Archive for Independent Publishing
Online Content Distribution: Guide To The Best Content Syndication Services
Posted by: | CommentsOnline content distribution services allow you to syndicate your content to other web publishers while improving your prestige, visibility and in some cases, even your end-of-month revenue. In fact, such content redistribution partners can be major publishing giants like USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. In this guide I have brought together and reviewed the most interesting online content distribution services presently available.
Photo credit: Roman Antoshchuk
Despite the abundance of sources available on the web, and the apparent ease of preparing new content, professional, high-quality content is still extremely difficult to acquire, and even more challenging to create.
Online distribution services try to sort this problem out by acting as intermediaries between web publishers like you and online distribution partners. The content you produce on your site is syndicated to relevant distribution partners who are free to to re-contextualize your original content in the way they see most fitting. For example, USA Today may republish a video you have shot to add more value to a news article, or The New York Times may add one of your blog posts to provide further details about a specific live event it is reporting.
The two main benefits of syndicating your content are:
1) The fact that in most cases where a distribution partner republishes your content, you are also getting a link back to your web site. As you well know, this not only may likely bring you quite a few extra visitors, but it can also boost your ranking inside the SERPs (search engine result pages).
2) The opportunity to generate extra revenues when your content is being syndicated. This means that each time an ad-enabled content widget containing your article, is published on a web site, you earn part of the advertising revenue. Or if you use a service like Mochila, which works as a content marketplace, anytime a publisher purchases your content you earn a percentage of the selling price.
3) The extra visibility and prestige that your presence on quality content partners can generate.
One thing you should be careful about, is signing exclusivity agreements. When you do so you are obliged to stick with just one distribution partner, and you cannot publish your content on other sites or through other syndication networks.
To learn more about content distribution and syndication I have prepared a comparison table where I confront the key traits of the main online content distribution services out there. Here below, the specific criteria I have personally selected to review these services:
- Exclusivity: Distribution restricted to only one partner.
- Content distribution partners: USA Today, The New York Times, Reuters, etc.
- Compensation: Potential revenue payback.
- Analytics: Content distribution data.
- Pro features: Options included in paid accounts.
Here all the details:
Online Content Distribution Services Comparative Table
Online Content Distribution: Guide To The Best Content Syndication Services
- Gigya
Gigya is a widget platform that lets you distribute, track and monetize your content using web widgets. Wildfire, the proprietary technology used by Gigya, allows you to freely customize your content widgets and is designed to distribute re-shareable widgets on major social media networks, blogging platforms and even desktop platforms easily. Before embedding your widget, you can check out demographics info and the content of the website you are interested in to maximize the performance of your content inventory. Each widget can also be tracked after embed on your personal dashboard, using real-time metrics. To monetize your widgets, join the widget advertising network. Gigya pays you to promote widgets from top-tier brand advertisers. Widgets support both static and rich media ad formats. You pay only for the installs you budgeted for at the beginning of your campaign and Gigya retains a part of the revenues you make from running advertising campaigns. Every interaction, impression and viral grab is free. Each widget also lets you interact with major social networks: you make your friends sign-in and share their content using their existing accounts on Google, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and others. Users can then connect with each other right from the widget, without leaving your site. No list of content distribution partners available. Gigya does not retain exclusivity rights to distribute your content.
http://www.gigya.com/ - Mochila
Mochila is an online media marketplace aimed to both content buyers and sellers. You first submit your acceptance request to the company and, when accepted, you can start looking for content to publish on your site using a widget or submit content to Mochila that others will purchase and share. If you store your content, you can select licensing rules, ad displaying and customization options (ads you deploy or ads served by Mochila), and other settings. You then earn revenues form the syndication transaction when your content is published. Web publishers instead, can acquire any syndicated content for free with advertising support or buy any content a la carte while being able to place their own ads to earn more revenues. Content can be published either along other existing information available on your site or using a micro-site format, which is a website entirely build upon a series of content widgets. The analytics reporting facility allows you to track the performances of the content you have bought or sold and deploy advertising campaigns tailored to your needs. Mochila content distribution partners include: USA Today, Reuters, MSNBC, BusinessWeek, and others. Mochila does not lock you into exclusivity distribution rights for your content.
http://www.mochila.com/ - Clearspring
Clearspring is a widget syndication platform that helps you redistribute and monetize your online content. After a free registration, you can access the management console, where you can configure every aspect of your widget: styling, embed options, metadata, keywords, backlinks and more. You can also set the analytics feature to focus your target audience and monitor the performances of your redistributed content once published. Clearspring allows you to run ads inside your widget (both textual or interactive) and even use the whole widget as an interactive ad to fully engage viewers. Widget are generally redistributed by grabbing a piece of HTML, but using the Clearspring Launchpad service your viewers and you can avoid using embed codes most of the time. Widgets are embeddable on major social media sites just using a point-to-click system which automatically integrates the widget inside your social pages (more information on the website). To further monetize your widgets, you can either join the affiliate partners program and partner with social websites, widget providers and layout sites that are earning money promoting widgets or simply running ads along with the content of your widgets. Clearspring does not retain exclusivity rights to distribute your content. No list of content distribution partners available.
http://www.clearspring.com/ - BlogBurst
BlogBurst is a syndication service that allows you to spread your blog content to multiple destinations, automatically. Destinations include A-listers media networks and publishers like Fox News, Reuters, McGraw-Hill, and more. You then gain more visibility and exposure for your content while also attracting new potential readers and backlinks for your niche of interest. Top bloggers also get rewarded for the content they provide. By calculating headline impressions inside a quarter, BlogBurst lists all bloggers in a chart where each blog earns a fixed compensation depending on the position reached inside the chart. To use the service, you need to comply with BlogBurst guidelines which require to publish full RSS feeds, not have ads in your feeds, produce family-friendly content, avoid typos, post at least on a weekly basis, and more (detailed guidelines available on the site). From your dashboard, you can track in real-time your headline impressions, click-troughs and other metrics of your content. BlogBurst is free to use but the service does not clearly state the agreement behind the revenue sharing program and the money the company makes using your content. Your content is not meant for exclusive use by BlogBurst.
http://www.blogburst.com/ - Daylife
Daylife is an online content aggregation and distribution platform. What Daylife does is pulling content from thousands of popular sources online (and your own archives), analyzing that content and then syndicating relevant information to your web site in multiple formats (text, referrals, images, video, Twitter feeds, etc.). With the content you get from Daylife, you can even create whole new pages, sections, and entire sites made up of fresh, relevant content to add vast depth on any topic, while always retaining complete editorial control. Content distribution partners include: USA Today, Sky News, Newsweek, The Washington post, and many others. Different solutions are available for both large and small publishers like customizable APIs, in-line interactive windows, embeddable widgets or point-and-click windows you can customize and add to your web site. The service also allows you to integrate ads inside the content you serve, to generate revenues while creating more click-trough opportunities and links back to your site. No analytics features. Daylife aggregates all the content it serves complying to the Google guidelines, so the company does not retain any rights on what you display on your site. Prices available upon request.
