more

Quark Announces App Studio for Quark Publishing System

Quark has announced App Studio for Quark Publishing System, a new plug-in that allows publishers using the Quark Publishing System to create custom iPad apps in-house. The next issue of the Seybold Report (11.2, publishes tomorrow) will have detailed news about this announcement. more

Quark Announces iPad Publishing Service for QuarkXPress 8.5 Users

Quark has introduced a new service enabling QuarkXPress 8.5 users to publish content to the iPad. Quark will configure a starter iPad app with the customer’s logos and colors and enable the enrichment of QuarkXPress content that then can be published to that app, as part of the iPad Publishing Service. The service is designed for individual designers, corporate publishers, book, newspaper, and magazine publishers. The next issue of the Seybold Report (11.2) will have detailed news about this announcement. more

Virgin Creates Electronic Magazine with WoodWing Tools

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group has created an iPad-only e-magazine using WoodWing’s Digital Magazine Tools. Sir Richard introduced the consumer magazine recently during a press event in New York. The magazine covers international culture, entertainment, technology, design, fashion, science, and travel and is integrated with the Project Blog. more

Borders and BookBrewer Announce Borders-Get Published

Borders and BookBrewer have introduced Borders-Get Published Powered by BookBrewer, a co-branded publishing service to allow independent authors and bloggers to publish and sell e-books through the Borders electronic book store and other e-book retailers. The service creates books formatted to work on several technology platforms including a variety of tablets and e-reading devices. The service will be available on October 25. more

Auto Bild Latest Major Magazine to Publish on iPad with WoodWing

Auto Bild, Europe's largest car magazine, is the latest major periodical to create an iPad edition with WoodWing's Digital Magazine Tools. Published by Alex Springer AG of Germany, one of Europe's leading multimedia corporations with print, online, and Web TV products, AutoBild's iPad edition is published weekly on Thursday evenings before the print edition hits newsstands and offers the entire contents of the printed magazine. One of the most innovative features of the iPad edition is the car configurator, which uses hot spots to allow readers to design their dream car. more

Barnes & Noble Announces PubIt! Digital Publishing Platform

Barnes & Noble Inc. has introduced PubIt!, a self-publishing platform for independent publishers and authors who want to distribute their works electronically through the company's online bookstore. PubIt! titles are available for purchase in the store within 24-72 hours of upload. more

MEI Offers Training, Consulting, and Design Services for Tablet Publishing

Managing Editor Inc. (MEI) has announced specialized training, consulting, and design services for publishers interested in moving their content to the iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and other smart tablet devices. MEI is providing a large range of assistance from strategic planning to hands-on technical help for all stages of digital production. more

WoodWing Releases Magazine Tools Version 1.5

WoodWing Software has announced a new version of its Digital Magazine Tools for the iPad, supporting statistics and the ability to share content via Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail. The new version supports connections to statistics providers such as Omniture, Flurry, and Google Analytics and supports the capture of data on how readers use their electronic publications. WoodWing also has released new versions of its Enterprise and Content Station including a free edition. more

RR Donnelley to Produce All Hanley Wood Online Magazines

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. will provide the electronic editions of all of Hanley Wood's magazines. Hanley Wood publishes more than 30 magazines, mainly in the building industry. The electronic editions will be published using Donnelley's DigiMag platform, which features live links for advertisers and a page-turning functionality that mimics the paper document. more