BookRiff keeps it simple
January 14, 2010
In a recent post on turner-riggs blogspace about the troubling task of creating a effective brand that every new start-up faces, Kiley Turner points to BookRiff as one example of a site that gracefully overcomes the challenge. BookRiff’s task, according to Turner: “Convey a very cool but rather complicated idea as simply as possible so visitors don’t lose interest/get confused/feel it’s too complicated and navigate away from the site.”
For BookRiff, one of our goals from the beginning has been to create a site that’s not only innovative but that’s also fun to use and accessible to everyone. Because we are introducing a new way of working with print media, this means we’ve had to be extra cautious in the way we introduce ourselves to the world. We want folks to be intrigued, but not afraid. Also, because BookRiff is meant to be an open platform whose community will help define it through their own uses of the tools, we’re careful not to be so directive as to hamper creativity. This creates an additional challenge for us because we want people to know how to use the basic tools; we just don’t want them to stop there.
In other ways, it is easy to talk about BookRiff simply, because while there’s a complex set of machinery beneath the user interface that makes book-building possible, the basic idea is just this: build your own book. Choose your own chapters, order them, and add anything else into your Riff to make it yours.
Likewise, from a content provider’s point of view, BookRiff introduces an entirely new publishing business model, along with a new way of thinking about the value of book (and other print media) content, but the process is easy. As a “Creator”, you choose how your content is split up and viewed, you choose its price, and we don’t touch your revenue.
Establishing a brand to present BookRiff as a simple, useful tool for both consumers and creators is really the icing on a larger effort to make those messages ring true through every aspect of BookRiff. From the business model, to the site navigation, to the printing and shipment of books…
It’s nice to hear that we’re doing an o.k. job so far, but we’ve got our work cut out for us in the coming months. Beta testers, send us your thoughts!
First things first
October 30, 2009
In light of the fact that we are still in private beta and we haven’t let everyone in to wander the halls of BookRiff, scratch at the paint and sniff the trash bins, it’s only natural that all kinds of definitions about what BookRiff is, who it is for, and what its intentions are would be flying around. In light of the ever-increasing dominance of online superstores as booksellers and price-setters (read floor-ers), coupled with the need for country-wide coalitions to defend the purpose of copyright, I can’t imagine a world in which an innovative new publishing platform would not be met with some degree of skepticism and a certain amount of Who’s side are you on?, nor would I want to.
Even after watching the video, taking the Learn to Riff tour, and perusing the FAQ, until you can see it in action, it is difficult to pin down the concept of BookRiff. This is a factor of the nature of the site, and in some ways it is intended. BookRiff is an open platform. It is moldable by-design, and the hope is that it will take on the shape of the people who use it (…and the creative works they upload and the Riffs they build).
Given that the above is all true, it’s no surprise that BookRiff has been labeled everything from a self-publishing application to most recently by author Michael Turner in a Globe and Mail interview and then again in the Quillblog, “a print-on-demand content broker.” There’s nothing wrong with boiling something down to its essential elements. As someone who is generally in favor of cutting the crap, I must admit there’s nothing false about that definition, and I appreciate the critical thinking behind it. But to be fair, in a world where BookRiff is simply a content broker, authors are peddlers, publishers traders, and booksellers merely cash registers. As someone who is also a bit of a romantic, I can’t accept any of the above. The problem is that in an industry where creativity is the fundamental value, you can’t get rid of the fluff to find the truth. With BookRiff, just as with publishing, it is the fluff: the innovation behind the machine, that makes a difference.
Right now, even behind closed doors, BookRiff is a bare-bones framework of powerful made-from-scratch tools. We think it will evolve to become a way not only for individuals to create something unique, but for publishers, authors, and other content curators to reach new audiences, engage their readers, and branch out into new sales models that they control.
We absolutely can’t wait for that to happen, and more. But first, we have to build the tools, tinker with them, and invite a few people in to tinker some more. Want to be one of those people?