http://www.daylife.com/ - Sphere
Sphere is a content syndication platform that allows you to spread your content on high-traffic websites and augment your website visibility. Whether if you are a big or a small publisher, you can distribute relevant matching content automatically to several content distribution partners like Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, etc. Big publishers can integrate contextual articles, referrals and videos inside third-party websites or take advantage of an interactive, redistributable widget. Small publishers can only use the embeddable widget to share their content. You can also use the automated widget inside your own blog posts to provide relevant content to your readers with no work from your side. The widget is free to use and optimized for major blogging platforms like WordPress, MovableType, Blogger, TypePad, and others. Sphere also provides you with a bookmarklet to install on your browser that lets you quickly share any relevant content you want to display inside the widget placed on your website. Sphere partners with ad agencies to deploy ads to your site and pay for the costs of the service. If you are an advertiser, you can also set your own ad campaigns and start deploying advertising in various formats inside widgets. Advanced paid features are available to customize the look and feel and crawling of web widgets. Sphere publishes your content under a non-exclusive agreement.
http://www.sphere.com/ - Newstex
Newstex is an online content syndication platform that aggregates real-time content on the web and serves it on your site according to your focus. The company adds value to the content gathered by adding metadata, stock ticker-symbols, keywords and other categorization fields that make your content easy to find. Three distribution services are available: Blogs On Demand, News On Demand and Video On Demand. Each service automatically gathers contextual blog posts, news and videos to display on your site and engage your readers. You can also submit your own content to syndicate to other web sites. When the content you submit to Newstex is approved, the company allows major content distributors like Amazon, LexisNexis, Reuters, etc. to republish and distribute your content to their end-user customers. Also, each time an end-user customer views your blog content you earn a 30% royalty of the gross revenues based on your royalty pool participation for each product your posts are included in. No content served by Newstex is editorially reviewed before posting. Newstex does not retain rights on content aggregated and published on third-party destination sites. No analytics features available either. Contact a Newstex representative for pricing information.
http://newstex.com/
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on August 3rd, 2009 as “Online Content Distribution: Guide To The Best Content Syndication Services“.
Online Music Collaboration: Best Tools And Services To Collaborate On Music Projects
Posted by: | CommentsOnline music collaboration services allow you to play, rehearse and record music with remotely connected like-minded people from around the world. You connect with other musicians, vocalists, songwriters and even to your own music fans to create the music you like either in real-time or asynchronously. You can also exchange ideas, discover new music from other independent artists and experiment freely without the pressure coming from knowing that you are renting an expensive recording studio.
Photo credit: picpics
Unless you have decided to do a real-time jam with your remotely connected musicians, online music collaboration services work all pretty much in the same way: You record a music track with your own instrument connected to a computer and then you upload the track for others to work and build upon.
If you and your music partners already have a speedy broadband Internet connection, you can also use online music collaboration services to play in real-time without worrying about the typical delays that are characteristic of transmitting audio on the Internet. You just plug your instrument to your PC / Mac, find your musical buddies and you are set to play.
Collaborative music projects can be both public or private, depending on your production needs, and some of the music collaboration services I am showcasing here in this guide, also provide a direct marketplace for you to distribute and sell your songs.
Interestingly, DJs and creative people who are not musicians can use some of these music collaboration services to remix and mash-up old and new stuff.
In this MasterNewMedia guide you can find a comprehensive map of the online music collaboration services available out there, including some of their key characteristics and a comparative table that puts them through their paces. When reviewing each one of the services, these were the key items I checked:
- Supported file format: File types accepted to upload your music tracks.
- Public / Private sessions: Free or restricted access for musical projects.
- Distribution / Sales: Music tracks distribution on third-party websites or social networks.
- Rating: Mutual evaluation of musicians.
- Pricing: Basic starting cost and feature.
Here all the details:
Best Tools And Services To Collaborate On Music Projects Comparative Table
Online Music Collaboration: Best Tools And Services To Collaborate On Music Projects
- eJAMMING AUDiiO
With eJamming AUDiiO you can create, perform and record musical tracks online and in real-time. The software (for Win and Mac only) allow you to connect to other musicians both by public or private chat and by creating or joining a session. Inside a session you get in touch with up to three other musicians for real time music collaboration, creation and recording. Or you can also play on your own and record your creation. All you have to do is plug your instrument to your computer and then configure the software with the instructions available on the website. You cannot upload your own tracks for the time being. Each musician has a skill level rated by the eJamming community, so you can decide whom you want to play with. Once you have recorded your tracks you can also send your music to a friend or jam-mate. eJamming AUDiio is priced either $9.95/month or $89.95/year.
http://www.ejamming.com/ - Kompoz
Kompoz is a social workspace for musicians and songwriters. You can record a music track, upload it and then invite others to contribute to your song by adding other instruments or vocals. Public and private projects are available, so you can collaborate with anyone or specifically select the people to work with. Check the ratings of your selected musicians to choose the right co-author for your creation. Then upload a music track (MP3, AIFF, WAV, WMA, OGG), a PDF with tabs or vocal parts and meet your jam-mates to start collaborating together on your own song. To get feedback from the Kompoz community, you can use the forum discussions to share opinions and suggestions with other members. When your project is ready, share it via Twitter, Facebook or your own website by grabbing the embed code. Public projects are free and licensed under a Creative Commons license. Each private project you start costs $8.95 and you can choose either to share your music under a Creative Commons license or traditional copyright.
http://www.kompoz.com - JamNow
JamNow is a free online collaboration platform that allows you to play, record and collaborate with other musicians. You can host live shows for your fans or just play and record your tracks on your own. To use JamNow you have to download a free software (Win and Mac) on your computer. The software allows you to get in touch with other passionate musicians and supporters via chat or using a microphone. Your music projects can be both kept public or private and all members have a rating score, so it is easy to meet the people you need to perfect your songs. No exposure features to distribute your music on third-party websites. No info either on file formats supported to upload a music track.
http://www.jamnow.com - MixMatchMusic
MixMatchMusic is a free community where artists and music lovers meet to share their tastes or collaborate on music projects. You can connect with other members to create, complete or remix tracks using MixMatchMusic suite of audio tools. Then upload your own tracks to start or use a “stem”, a music sample you find on the site. To find the right musicians look at their ratings from the community. Once you are satisfied with the results of your project, publish your music on the website. Each song costs $1 and for each track sold $0.85 go to those people who collaborated creating the music. To release your song on third-part locations you need either to have permission from the company or the co-authors of the song. No info on file formats supported to upload a music track.
http://www.mixmatchmusic.com - Tune Rooms
Tune Rooms is a free online service to create and remix music tracks with the help of other musicians. You can create your own music sessions (or “tune rooms”) by uploading your own tracks in MP3 format or by adding existing tracks already on the website. Then allow others to contribute with their own song sketches to help you complete your songs. Tune rooms allows users to assign a Creative Commons license their works, featuring the license prominently on each composition. No ratings or distribution tools available.
http://www.tunerooms.com - Oomix
Using Oomix musicians can collaborate online on their songs and even monetize their music without spending a dime. Record and upload a single-instrument MP3 track to Oomix and let others play their own groove and complete your track. Some others may want to remix different tracks and create a unique music piece using the Studio tool (Windows only). Each song perfected and created by a group of musicians is sold for a pre-determined price. Each musician or remixer assigns a percentage to her contribution that identifies the amount of work done (e.g. 30% bass guitar, 30% guitar, 20% drums, 20% remix). The money each contributor gets is calculated according to the percentage of work done and total earning made from the sell. You can rate each musician but not freely distribute the songs you create (only sell is allowed). Private projects are not permitted.
