But Wait, There’s More….

How much more? Check out our new video about our GoMobile plan to see how many devices Nxtbook supports.

 

Nxtbook Native App in Action

As my co-writer, Joy, told you last week, the Nxtbook Newsstand App is live in the iTunes store and ready for download. But if you’re on your computer and want want to see it in action, just click on the video below:

 

To learn more, why not join us for a special webinar: How’s your APP-etite? This one takes place Wednesday, September 15th from 2-3 and will look at the various app options available. Click here to join the webinar.

Just the Stats, Maam.

Random facts and figures from Nxtbook tracking – all from the past 30 days of activity:

*Average time spent in a Nxtbook: 7 minutes, 4 seconds. How’s that compare to your website?
*Average bounce rate: A ridiculously low 2.74%. When people go into a digital edition, they plan on staying.
*Traffic via email: Hanging steady at just 37%. If you’re only thinking about e-mail open rate, you’re missing the boat!
*Out of the 16,000 websites that drove traffic to Nxtbooks, which one ranked #5? Facebook. (Twitter just missed the top 10%, at 169.)
*Are Google links more relevant than Yahoo or Bing? Vistors to Nxtbooks via Google stay more than twice as long as the other two top search engines.

The Man Behind the WIRED App

Here’s a very interesting profile on Scott Dadich, the man behind the design of the WIRED app. To be fair, it’s a bit over the top (one quote refers to him as "some sort of combination of Jesus and Pele," whatever that means), but it’s an interesting read.

For my money, my favorite quote wasn’t about Dadich, but about digital magazines, and was given by Mr. LongTail-FREE Chris Anderson, who said:

"You’re talking about finding a way to make digital magazines in parallel with printed magazines without going crazy… There are so many moving pieces with digital magazines. There are thousands of individual elements with portraits and landscapes and interactive elements and all that. You need to think like a spreadsheet to ensure that you get the product out the door." 

I honestly don’t know if you need an app with that.

For the past few years, we’ve been relatively anti-native app, feeling that the web app offers more benefits than the native app option. But, giving way to pressure, we’ve added the native app to the GoMobile plan.

Will it matter? I dunno. A recent commenter on our youtube video about our web app was aghast that we didn’t have a native app (we didn’t when the video was shot), yet this detailed reviewer of WIRED’s app doesn’t feel he needs an app. Who’s right? Quite frankly, I don’t know, but here’s the good news: We are one of the few digital publishers to give our customers both, with detailed metrics cooked into all versions. Within months, we’ll finally know which option is best for you.

I said I wasn’t going to write about this anymore.

After my last post complaining about nonsense surveys in regards to digital magazines, I vowed that would be my last word on the topic for a while. Unfortunately, as he often does, Seth Godin expressed my opinion better than I did. On his post, When Technology & Tradition Diverge, he writes:

When the secret ballot was introduced, it just wasn’t possible to count the votes in less than a few days. So a tradition was established, driven by the technology, not because it was the best way. Now, of course, the technology doesn’t need that tradition any longer, but it’s still here.

One by one, traditions that supported technology are falling as the technology changes.

Simply put, we no longer need surveys that ask people how they read. So why are we still doing them?

 

Next Issue Research Proves Need for Next Issue

In what can’t really be called a surprise, Next Issue Media has released a report that shows that people will pay for digital content, particularly if the content is more substantial than what can be found in print.

Though interesting, the report is largely one of speculation, as there really aren’t many products offering what the research claims people want. Moreover, the report failed to address the potential market for controlled circulation publications. But still, fun reading all in all.

One of the best parts may be a more realistic view of the tablet market, as covered here. It’s important to understand that tablets are merely one of many interesting ways people will be consuming content in the future.

 

Why a Lot of Digital Magazine Surveys Suck

I was interviewed at length about my frequent complaining about digital magazine studies like this one and this one that report what readers say they do compared to what they actually do.

Most dismaying, perhaps, is that the links I’ve provided aren’t to the studies but to the major news outlets who considered the data accurate enough to be published.

It’s interesting – we’re a Google advertiser and I get a lot of surveys from Google asking me about their service, with lots and lots of questions. But not one of these questions asks me things that Google already knows the answer to: they don’t ask about CTR, page views, etc. They do ask about what my experience is as an advertiser and those are good questions. But to ask about things that data can confirm (or, more likely, refute) in a heartbeat is just silly.

Disclaimer: the interviewer is Peter Houston, who works for a Nxtbook customer, though in point of fact I don’t think he ever personally chose to work with Nxtbook, though I do hope we make it easy to do so. 

Exclusive Webinar Invitation, Take 2

Wow – response to our exclusive webinar invitation last week was impressive as much for the quality of the respondents as the quantity. Honestly, we could’ve used the names to field an All-Star Digital Publishing Team, so thank you to those who expressed interest.

Because it’s summer vacation season, we’re going to post the invitation one last time. Next week, we’ll let you know if you’ve been chosen to attend this very limited-attendance event. If you’ve already responded, no need to do so again:

 

How would you like to get a glimpse into the future of digital publishing? Better yet, how would you like to be a part of it?

On Thursday, September 9th, Nxtbook Media will be holding an exclusive webinar at 2pm EST, entitled Nxt Mags – Future Visions of the Digital Edition.

What will it feature?
Not 1, not 2 but 3 different concepts of future versions of the digital magazine.
We’ll introduce you to each one, discuss the intended use and audiences for each and invite you to give your input on these never-before-seen concepts.

Why is this event different?
This isn’t just a webinar, but also an opportunity for you to help the shape our future offerings. All attendees must submit to an interview in the days following the webinar, where we’ll elicit detailed feedback on what you liked and what you didn’t like and which visions are the brightest in your opinion. If you’re not looking to engage with us about the products, this probably isn’t an event for you.

Sounds like a lot of interviews…
Not really. The number of people attending will be small – quite small – and will be hand chosen by us. I won’t tell you how small, because if I did, you might not think you’d get in, but you shouldn’t think that way! We’re looking for a good cross section of long-time customers, short-time customers and even a few non-customers, but here’s the thing: it won’t be a big list. The quality of the feedback we’ll be getting is infinitely more important than the quantity.

Would you like to attend?
Great, keep in mind:
1. You must be available September 9 at 2pm EST.
2. You must agree to a 10-15 minute interview in the days following the webinar.
3. You must write mgrimm [AT] nxtbookmedia.com and answer the following question: Why I want to attend Nxt Mags – Future Visions of the Digital Edition.

Questions? Feel free to call me direct at 717-735-9756. We hope to see you there!

Attack of the Droids

Well, we saw this one coming: Android is now the top selling smart phone OS in the US.

Should you trash those iPhone plans you’ve been working on? Not necessarily, as it will take some time for Android market share to catch up to Apple (or Blackberry for that matter), but this certainly underscores the need for you to think about what your plan for Android will be. At the same time, it appears more and more like the new Blackberry browser will be a valiant attempt to make surfing on the Blackberry tolerable, perhaps even pleasant, so don’t count them out yet, either.

And if you want to see what our plan is to get content on all of these devices, be sure to view the 2010 Nxtbook Media eReader Guide.

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