BookCamp Vancouver, remixed
October 19, 2009
Last Friday I attended BookCamp Vancouver, an “unconference” to explore new ideas emerging in the publishing industry as reading is becoming ever more digital. The day was packed with presentations from a variety of publishing perspectives, including the session I led, along with Rob Ellis and Brock Whitten of Nitobi Software, on BookRiff as a new model for publishers, authors and readers. The dialogue during the BookRiff session began with an array of questions, mostly about copyright, mostly originating from the same fears of piracy that emerge whenever anyone poses an idea to place copyrighted works online, in any form. One important thing to remember is that BookRiff is a tool for copyright holders to profit from their works. So, while we’re not going to run around shutting down user accounts without clear evidence of piracy, we will take every reasonable means to make sure copyright is protected. That’s a no-brainer for us. And, though the discussion began with a hint of skepticism, the clear response by the end of our 45 minutes was that BookRiff takes advantage of the digital landscape to provide a complement to traditional publishing and authoring. (So encouraging to hear this message.)
There were more than a few voices contributing to the dialogue throughout the day, as authors and readers drilled publishers on everything from DRM to e-book pricing; newspaper editors defended the continual need for print circulation in an industry full of free online news; new publishing models were presented; and marketing folks hashed out best practices for web marketing and social networking tools to help sell more books. Each session concluded with a group-think on key takeaway points. Looking back at the day as a whole, here are mine:
- Publishing is in a process of evolution. As new tools are emerging for readers, traditional ideas of books and reading are changing, influenced by a variety of players both inside and outside of the traditional publishing industry. Book publishers must find ways to adapt their current business models to accommodate for shifting audience demands, while still holding on to their distinguishing value: curated books.
- Bookselling and marketing is undergoing a similar shift, as communities of readers are shifting from geographic to interest-based, and social networking tools are allowing global interest-based communities to develop. The key is to interact with these communities on a personal level. As Emiko Morita said, “every copy of Margaret Atwood’s new book is sold individually, whether by a book marketer, bookseller, or twitter user.”
- Amidst all of the change, there are a lot of myths that need debunking. Most importantly, there is the myth that publishers are behind the times, unwilling and afraid to change, clutching on to traditional models, charging exorbitant prices for books and grappling for all the royalties we can pocket. This couldn’t be less true: innovation is happening in every corner of publishing. BookRiff is just one example; there’s Vooks, podcasts, Enhanced Editions and all sorts of other enhanced e-books, not to mention more free online sampling than one could hope for. Publishers, please give yourselves a pat on the back…and let’s keep moving.
I didn’t make it to all of the sessions, so I’d encourage others who attended to comment with their own key points to add to this list. You may also want to check out the ongoing BookCamp Twitter buzz (courtesy of Raul Pacheco @hummingbird604 ), and a nice post-BookCamp blog post by Darren Barefoot.
I’d like to thank the organizing team of BookCamp Vancouver, including Sean Cranbury, Books on the Radio; Monique Trottier, Boxcar Marketing; Crissy Campbell, Boxcar Marketing; Morgan Cowie, BookNet Canada; Nick Bouton, Taunt Media, Protagonize.com; John Maxwell, SFU Masters of Publishing Program; and Suzanne Norman, SFU Summer Publishing Workshops for putting together this event, as well as all of the other moderators for the ideas presented.
BookRiff at the Frankfurt Book Fair
October 9, 2009
For those of you attending the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair next week, be sure to make your way to the D&M Publishers booth: hall 8.0, booth K950. Along with others from D&M, Mark Scott will be there sharing information about BookRiff and displaying sample Riffs. Mark will also be meeting with interested publishers and others in the industry while in Frankfurt, so if you’d like to set up a time to meet, just drop us a line!
Michael Turner Riffs at Word on the Street
September 25, 2009
If you’re at the Word on the Street in Vancouver on Sunday, September 27, be sure to stop by the author’s tent at 1:00 p.m., where author Michael Turner will be reading from a Riff of his new book, 8×10 (Doubleday Canada). As described in Michael’s blog, the Riff is a artistic, mathematical randomization of the author’s 64 loosely ordered sections in the original book. Michael inserted his own introduction to this “collage version” of 8×10, explaining the concept behind his playful use of the BookRiff technology to create a new book from existing content, simply by rearranging the narrative.