http://oomix.com - Jamglue
Jamglue is an online community for creating and sharing original music and audio. You can upload your recorded music (MP3, WAV and WMA formats allowed) or voice track, create mixes, and then share your creations on your blog or MySpace profile. You can either upload a track from your hard-disk, a URL, or use JamGlue library to mix different tracks using a Flash-based interface; no software to install on your computer. Once your mix is completed, you can download the song for free. You can also write mini-review or comments to rate your favorite artists. Private projects are not allowed. Free to use.
http://www.jamglue.com - WeMix
WeMix is a free online service where musicians can collaborate together and produce original songs. Co-founded by the rapper Ludacris, WeMix usage is simple: you sign up, create your page and upload your original songs, beats, vocals, riffs in MP3 format As a member you can collaborate on songs using WeMix Mashpit, offer feedback, rate your favorite artists and share ideas for new music with others. If you want to distribute your music you can grab the embed code of your published songs and paste it onto your social media pages or website. Top performers also get a shot to turn their songs into real records by collaborating with star musicians and the entire WeMix community. Your show might even be broadcast on TV.
http://www.wemix.com - Indaba Music
The mission of Indaba Music is to foster a community that offers artists to connect and work creatively together on music projects. Create a free blog to share your music (MP3 is the only format accepted for upload) and photos or connect with other musicians to work on a project together using a web-based workspace. Each musician is rated by other members and has a personal profile page to facilitate your choice. If you are not a musician, you can also browse the Indaba Music library of Creative Commons-licensed songs and remix a song, even privately. Basic plan to join Indaba Muisc is free and you have all it needs to create, remix and share your songs. If you need advanced audio tools you can purchase one of the two premium plans starting at $5/month or $50/year.
http://www.indabamusic.com - MyOnlineBand
MyOnlineBand.com is a network of professional and would-be musicians that want to share their music tastes and play collaboratively on music projects. Once you register to the network you can upload your songs (MP3 or WMA only) to share with others and use a live-chat facility to communicate in real-time with the musicians of your team. You also have a public profile page that works as a resume to help other people evaluate your contribution to their tracks. People can also support you economically through a dedicated link, though this is not compulsory to download a song. In fact, all you need to do is download tracks from the MyOnlineBand library, add your own audio contribution and then re-upload the song to the site. You can also upload document files to provide your jam-mates with chords, lyrics and tabs that will help you improve the songs. Both public and private projects are allowed. MyOnlineBand is free to join. No rating allowed.
http://www.myonlineband.com - MyBlogBand
MyBlogBand is a virtual jam room where you connect to other musicians, play and publish you recordings for free. You simply post your creation on the forum area of the website and let others add more instruments, give feedback, make suggestions, and collaborate on the song. If you like the additions made, you can then share the revised collaboration. You can also choose to work alone and open a private project or publicly release your creations. Audio tracks must be submitted in MP3 format and you can post lyrics, tabs and any other document that might help co-authors create songs. No rating and no ability to distribute your songs on third-party websites.
http://www.myblogband.com - Dopetracks
DopeTracks is a free online music collaboration network where you can record your beats and sing together with other vocalists. Just plug your microphone to your computer and use the built-in Flash application to record your vocals. Then upload your track to the service and provide lyrics so that your fans can sing along. Other users can also comment, “dope” (rate) and help you improve your beats participating to your vocal performances. Once you are satisfied with your beats, distribute your performance to Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or Xanga. No info on the file format needed to upload your vocals and no private projects allowed.
http://www.dopetracks.com - Virtual Recording Studio
Virtual Recording Studio is an online music collaboration venue where musicians meet to work together on new music. All you have to do is upload an original music track in MP3 format and then start a project to let others contribute to your song. Projects can be either public or private. In a private project you selectively control who can hear your music or collaborate on your songs. Ratings and comments are allowed, but you cannot distribute your finished creations on third-party websites. You can also install Virtual Recording Studio on your own web server to create your personal music collaboration community. Free to use.
http://thenetstudio.com/Scripts/VRSLogin.vrs
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on July 13th, 2009 as “Online Music Collaboration: Best Tools And Services To Collaborate On Music Projects“.
The Brand Ambassador Marketing Model Guide
Posted by: | CommentsThe brand ambassador is a marketing model that employs trusted, credible personalities to promote and give greater visibility to its brand products. But outside of the traditional, big money advertising world, where famous actors or sport stars are utilized as “ethical” promotional promoters of unique events or services, the idea of a new kind of brand ambassador, a grassroots conceived-one, has yet to trickle down the marketing strategies adopted by successful companies.
Photo credit: sgursozlu
What kind of new brand ambassador am I talking about?
The new kind of brand ambassador I envision is a true passionate consumer who volunteers to sponsor a company or product he / she uses and likes. This would be a passionate individual who has already been acting spontaneously as a “brand ambassador“, providing credible, valuable and impartial info, exposure and visibility to a company product.
On the web there are many people who, consciously or not, act as spontaneous brand ambassadors for many products and services.
Why not consider to prize and reward economically those that have been doing so spontaneously? Why not give them greater and better opportunities to do so?
Self-elected, grassroots brand ambassadors are by definition actual users, passionate consumers of something they really use and like. The key value they have in the eyes of their own audiences is that they are credible, trusted and honest. They wouldn’t recommend something they did not truly tried and believed in.
This is why, companies considering such an innovative marketing approach should be careful in not confusing the idea of paying someone to do marketing and promotion actions versus the idea of rewarding those who, while very competent and credible in their sectors, have already proven to be natural, spontaneous best matches to the role of a brand ambassador.
A brand ambassador of such kind could act as a great resource to collect and gather valuable feedback and criticism from other customers while being himself a great advisor to any company product development office. Brand ambassadors would also be key in showcasing and promoting new products while utilizing communication approaches that are more in tune with how successful companies are communicating today on the web and across social media.
But this is just my own idea.
Out there, in the advertising and marketing world, the word “brand ambassador” means different things to different people.
If you are interested in making greater sense of what the brand ambassador idea is about, I have curated a selection of the very best articles available on the Web on this highly relevant marketing topic.
Here my super-guide to the brand ambassador marketing model:
The Brand Ambassador Marketing Model Guide
Advertising 2.0 Model: The Brand Ambassador
The Brand Ambassador is an advertising model that leverages the authority and credibility of online personalities to create a powerful direct marketing strategy. A respected followed authority, a blogger or small publisher targeting a specific audience niche can be a much more effective vehicle for marketing communication that the most expensive advertising campaign.
Who Are The Brand Ambassadors?
Brand ambassadors ideally listen and learn from ongoing conversations and then engage in them, forming bidirectional interactions. Ideally, they also talk about more than just their brands on social networks. A good ambassador will also talk about other aspects of his or her life, to the point that followers eventually begin to see the brand ambassador as something of a trusted friend.
