The Times are Right For a New Super Hero

We really hope you like this new video. We also hope you ignore the end of it, which promotes a new URL that isn’t quite live yet, but will be soon! But the fact of the matter is, the video cracks me up and we couldn’t wait to share.

 

UK Musings

So I’m writing this post from London, where once again Nxtbook is exhibiting at the Publishing Expo, the premiere event for magazine publishers in the UK.

Attendance is off slightly from last year, but not so much we mind. The Nxtbook team was plenty busy today and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.

In fact, when I asked one of our newest customers at the show why he came on board with Nxtbook, he said, "The fact of the matter is our business is recovering really quickly and we needed to plow forward with new innovation immediately."

Wow. When’s the last time you heard a publisher say that? Let’s hope it’s contagious. 

Colin Crawford Is Smart, But I Still Think He’s Wrong

In a recent blog post, Colin Crawford writes that publishers may not be prepared for the types of metrics content on the iPad will provide them with. He also says, "Transferring the elements of an old media to a new one has never worked before so it’s unlikely this time will be much different."

These types of global statements are always interesting to me, not unlike the popular blanket statement, "The media defines the medium." The fact of the matter is that while there are many true elements to these statements, they’re not patently correct.

Fact: Digital magazines have succeeded. Not all of them, of course, and the reasons why vary widely. Some publishers employed awful strategies or used awful solutions. In some cases, the audience was just wrong. But there have been many success stories. Stories which have been broadcast in webinars and at events that Colin Crawford has spoken at. While Crawford’s attempts may have all failed, his perspective is just one.

Secondly, Crawford’s assumption is based on the statement that all digital media results in lower engagement times simply because it’s digital, but has been documented by many numerous times, digital magazines have longer engagement times than websites. The content and the formatting have as much to do with the engagement time as the fact of whether it’s displayed on an LCD or a piece of paper.

And finally, let’s keep in mind that the media doesn’t always the medium. If it did, sites like YouTube, which is chock-full of low resolution videos would’ve never risen to prominence. This isn’t to say that content shouldn’t be reformatted to the medium, but only to say that getting on the medium is better than sitting on the sidelines because you think you have no other option. 

Magazine Magazine Launches. I’m Not Impressed Impressed.

The optimist in me was very excited to know about a magazine launching in the UK covering the magazine industry. As a company with an office in the UK, we were hopeful that the aptly named Magazine Magazine would provide publishers with keen insight into publishing success.

Alas, if their first article about digital editions is any indication, I’m concerned about the future of Magazine Magazine. Here’s the link to the publication. Sadly, Magazine Magazine used such old-fashioned software for their publication that I can’t link to the specific article. You’ll have to turn to page 42 on your own.

The article in question is Monetising Digital Editions, a subject near and dear to our hearts. Unfortunately, the advice given to publishers ranges from can’t-hurt-might-help to downright dangerous.

The first idea listed is to Add Your Publication Into an Online Store. The authors says – correctly – that it’s hassle-free and generally profitable for the publisher. That being said, we’ve always said that the best person to sell your magazine is you. Prominently. On your website. Strangely, the author even writes, "As an example, the Daily Telgraph typically sells 800,000 copies a day but achieves nearly 27 million unique visitors worldwide per month to its website."

Ask yourself a question: If these numbers are true, would you expect the Daily Telegraph to sell more digital editions from their own website, where all the readers have already shown that their fans of the content, or on another website, with lower traffic, where potential readers have multiple options. The math just doesn’t add up.

Keep in mind, there’s nothing wrong with a digital newsstand, and at Nxtbook we’re pleased to refer our clients to eMagazines.com for that service. But in the long list of ways to make money, it’s kind of low on the priority list.

Another idea proposed in the article is to stream ad-serving into the digital publication. While technically feasible – we’ve been doing it for years – this is another idea that is often strategically misguided. Here’s why:

1.) Ad-Serving is a medium where the currency exchange is CPMs, yet the digital edition is a medium that always provides lower page-views and higher click-through rates. By selling on CPMs, you’re drastically lowering the value of your offering.

2.) Using Ad-Serving for its implicit benefits – rotation, reporting, etc. – is fine, but if you just use it to serve up standard IAB banners, you’re missing out on the advantage of digital magazine real estate. In fact, as a sponsor of the soon-to-be released study by Josh Gordon on Interactive Magazines, I can tell you that readers are 4-5 times more likely to ignore a banner ad than a digital magazine ad. That being the case, why would you strive to put such creative in your digital magazine?

So while we’re happy to see a new magazine (any new magazine) covering the digital magazine category, we’re hopeful that the writers of the publication can serve as better educators to the UK publishing crowd in future issues.

Thirsty for Great Content?

An interactive spread enables you to tell more of a story within a story. Here’s a great example where Nxtbook photographer extraordinaire Adam Miller came back from a trip to a local brewery with more pictures than our Custom Media Team had planned for the issue. The solution was both effective and engaging for readers.

Keep in mind: the Nxtbook Media Custom Team is available to help you reformat your publications for optimum screen reading. Ask your account managers how!

Stimulating the Keystone State….