Soon, public users will be able to purchase a copy of the 8×10 (collage version) on BookRiff’s Buy Riffs section, or create their own mix of the 64 chapters Doubleday Canada has put up for sale. Until then, you might be able to grab one of the 5 sample copies Michael will be carting to WOTS this Sunday.
ACP members get a sneak peek, share ideas for BookRiff
September 18, 2009
In a group web conference this morning, members of the Association of Canadian Publishers were taken behind the scenes to view a site demonstration of BookRiff-in-construction. In its last few days of private beta development, the software is now a bare-bones framework of a site with the potential to be an essential tool in every publisher’s belt. For now, it raises a lot of questions, and it’s our job to answer them. Here are a few of the points discussed today:
1. Pricing: How should publishers price their books and chapters on BookRiff?
BookRiff is an entirely new model for publishing, but that doesn’t mean it introduces a complex new formula of costs, revenues, and profit share for publishers to digest. In fact, that’s precisely what we’ve tried to avoid. The BookRiff business model lets publishers (and other content creators) determine their own revenues, because they set the price and receive 100% of that price each time a Riff of their content is printed. The rest of the model is just as transparent, making it easy for publishers to predict the final cost of a Riff, and then set their content costs accordingly.
Let’s take an example: A publisher wants to create a BookRiff version of a 250 pg. frontlist book with 5 pages of extra materials from the author. The book is listed at $28.95. In this case:
- The Riff base fee, including print costs (paid by Riff purchaser) = $7.73
- Book content price = publisher’s desired price of BookRiff version, minus $7.73
- Publisher’s revenues = publisher’s book content price
So, if the publisher wanted to sell the Riff at the book list price, the content cost (and also revenue) would be $28.95 − $7.73 = $21.22
And, if that book were divided into 12 chapters, each chapter might be priced at $21.22 ÷ 12 = $1.77
The next, more complex, underlying question here is: What is the value of a Riff? The way I see it, it’s up to you: the publishers, and you: the Riff composers, and you: the buyers to decide. It’s an open market, after all: your content will speak for itself.
2. Publisher channels vs. Author channels vs. Other Creator channels: whose work is whose and how do you know?
Like the first question, there’s a simple answer and a more annoying, you-decide one. The simple response is that only copyright owners can upload their content to BookRiff, or license others to do so. Each time a BookRiff Creator, be it a publisher, an author, or another individual, makes content publicly available through their creator channel, they must claim ownership of that work. They can only do that if they have an account, set up with a credit card and a TOS agreement.
Now that copyright infringement is put aside, there’s still a question of interaction between users on BookRiff. Who creates Riffs: authors, publishers, or fans? The answer: yes, perhaps, if they’re keen, and who knows who else? It will be important for publishers to communicate with their authors to gauge interest and build plans for selling books on BookRiff. We can’t wait to see who will take the lead from there.
3. Can BookRiff users sell their Riffs of publisher’s short stories (or other chapters/ chunked content)?
Yes, anyone can sell their Riff, but no, they won’t profit from anyone else’s work. (This means fans double as enthusiastic not-for-profit booksellers: can you imagine such a thing?)
4. Will Riffs have color? Will Public Domain books be available? What about sizes? Electronic books?
BookRiff is made to evolve, and we’ve got all kinds of plans. Custom covers, full color interiors, multiple sizes and formats are just a few ways we want to make BookRiff more robust. We’d love to hear your ideas, too!
5. When can publishers have access?
Soon, very soon. (Let us know if you’re eager!)
Traditional publishing, self-publishing, and BookRiff
August 26, 2009
BookRiff has recently received mention in several news articles about the rise of self-publishing websites, a trend Roberto Rocha in the Calgary Herald calls “Self-publishing 2.0.” True, much like sites such as Lulu.com, WeBook.com, and the new Book Oven, BookRiff does provide online tools anyone can use to instantly publish their writing in a book they can sell online or have printed, sidestepping traditional models of publishing. Yes, it is a site for building your own book, where individuals- rather than editors and publishers- decide the content and order of a book. It increases the role readers play in the books they purchase, and allows them to contribute to the material available to other readers. But calling BookRiff a website for self-publishing is like saying cell phones are tools for taking pictures: you can do it, but there’s a lot more you could do with that tool, and a camera might work just as well if you only want to snap a photo. More than a tool for unpublished writers to publish their own works, BookRiff is a way for readers to access more written content and consume it in the way they want. It isn’t a platform that sidesteps traditional publishing, but one that traditional publishers and authors can use to make book and other written content go further by offering it up in new ways.