The Role of The Brand Ambassador Is To Transcend All Aspects of The Brand: Abhishek Bachchan
The role of the brand ambassador is to transcend all aspects of the brand. You have to embody the brand you are endorsing, the give and take is very important. Just like the brand endorser has to embody the product values, the product, too, must reflect elements of the brand ambassador’s personality. In a sense, the brand personality and the endorser must hold the same morals and principles, style and appeal.
The Top 6 Branding and Brand Ambassador Tips
Six practical tips from ArticleBase about the brand ambassador role and the branding strategy that will help you leverage the credibility and authority of your brand.
‘Brand Ambassadors’ Give Your Business a Boost
Your customers are the key to your success in more ways than you might think. By buying your product again and again, they are providing the revenue you need to stay alive. But they also are living, breathing examples of consumers who used your product or service to fill a need. They are your key ambassadors.
Shouldn’t Every Employee Be a Brand Ambassador?
…while brand ambassadors are certainly very important when you are doing marketing events, the truth is that there shouldn’t be a select group of brand ambassadors. Every employee that you hire should be a brand ambassador.
This Is Not a Sponsored Post: Paid Conversations, Credibility & The FTC
Many expert and lifestyle “citizen” bloggers and online weblebrities are creating communities around their personas as they freely and actively share personal and identifiable experiences online, in social networks and also in the real world. Those who can successfully connect their stories to others in and around their peer groups earn trust, visibility and authority – limited only by ambition and ingenuity. They’re rewarded for their presence and ability to point their followers in strategic directions.
The Brand Ambassador – Josh Bernoff
Duration: 2′ 43”
Full English Text Transcription
Josh Bernoff: Now, I think it’s very important and if I were the manufacturer of the camera I would be looking for people like you and then contacting you directly.
This is one of the hardest things, this is that companies are used to talking to people in masses.
But you as an individual firstly have an audience, right? That there are thousands of people interested in what you read, what you write, and then you are a genuine believer.
So they need to call you up and say:
“Can we help you out? Would you like to try the new one out and talk about what you think about it? We are going to give you some photos or videos that you might want to put up on your site, you become friends with our page on Facebook and then your Facebook friends will see that. You become friends and maybe become interested in it.“
They need to treat you and the other individuals like you – and it might only be 25 people – they must treat you as if you were the most important people in the world because what you say it is actually more powerful than anything they would say.
Robin Good: Is that situation at risk when those companies economically support those brand ambassadors?
Josh Bernoff: This is something that we have been discussing recently and it is a matter of some controversy.
There is sort of a spectrum here. Everyone acknowledges that… say, allows you to use the camera for three months to try it out. That’s normal and the journalists do that.
Supposed they let you keep the camera, that’s more like a payment because they give you money and say: “We’re going to pay you to try this out and use it“.
Where we at Forrester draw the line is we say:
- “If you are going to pay someone then you must require that they disclose that in any communication that they have“. If you put a blog post about it you need to say: “Yes, I received some money to write about this“.
- The second requirement is you must be allowed to write whatever you want. You could say: “I received this money to write about this, and you know what? It’s really not very good.” You have to have the freedom to do that.
We think that with that disclosure requirement and the ability to be authentic then it is OK if the payment goes on.
There are others who certainly disagree, but you see this sort of sponsorship happening all the time and I think it is better to have rules around it than to trying make something that says: “No, that’s not possible“.
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on July 8th, 2009 as “The Brand Ambassador Marketing Model Guide“.
Photo credits:
Who Are The Brand Ambassadors? – Darren Whittingham
The Role of The Brand Ambassador Is To Transcend All Aspects of The Brand: Abhishek Bachchan – Bollywood.ac
The Top 6 Branding and Brand Ambassador Tips – Boris Ryzhkov
Shouldn’t Every Employee Be a Brand Ambassador? – Apple Inc.
This Is Not a Sponsored Post: Paid Conversations, Credibility & The FTC – TechCrunch
Professional White-Label Video Publishing Platforms: Guide To The Best Services
Posted by: | CommentsWhite-label video publishing and distribution platforms allow professional web publishers to move beyond zero-cost video sharing sites like YouTube and onto services which guarantee faster transcoding, HD video quality, the option to schedule both VOD and scheduled programming, CDN-based distribution, ad management and integration as well as private labeling and personalization of your video player.
Photo credit: Liubomyr Feshchyn and Christophe Testi mashed up by Robin Good
If you are looking for solutions that would allow you to set up a professional web TV channel of some kind, one for which you have a budget to spend and hope to sell advertising and sponsorship for, you have no choice but look for a professional white-label video publishing and distribution service.
The traditional free video sharing sites like YouTube, are great for uploading and distributing at zero cost your favorite video clips. Much less exciting is the moment when you want to start controlling the ads that are displayed on your video clips, or you want to set up a day-by-day video programming schedule while monitoring and analyzing traffic, views and clickthroughs.
This is why to move from amateur video sharing to professional video publishing you really need to consider seriously whether you have a budget to support the costs that such pro video distribution services require. The video services I review here have all some kind of monthly or yearly fee that is clearly not within the reach of the typical blogger or independent video-maker.
On the other hand what’s the use of publishing tens of video clips and having hundreds of thousands of video views on YouTube if this provides very little return in terms of visibility and revenue for your business or web site?
The times are ripe for serious and economically capable video publishers to step up significantly above the generic, amateur Internet video publisher, and to strengthen their online video presence by providing extra quality, reliability, speed and monetization options which are so critical to their own future survival.
In this MasterNewMedia guide I have selected, reviewed and compared for you the best private-label video publishing and distribution platforms available out there, while paying particular attention to their key traits, strengths and weaknesses.
This is an area that will see fast growth and many new entrants in the near future due to the increasing demand for quality video channels and the need for many video sharing sites to start earning back their rapidly escalating bandwidth and storage costs.
If you are into video publishing or are considering the move from amateur to professional video publishing, this guide can help you get a comprehensive view of this new market and of the traits and features that characterize the first group of providers competing to get your attention.
Here all the details:
Professional White-label Video Publishing Platforms Comparison Table
Professional White-label Video Publishing Platforms
- Brightcove
Brightcove is an on-demand video platform to distribute and monetize your online video inventory. The web-based Brightcove Studio lets you create branded videos with your logo and monetize your clips trough advertising campaigns. Brightcove players are fully customizable to match the layout of your web pages and also maintain optimal quality whatever device or internet connection video you choose. Videos can be re-distributed and embedded across any website, even using widgets. Videos streamed are encoded with H.264 and VP6 codecs and range from low-quality till HD. You can also program video broadcasting using playlist creation facilities. You keep total control over the ads you show with your videos by choosing ad units, insertion points, frequency, relevance. You can also integrate your ad servers and ad networks to serve ads with your videos. Custom reports are generated by Brightcove to help you track the performance of your clips. To get a price quote (on an annual contract basis) you have to contact Brightcove sales.
