Prepress
Shortcovers Announces Publisher Conversion Program
Thursday 23. July 2009 - Publishers Now Have a Cost Effective Method of Converting Documents Into EPUB Format for Digital Distribution
Shortcovers by Indigo Books & Music, Inc. (TSX:IDG), a leading global eBook service, today announced its Publisher Conversion Program, a cost-effective service allowing any publisher to convert documents to EPUB format compatible with multiple eReading devices and services. Previously, the process was often cost prohibitive for many publishers, hampering their ability to distribute eBooks. Shortcovers sees this program as a way to further its mission of providing any book on any device.
Shortcovers offers eBooks from all top publishers, including Random House, Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, Hachette, Harlequin, Wiley and Penguin. Publishers who participate in the Publisher Conversion Program will have the opportunity to distribute their titles via the Shortcovers web and mobile storefronts.
“Every publisher, large and small, should be able to participate in this rapidly growing digital marketplace,” said Michael Tamblyn, vice president of content, sales and merchandising at Shortcovers. “With the Publisher Conversion Program, we increase the availability of EPUB files, which is great for us, great for publishers, and for the eBook market as a whole. The days of proprietary file formats are over.”
It is widely recognized that eBooks are a transformative force in publishing and EPUB is becoming the format of choice for electronic books, meeting the compatibility needs of multiple reading devices. ShortcoversÂ’ open approach embraces the use of standard, non-proprietary eBook standards, lowering costs for publishers and encouraging a robust, competitive market. The Publisher Conversion Program is an extension of this open approach, opening up Shortcovers technology and distribution to both big and small publishers.
The Publishers Conversion Program offers two options for converting content:
At no cost to publishers, Shortcovers will convert selected files into EPUB format and exclusively distribute the digital content and determine pricing in the Shortcovers store;
For a fee that can be 50 percent less than other conversion options available to small and mid-sized publishers, Shortcovers will translate documents into EPUB format, make them available through the Shortcovers web and mobile storefronts and return the EPUB files to the publisher to distribute to other third parties.