Take author Michael Turner, for example. He’s planning to use BookRiff to remix his upcoming book, 8×10, which will be published as a trade paperback by Doubleday Canada in September. The book is a series of 64 loosely related fictional events that lack any defined time or place, and are ordered only by Michael’s own logic. His plan is two-fold: he’ll create a Riff of 8×10 by assigning a random order to the chapters, then work with Doubleday to make the book “open to interpretation by recomposition” by allowing readers to assign their own order. You can read more about the experiment from his blog. This is just one way BookRiff will be used by authors and publishers to engage readers in their books.
BookRiff is gearing up for Beta
August 19, 2009
Now in the final stages of a three-phase beta development plan, BookRiff is nearly complete and ready for more beta users. If you haven’t signed up for an invitation yet, now’s your chance: register here to request a beta code. We’ll only be dishing out a limited number of invites until we can ensure the site is stable and ready for the public, so hurry up and get on the list!
BookRiff on BookNet
August 14, 2009
In a nicely worded description of BookRiff on the BookNet Canada blog, Morgan Cowie calls the site an evolution of D&M Publishers’ core publishing platform: using new tools to continue making books that appeal to readers.
Self-Publishing: Harbinger of Doom or Puffy White Cloud of Hope?
I’ve recently done a spate of media interviews wherein the main topic was the ‘rise’ of self-publishing. It’s an interesting media trend, founded largely by the appearance and development of innovative new web communities that are focusing on bringing together those interested in creating great books – who may or may not already consider themselves book professionals.
There’s no doubt that it’s been an interesting summer for those interested in the evolution of book creation online. The alpha version of The Book Oven was released. The beta version of BookRiff is available to check out. WEbook, Protagonize, TextNovel and scores of other writer-based communities continue to work collaboratively to create, refine and display new talent from (mostly) unpublished authors.
So what does this all mean for traditional publishing?
Hugh McGuire, one of the founders of Book Oven, sees the role of his new site thusly (yep, I just wrote thusly. And I’m keeping it):
The key here is: cloud-publishing (and Book Oven) will provide the tools to allow groups of people to easily coalesce around the production, distribution and sale of a particular book or books. How those groups organize themselves will look different from book to book. But Book Oven’s tools will mean that book makers can focus on the important thing, the content, and not worry about the technical hurdles of making, printing & distributing books.
Hugh’s whole post is worth reading as it makes a compelling argument for the differences between ’self-publishing’ and the new tool and collaboration-based ‘cloud publishing’ that Book Oven, and arguably other sites like it, are developing.
For traditional publishing, this really invokes the spectre of what Neelan Choksi, CEO of Stanza, called a ‘flight to value’. As I’ve argued before, we as a professional industry exist because we can provide good books. Good service for authors who write those good books. Convenient access for readers who want those good books.
Is the blockbuster culture going to go away? I’m not sure. As much as we talk about Web 2.0 and the forces of collaborative culture, we’re also seeing the big head, rather than the long tail, stay big (or get bigger). But maybe that’s not the big question…maybe the question is where do projects like authoring communities, mash-up books and collaborative creation fit into the new publishing model? Where can partnerships be made to spur all to greater heights?
Instead of seeing self-publishing or cloud-publishing as a direct competitor to trade publishing, do as D&M is doing. BookRiff is not a threat to their publishing house but, rather, an evolution using new tools at hand to continue to do what they do best. Creating great books that are designed to make readers happy and keep them reading is what we all aspire to do. Working together seems like the best way to do that.
UBC Creative Writing Panel Discussion
August 5, 2009
In a July 10 panel at the University of British Columbia, students of UBC’s Creative Writing MFA Summer Residency Program discuss changing technologies in publishing, and how BookRiff will fit in the mix. Host Andrew Gray is accompanied by panel members Thad McIlroy, Jennica Harper, and myself.
Julie Morris