http://www.brightcove.com/ - Livestream
Livestream is an online video platform that broadcasts live and on-demand videos. The premium account is priced at $350 and allows you to have a white-label channel to deliver videos with your own brand logo or watermark. Using a web-based interface, you can fully customize the size and look of your video player and also configure the redistribution of your videos; allow only specific audiences to view your clips or even disable sharing if you prefer. A list of ready-made templates for your channel is available and the integrated user chat allows broadcasters and their audience to communicate in real-time. Videos are encoded with Sorensen Spark (Flash 7) specifications and HD is supported. You can create a video playlist with the Autopilot feature to broadcast your videos 24/7 automatically. For optimal video encoding Livestream recommends around 700Kbps of upstream bandwidth. Livestream also provides an analytics tool that tracks and reports the performance of your videos. Advertising is supported and your ads are integrated inside channels using overlays that can be either served by you or by integrating ad servers and ad networks into your video production workflow.
http://livestream.com/ - Watershed
Watershed is the white-label version of Ustream interactive broadcasting platform. Watershed allows you to publish and distribute ad-free, branded videos to your audience both on web pages or mobile phones. Live streaming broadcasting is also supported. The video player is fully customizable and your videos can be password-protected or limited in number of views from your web-based Administrator control panel. HD videos are supported. You can also interact live with your audience via text chat, real-time polls or co-hosted broadcast feeds. Watershed does not support self-served or third-party-served ads on your videos. Reports are generated to take care of the performance of your clips. No video programming. Two pricing options are available: monthly-based plans starting from $49 and a pay-as-you-go pricing model that charges for monthly or hourly views by a single user. No encoding info provided.
http://watershed.ustream.tv/ - Glomera
Glomera is a web TV platform that helps you broadcast live and on-demand videos with your own logo. You can pull video from YouTube to broadcast inside your channel or create niche-targeted compilations to redistribute on third-party websites. Video channels are fully customizable to match the look of any web page. The scheduling feature lets you organize your web TV programs in a daily, weekly, or season-long programming. HD videos are supported and videos are encoded using FLV specifications. Web TV channels you build with Glomera Premium account are ads-free and you cannot serve third-party ads. The reporting feature allows you track the performance of your clips. Glomera Premium account is priced at $199/year. You can also purchase additional interactivity options for your channels like: rating, comments, on-demand video list, guide-programming, and more.
http://www.glomera.com/ - Ooyala
Ooyala has developed Backlot, a scalable video platform with content syndication controls and monetization features. Video quality is preserved to match your syndication relationships (web pages, video-sharing sites, mobile devices, or other). Backlot video player supports overlays with our logo / watermarks and is fully customizable. You can arrange your clips in playlists and program the broadcast with no operation needed from your side. Videos are encoded in H.264 format and HD video is supported. A video metrics report is generated to help you monitor the performances of your videos. Backlot manages also ad insertion points, frequency and the different ad units like pre-roll, post-roll, mid-roll and interactive which are served with your clips. Third party ad servers and ad networks are also supported. Prices depend on the campaign; more info contacting Ooyala sales department.
http://www.ooyala.com/ - Vmix
Vmix provides web-based video and image publishing solutions to distribute and monetize your content. You can brand your clips, serve ads with your videos and also track the performance of your channels. Videos are encoded in H.264 / FLV and distributed at optimal resolution to websites, mobile phones and portable devices using customizable players, widgets and applications. Vmix has support for HD videos too. A list of ready-made templates is available. Your audience can also interact with your videos using ratings, sharing, or video / text commenting tools. Scheduled playlists are automatically created to operate your video channel without human input. You can customize ad-serving procedures on your videos using different ad units (pre-roll, post-roll, overlays and also animated ad units), insertion points and frequency. You can bring your own ad server / ad network to serve ads inside your video clips. Pricing is subjected to distribution campaign you choose; more info on Vmix corporate website.
http://vmix.com - PermissionTV
PermissionTV offers a web-based solution to manage and monetize your online video inventory. You can choose between different player solutions that are freely customizable and redistributable on any web page. Viewers can interact with your video content by clicking on graphics, surveys or advertisement overlays and pop-ups. You can also create video playlists and deploy niche-targeted channels to your audience. Ad networks integrate with your videos to serve contextual ads using pre-roll, post-roll and mid-roll ad units. No info is provided about the encoding codec used for your videos, but HD is supported. No programming feature available. Pricing details available upon request to PermissionTV sales department.
http://www.permissiontv.com/ - Twistage
Hosted video platform Twistage allows you to create customizable video players with your own logo to embed on any website. Twistage integrates with your existing content management system (e.g. a blogging platform) or content delivery network. Videos are delivered to match the internet connection requirements of viewers; the video platform promises “uninterrupted delivery regardless of your site’s traffic demands“. No information is given on the encoding codec used and HD is not supported. Video player is fully customizable to match the look of any web page. You can create a video playlist to broadcast your videos in sequence. Ads on your videos are served using different ad units: pre-roll, post-roll, mid-roll, overlay and in-page banner advertising. You can also bring your ad server or ad network to provide your ads. Analytics reporting allows you to track the earnings and spread of your videos on the web, but also which portions of your videos are the most viewed. No programming features. A free trial is available. Contact Twistage sales department for pricing options.
http://www.twistage.com/ - Castfire
Castfire allows white-label video publishing so you can distribute and monetize your own videos using your logo / watermark. You can take control of the video production workflow and customize your player, ad serving procedures, viral redistribution, and much more through a web-based interface. A single video upload automatically generates multiple video formats to match your distribution needs and maintain good quality either on mobile phones, iPods, media box sets, HD-compatible TVs and more. Videos are encoded complying with H.264 specifications. Castfire has partnered with the automated video distribution service TubeMogul and allows you to distribute your clips on multiple video-sharing sites and also track precisely the performance of your video. You can also schedule and broadcast your videos without any user input. Ads can be served by third-party ad networks or ad servers using pre-roll, mid-roll and post-roll units. Prices depend on the distribution campaign you choose; contact a Castfire representative for more details.
http://www.castfire.com/ - Delve
Delve provides a online video solution to manage, publish, measure, and monetize your video content. With a web-based management tool you can create an embeddable player that matches the look of your website and is freely redistributable over any web page. The player also auto-adjust the video quality for best results with every internet connection. Codec used to encode videos is H.264 and HD is supported. You can offer your users the ability to search inside your videos for topics of interests; a heatmap shows the portion of video that corresponds to a specific topic. Delve also provides analytics features to track the performance of your clips, but you can also use Google Analytics to monitor your video content. No video programming though you can broadcast video playlists. Advertising capabilities include the integration with ad servers and ad networks. Ad units options you can choose to serve your videos are pre-roll, post-roll and “random“. You can also set the frequency your ads are served and specify the ad insertion points. A 30-days trial is available yo test the service. For pricing options, you have to contact the sales department at Delve.
http://www.delvenetworks.com/ - VideoBloom
The Premium plan of VideoBloom ($299) allows you to deliver and monetize online videos with your brand logo using a dedicated player. The player is fully customizable and you can also redistribute and embed your videos on any website or social media page. Videos are encoded using MPEG4 specifications, also in HD format. VideoBloom claims that your videos are deployed to match the different internet connection speeds of your viewers while maintaining optimal video quality. Video playlists are available to broadcast niche-targeted compilations. No video programming. You can use different ad units to monetize your videos: pre-roll-post-roll, overlays, skin ads (for your video player) and companion ads. The analytics tool measures the popularity of your video on the web as well as your earnings through a web-based dashboard.