I’m not sure the PA State Legislature has heard about Nxtbook, until the Game Commission delivered their annual report to them:

"We now provide both our Hunting Digest and Game News via Nxtbook. This is a system that allows you to view both publications in an automated manner and allows for interaction in many of our pages. As you read the publication on the computer you actually turn the pages. We provide this service free to all libraries and schools. We believe this was particularly good for schools and allows for multiple students to read the Game News at the same time instead of only one person being able to read the hard cover magazine. We also provided this service to all our land cooperators without charge. It is a very unique system that provides broader service at a minimal cost."

 

Let’s Give ‘Em Something to Talk About…

If I had a nickel for every time I spoke, wrote, said or heard the words "social media," I probably wouldn’t be staring out the window at 2+ feet of snow right now. That being said, the whole point of "social media" is to create conversation and that’s something that print media hasn’t always excelled at, which is why we’re thrilled to announce the new Discussions Panel for Nxtbooks.

The Discussions Panel allows readers to register and post comments according to specified articles within the content.

Here’s how it works:

Readers are asked to provide their name and email address before they are allowed to comment.  This information is remembered via a cookie (a file that is stored locally) and only their name will display in the comments.  The author’s email address is displayed in the back-end system for publishers to review.

When entering a comment, the system will look for banned words.  If one is found, a message is displayed to alert the reader to rephrase their comment.

Publishers can customize the following:

    * The list of banned words
    * For each article, the article label that appears in the discussions list and the page numbers that the article is on
    * The name that appears on the tab (default: “DISCUSSIONS”)
    * The height of the window when the tab is clicked on
    * The logo that may appear on the top left corner of the discussion pane

Here’s a sample to check out. If you’re interested in enabling the Discussions feature within your Nxtbook, talk to your Account Manager. Keep in mind, though: all good forums require some level of moderation, so you’ll want to think about how to "tend your flock!"

Where’s the Flash Love?

There are definitely people in this world who attract followers. Take Steve Jobs, for instance. No sooner had he supposedly called Adobe lazy than guys like Michael Turro blogged that Conde might be making a mistake by working with Adobe, since Flash isn’t on the iPhone/iPad.* One better, here’s the copy from an ad by a Nxtbook competitor:

"Blahblah Nameless Company won’t be scrambling as the iPad debuts because their fast, crisp non-Flash technology is already compatible. Blahblah Nameless Company publishers won’t be stressing because they already have a competitive edge. And Blahblah Nameless Company engineers won’t be sidetracked because they’re already ahead of the curve."

Unfortunately, there are some pieces of the puzzle that are missing from these stories:

1. More than any other technology company, Adobe has been the leader in creating workflow solutions for publishers. Fifteen years ago, that workflow ended on paper. Now it ends everywhere. But Adobe knows that and is working to get their content on all devices. In fact, the recent Wired demo was built with AIR, but will still export to the iPad (much the same way you can export an Excel spreadsheet as a PDF for people that don’t have Excel).**

The reality is, Adobe knows a ton about the publishing process. Either they’ll figure out the last step or the small develop companies will have to figure out all of the early pre-press stuff that Adobe is the entrenched leader with. Who would you vote for?

2. The same competitor who implies Flash digital publishing companies are behind the curve has yet to offer a BlackBerry solution. Or a Kindle solution. Or a solution for the visually impaired – all of which have been available from Nxtbook for some time now. Why? Because we believe that being pro-Flash or anti-Flash or anything-Flash doesn’t give you the luxury to sit on the sidelines. In short, we’ve got a lot of confidence Adobe will be able to get content onto the iPad but for Nxtbook customers, the point is moot. Our content runs on all of the aforementioned devices and always will. Because it has to. In fact, isn’t it odd that a company claiming to be ahead of the curve can’t go to any device except the iPhone?

*Michael Turro is probably the person whom I respect greatly that I disagree with the most, and his points are extremely well taken.

**Kudos to Jason Fell for covering the WIRED story without getting sucked into the sideshow of the AIR debate.

Nxtbook Media Announces New Newsletter

Sometime in the next couple of days, we’ll be releasing Nxt-Steps, an educational newsletter for Nxtbook customers. Here’s what it is:

* A practical guide to being more successful with your digital magazine
* A resource guide pulling together some of the, uh, better content from the Nxtblog
* A customer-only newsletter edited by our Account Management Team

While there’s certainly some cross-over between Nxt-Steps and the Nxtblog, we think there’s enough of a difference for both products to make sense. Unlike the Nxtblog (published weekly and focused on recent news in the industry), Nxt-Steps will be published every other month and focused on how-to’s for your digital magazine.

The content is so different, in fact, that subscribers to the Nxtblog won’t automatically get Nxt-Steps and vice versa. However, if you are a regular reader of this newsletter and want to be sure you don’t miss Nxt-Steps, please drop Nxtbook Success Manager Todd Reinhart a note at treinhart@nxtbookmedia.com .

International Webinar Announced

The people who brought you the digital magazine webinar are proud to bring you… the first International Digital Magazine Webinar. Held in conjunction with Fipp, the International Federation of the Periodical Press, Digital Magazine Success Stories: What Works, What Doesn’t has been announced for March 30, 2010.

This webinar will feature presentations by Nxtbook customer and author of the Flipping Pages blog Peter Houston as well as Smarter Media Sales President, Josh Gordon.

Publishers around the world are invited to attend this event for free and several international lines have been set up to allow them to do so at minimal cost. The time for the webinar will be 2pm, British Standard Time. Click here to see what that means for you.

Feel free to join us by signing up here.

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