http://www.videobloom.com/ - MonetizeMedia
A live streaming and on-demand video publishing platform, Monetize Media allows you to distribute and monetize your video assets. Through a web-based interface you can arrange your video, organize playlists and insert advertising inside your clips. You cannot schedule playlist broadcasting for the time being, but you can pull videos from most popular video sharing sites to add to your custom channels. HD videos are supported. You have a list of ready-made video players at your disposal that you can also customize and scale to match perfectly any web page or mobile device. All video players offer chat, ratings, comments, social network sharing, social media tags, and RSS functionalities. Video players also detect the connection of your viewers to auto-adjust video resolution. You can set your videos for public or private access. Monetize Media supports online ad units such as banner, in-stream, overlay and pre-roll ads. Ad network integration is allowed to serve third-party ads. You can deploy your video on a pay-per-view basis and receive payments using your PayPal account. Performance reports are available to track the popularity and monetization goals of your videos. No encoding info is provided. Gold plan is priced at $1199/month plus a one-time setup charge of $500. A free trial is available to test the service.
http://www.monetizemedia.com/ - BitGravity
BitGravity is a content delivery network that provides delivery of on-demand video and live streaming broadcasts. The service takes care of distributing your videos but is not aimed to monetize your video assets with advertising campaigns. Codec used for videos is H.264 and HD is supported. There is no custom video player provided, but customers are free to modify the API of the Flash player to match their production needs. No video programming or analytics features. For further info you have to contact a BitGravity representative.
http://www.bitgravity.com/ - GizmoUTube.TV
GizmoUTube.TV is a white-label video platform that allows you to broadcast either on-demand and live streaming shows. GizmoUTube.TV provides a customizable video player which supports HD, interactive video search and redistribution on third-party websites. Videos are encoded in Flash H.264 and VP6 formats. Ad integration is not supported for the time being. For $1999/year you get a .TV domain name and 1GB of storage space per month. Expenses for bandwidth traffic are managed by Bits On The Run and payed separately. No programming available. More info on corporate website.
http://www.gizmovideo.com/gizmoutube.tv/ - The FeedRoom
The FeedRoom is an online video platform that helps you create and distribute niche-targeted video channels out of your online video inventory. Different customizable video players are available to help you find the correct matching with the look of your website. Players are also scalable, redistributable and allow user interaction with rating and commenting features. HD videos are supported. Reporting functions tell you who is tuning in, what and how much they are watching, and an understanding of which sources are driving traffic to your site. With The FeedRoom you can also monetize your video assets by offering online subscription, pay-per-view programming or by integrating advertising features. The platform has support for all popular ad formats, including in-stream pre-rolls, post-rolls and banners, as well as contextual targeting ads. You can also rely on ad networks partnered with The FeedRoom to serve third-party ads on your videos. No programming feature and no encoding info is available. You need to contact the company for available pricing solutions.
http://www.feedroom.com/ - BestTV
BestTV provides fully customizable Internet TV channels to distribute and monetize your video content. You can either broadcast white-label live streaming shows and on-demand videos on PCs, set-top boxes or mobile phones. You have also the option to create targeted playlists but not schedule a playlist to be broadcast without user input. HD videos are supported. You can monetize your video assets using both subscriptions and advertising options. Regarding advertising, you can employ pre-roll, post-roll and banner ads while setting ads frequency and capping to achieve optimal results. Ad networks can be integrated to serve third-party ads with your video content. Detailed reports are available to track your advertising campaigns and video performances. No encoding info is provided. To get a quote for BestTV solutions contact a company representative.
http://www.best-tv.com/ - Kaltura
Kaltura is an open source online video platform that allows you to manage, distribute and monetize your online video inventory using open standards. You can also import third-party video content from other websites or video-sharing sites, add your videos and create custom playlists to engage your audience. You can schedule your playlist for broadcasting without input and also take advantage of advanced features like: remix and annotate your videos, add text slides, translations, and much more. When you have your content ready, your video is encoded using FLV codec (HD supported) and then published using a customizable widget player that matches the look of your website. Powered by Gyga, your widget player is freely redistributable on any website or social media sites. You can even offer viewers to download your video player for offline viewing or broadcast private shows. Kaltura has partnered with ad networks to help you show ads with your video content that comply with IAB standards. Detailed statistics and analytics of your online video offering are also generated for your video campaigns. Contact Kaltura sales department for price quites.
http://corp.kaltura.com/ - KIT digital
KIT digital provides solutions manage, publish and monetize your online video assets. Videos can be offered on-demand on websites or mobile devices and you can put your own logo to represent your company. Video players offered by KIT digital can be fully customized, redistributed and shared on any web page. No info on HD support or video encoding. To capitalize on your video inventory you can serve ads with your content, even integrating your ad networks. Ad units accepted are: pre-roll, post roll, companion banners and flash overlay ads. Alternative revenue channels supported are: subscriptions, DTO (download to own), VOD (video on demand), and PPV (pay per view), pay per click and pay-as-you-view (per second / per frame). Detailed reports are generated to track your earnings and the performances of your videos. No video programming. Contact KIT digital for pricing info.
http://www.kitd.com/ - SOFTing K.iTV
K.iTV from SOFTing is designed to assist content providers with all key functions associated with managing online video: content uploading, cataloging, tracking and maintenance, advertising, analysis, billing and paying. You can either offer on-demand or live content. Once uploading your content you can take advantage of fully customizable video players that also allow you to create scheduled playlists to broadcast without any input from the user. A list of ready-made templates is available if you do not have specific customization needs. Advertising is supported with most common ad units: pre-roll, post-roll, in-stream, image & flash banners. Third-party ad network integration is not supported. Other monetization strategies include billing and subscriptions. Contact SOFTing support for pricing details.
http://eng.eu-softing.com/Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on July 6th, 2009 as “Professional White-label Video Publishing Platforms: Guide To The Best Services“.
Self-Publish Your Book: Guide To The Best Self-Publishing Services
Posted by: | CommentsWhen working with a traditional book publisher, you, the book author, give up a large degree of editorial control, and many times you have little to no input into the design and layout of your book, its distribution, and its marketing approach. Self-publishing allows you, the writer and author of a new book, to publish, print and distribute at a very low cost physical books on your own, bypassing at once the traditional, established publishing houses.
Photo credit: Tom Perkins
As a matter of fact, the key distinguishing characteristic of self-publishing is the absence of a traditional publisher. Instead, it is you, the book author who fulfill this role, taking editorial control of the content, and leveraging one of the many self-publishing solutions available online to produce, print, ship, distribute and make a profit out of your writing / publishing skills.
Self-publishers are not anymore those individuals who would go down to their trusted typographic shop and actually paid for the printing of their own writings. Successful self-publishers today leverage the benefits provided by print-on-demand services, where they need not to waste money on printing costs or on inventory and stocking fees.
When customers order their books, self-publishing outlets like Cafepress, Lulu, Createspace and others will print on-demand as many book as needed and they will also ship them and get payments for them from those ordering. You, the book author, do not have to worry about anything but collecting your profits which are simply based on your chosen extra margin on top of the printing and shipping cost. As you, the book author, make the final price, you can decide how much to charge for each of your publications.
These self-publishing services are a mix of print-on-demand (POD) companies and marketing and distribution venues, providing key opportunities for distributing your book on major book selling platforms, like Amazon and others.
Typically these self-publishing services accept uploaded digital content as Microsoft Word documents, PDFs, text files or RTF files and book authors choose the type of format, size and design of their own publication. There is no money to be spent upfront, as the self-publishing company prints your book only when an order comes in. At that point, the self-publishing service charges you a base price for printing on demand your book but you decide what is the final price charged to a buyer, before shipping. That extra margin, on top of the self-publisher charges to you, is your book profit. This is how, without any upfront investment you can use one of these companies to bootstrap yourself into the independent book publishing universe.
For an additional cost, a self-publishing service may offer additional services such as doing your cover design, review and proofread content, do indexing, proofreading and even promotion and marketing. Some, provide also the option to output your book optionally to an ebook format in addition to your hardcover and paperback editions, as some others will offer you the opportunity to get an ISBN (International Standard Book Number), which allows for your book title to acquire official “book” status and to become more easily found online.
Key advantages of self publishing are:
- Retain the rights to your book.
- Take home a bigger royalty than you would normally get from a traditional publisher.
- Have complete control over your book. You decide format, paper quality, cover image and, most importantly, you set the price.
In this guide to the best self-publishing companies you can find a selection of the most interesting services as well as a comparative table facilitating your task of reviewing these key players and their offerings.
Here all the details:
Best Online Services To Sell And Promote Your Book Comparison Table
Best Online Services To Sell And Promote Your Book
- Lulu
Lulu allows you to create, publish, sell and promote your books, completely on your own. The service also helps you digitalize your existing books and take care of publication and sale only. Other than books, you can also create digital products like photos, music tracks, calendars, and ringtones. Lulu provides collaboration features like group blogs and forums where you can meet other people and receive feedback about your work. All books published with Lulu are labeled with an ISBN, a unique number that identifies your book inside bibliographic databases. Books submitted are automatically converted to PDF file, so you may want to check that formatting is perfectly preserved after uploading your book or, better off, directly upload a PDF file. When your book is ready for publication, you can set the price and sell it in ebook or print version. Purchasing one of the premium plan (starting at $369) you can also customize: binding type, paper quality, templates and book cover and have other extra features like the inclusion inside Amazon listings and advanced formatting capabilities. You can promote your books with a personal storefront, using Google Book Search (which also makes your book content indexed inside Google search results), or distributing your creations via Amazon (requires a premium plan). For each book sold using Lulu, you retain the 80% of the retail price.
www.lulu.com - CreateSpace
CreateSpace is an on-demand commerce company owned by Amazon. You can take advantage of Amazon distribution service to sell your books and also convert your books into Kindle format. Other products you can sell via CreateSpace include CDs, DVDs, videos and ebooks. If you prefer to set a customized store to sell your books, you can create an eShop on your own website. CreateSpace assigns automatically to every book a unique identification number (ISBN). Customization options for your book include: binding type, cover images, internal images, and paper quality. Books must be submitted in PDF format. You can also join a community of other publishers to receive feedback on your book and perfect your creation. Your earnings depend on the solution you choose to sell your books: you can opt for a Standard (free) plan or a Pro plan, which costs you $39 per book plus $5 of annual renewal fee. The Pro plan lets you retain more for each sale while allowing customers to pay less when ordering copies of your books. The basic rule is you set a list price and Amazon charges a fee once the item is sold. The fee is 20% of list price for eShops and 40% of list price for books sold via Amazon. For a comprehensive overview of all pricing combinations, also depending on the type of book you choose (hardcover, softcover, black / white, colour, etc.) check the “Pricing and Royalties” page on CreateSpace website.
www.createspace.com - CafePress
CafePress is a service specialized in user-generated commerce. You can choose an item inside CafePress catalogue, brand it with your company logo or your own images, and then buy your customized item to sell it. To sell your books, the e-commerce service creates a “shop”, which is a personal storefront owned by you. When an item is sold on your shop, CafePress retains the base price (the price you paid to buy that item from CafePress) and you earn the markup you set above the base price. Books must be submitted using PDF format. Options to customize your books include binding type, cover image and internal images. To make sure your product is also indexed by search engines, CafePress provides a set of guidelines to obtain the best visibility for your customized items. You can open a Basic Shop for free, but only sell one of each of the products with your image(s) at a time. Premium shops starts from $6 for one month and allow you to sell unlimited items and access further customization possibilities regarding the layout of your shop. No free distribution via Amazon or writers feedback.
www.cafepress.com - Blurb
Blurb helps you self-publish your own book for free, either in printed or digital format. You can submit your book using the free BookSmart software (Mac + PC) or just upload a PDF file. Once your book is uploaded you can customize a set of options to personalize your creation, these include: binding type, cover image, internal images, paper quality and Blurb logo removal from your book pages. You can also add an ISBN number to your book just by creating a JPG image (with or without barcode) and place it on your book. You can offer customers a 15-page preview of your book to help them evaluate a potential purchase. To ensure the right visibility off your books on search engines, you can add tags and set a category which your book fits in. You can also promote your book using a Blurb badge on your own website. Blurb forums are available to share ideas with other publishers and receive feedback and suggestions on your work. All pricing options are available on Blurb website, but a quick way to estimate how much your book will cost to you (and then the sell price) is to use the free Shipping Calculator. Whatever your earnings are, Blurb retains a $5 fee from your monthly profit. No free Amazon distribution.
www.blurb.com - Xlibris
Xlibris is a “back office” that allows you to self-publish and sell your own books without head-scratching. After submitting your book (either in MS Word or RTF formats), a cover image, internal images, a customer representative helps you choose the best packaging that suits your needs and takes care of publishing and selling your book. First premium price level osts $299 and offers: custom cover, internal book design, ISBN assignment, and more. Besides hardcover and softcover options, Xlibris offers also leather-bound editions of your books. Ebooks are not available for the time being. Each book published with Xlibris has a unique ISBN, so that customers and bookstores can easily search your book inside bibliographic databases. The retail price of your book is determined by the options you choose when customizing the print options of your book: if you want to maintain control of your retail price (and the earnings you get out of that price) you can purchase the “Set Your Own Price” option for $249. To receive help setting the best retail price for your needs, use the free Xlibris Book Calculator. For each sale made on Xlibris you get royalties corresponding to 25% of the retail price. If your book is sold via Amazon (only available for premium plans and Black & White books) you earn 10% of the retail price. Each plan you choose has a fixed number of copies to print your books. No writers feedback.
www2.xlibris.com - Lightning Source
Lightning Source offers a print and distribution model that takes care of all the hassle of publishing. You can have your books printed, distributed, sold and shipped using just one service. Ebook selling is also allowed. While Lightning Source can also drop-ship directly to customers, the company is partnered with all major book publishing distributors, including Amazon. Books can be submitted either in PDF or printed format. If you submit your work in print format, the service takes care to scan and digitalize your book for you. ISBN identification number is supported. Publishers can customize binding type, cover type (hard / soft), cover image and internal images of books using a dedicated free tool. The cost to access Lightning Source service is $12/year per book. When a book is sold, the service pays the publisher the wholesale price of the book, less the cost of printing the book. The cost of printing is based on a unit cost for each book plus a cost per page. No writers feedback.
www.lightningsource.com - CreateBooks
CreateBooks is a book publishing service that assists you when self-publishing your work. CreateBooks has a particular focus on the physical crafting of your book. Books must be uploaded in MS Word format. The service also takes care of providing you with a valid ISBN and bar code, if you want to distribute your book inside bookstores (see pricing options for more details on the cost of these options). Also, depending on the pricing package you choose, you are allowed to choose between different print options for your books: cover (hard / soft), binding type, cover image and internal images. Profits from sales operated by CreateBooks are all retained by original authors. The service shares also a set of guidelines that may give you helpful suggestions and tips to obtain good rankings for your books inside search engines. Books published withCreateBooks are also published inside Google Book Search listings. Marketing supports to promote your book sales like business cards, posters, promotional book cover and other material are also available for purchase. Distrubition via Amazon is accepted. No writers feedback.
www.createbooks.com - UniBook
UniBook is a virtual bookstore where writers and publishers can print, publish and sell their books. Books submitted must be in PDF or DOC format. UniBook allows you to customize: binding type, cover type, cover image and internal images. Ebooks are not available for the time being. For each book you submit you need to insert tags and choose a category, so that your book can rank inside search engines. UniBook has a free service to calculate the price your books is sold to customers: just choose a format, input the number of pages of your book and the percentage of royalties you want to earn from the sell. The service returns all the options you have and even the available discounts if you order large quantities of book copies. Whatever solution you choose, UniBook will retain the 50% of the retail price. Starting price to utilize UniBook services is $79, which includes 5 book copies and worldwide distribution. No free Amazon distribution nor writers feedback.
www.unibook.com - BookSurge
BookSurge is a company that allows publishers and authors to self-publish a book and also take care of the sell process. Since BookSurge is a subsidiary of the Amazon group, you can distribute the book through Amazon bookstore and also convert your works into Kindle format (or into a traditional PDF ebook). You have to submit your work in PDF, DOC, RTF or TXT formats or send a print copy to BookSurge which takes care of digitalizing your manuscript. You can either purchase a Total Design Freedom Package to have complete control over the customization of your book (($799) or the Author’s Advantage Publishing Program which offers a set of ready-made templates and limited customization options ($499). Options you can always customize inside your book (whatever pricing plan you choose) are: cover format, cover image, internal image, chapter titles, external / internal fonts and fleurons. BookSurge retains the 35% of the retail price of your book. There are several marketing options you can optionally purchase to increase the visibility of your book like posters, sell sheets, press releases, custom reviews and more (prices available on site). No writers feedback.
www.booksurge.com - Trafford Publishing
Trafford Publishing offers a set of commercial solutions to print, self-publish and sell your book. Publishers can sell books either in print copies or digital format. No info is released on the format to subscribe your manuscript, tough guidelines are available inside the FAQ section of the website. First pricing plan starts at $799 and offers the following options: paperback format, custom cover design, author support, ISBN assignment, custom interior layout, Amazon distribution, and more. To have further customization options you need to upgrade to another pricing plan (starting from $1299). Your earnings are calculated as the 20% of the book sale. The retail price of your books is determined by the option you choose and the number of pages your book is made up. No writers feedback.
www.trafford.com - Spire Publishing
Spire Publishing allows you to print and sell a manuscript of your book completely on your own. The service is available only for US and UK markets. Books must be submitted in PDF, DOC or RTF format. Ebook selling is not permitted. The first pricing plan you can purchase is the Print Ready Publishing plan, which allows you to get five paperback copies of your book: for $299 you get a custom cover image, ready-made design templates ISBN assignment, and more. If you prefer a hardcover instead of a paperback binding, the price raises to $549 (for three copies). These two pricing plans do not include distribution and sale of your book. To have your book sold via third-party bookstores (Amazon included) you have to purchase the Print Ready Plus Publishing plan (same options of the basic plan) at $399 for five paperback copies and $749 for three hardcover copies of your book. Your earnings consist of the retail price less the print cost of the book (which is the price you pay to Spire Publishing to buy your book). The print cost depends on the options you choose. On Spire Publishing website you can also find marketing tips and strategies to promote your book. No writers feedback.
www.spirepublishing.com - AutorHouse
AuthorHouse is a self-publishing company that helps publishers and authors print and sell their works outside the traditional book publishing channels. Manuscript must be submitted in MS Word or Adobe InDesign 2, CS, or CS2 file formats. Ebook publishing is available. The first pricing level costs $549 and has the following features: custom cover, custom, interior layout design, ISBN assignment, Amazon distribution, and more. The price of your book depends on: book size, cover type (softcover or dust jacket), final page count, where the book is purchased, and the royalty percentage you choose. The royalties you can earn from AutorHouse depend on the retail price of the book and the amount of money you want to get from your book sale (10%, 20%, 30% or 50%). AutorHouse provides also a range of services to market and promote your book (prices available on the site). No writers feedback.
www.autorhouse.com - Infinity Publishing
Self-publish company Infinity Publishing takes care of all the book publishing process following a print-on-demand-philosophy. Ebook publishing is not allowed. No information is provided on the file format to subscribe your manuscript. First pricing plan starts at $499 and covers all aspects of self-publishing your book: custom cover, distribution to third-party bookstores like Amazon, custom barcode, ISBN assignment, and more. You can also include a CD to ship with your book for $200 more. Other optional services include: Spanish translation, extended book distribution, marketing packages, advance reading copies (for reviewers and columnists) and book editing services (price details on the company website). Monthly royalties are paid on the selling price: 30% of retail, 15% of wholesale, and 10% on purchases by the author. Authors are also free to increase / decrease the price of their book within a 25%-75% range. Infinity published books are priced according to page count – the greater the number of pages, the higher the retail price. No writers feedback.
www.infinitypublishing.com - SelfPublishing
SelfPublishing allows publishers and authors to print their works either in print or digital format. SelfPublishing does not take care of distributing or selling your work to book retailers. No information is provided on the file format to subscribe your manuscript. Book customization options include: binding type, custom cover design, custom book layout, and more. You can purchase a single ISBN license directly from SelfPublishing for $99. The self-publishing company has one pricing plan which costs $249 for three years. No writers feedback or Amazon distribution available.
www.selfpublishing.com - WEbook
WEbook is a free book publishing service based entirely on social collaboration. You cannot import your existing book, but only start your writing inside WEbook. The service community will assist you along the way with feedback and suggestions to help you perfect your work. To get in touch with other users you can access the forum, start a group, or comment inside the official blog. Once your book is ready, your work is reviewed and rated by the WEbook community which is the only subject that decides whether a book can be published or not. Only the highest-rated books are sold via WEbook. Ebooks selling or ISBN identification are not available for the time being. If you are allowed to sell your book, you can also share the revenues with the people that helped you improve your work with their feedback. Authors and major contributors receive 50% of all profits generated from the sale of WEbook titles. If you are allowed to sell your book, you can also share your revenue with those people that gave you helpful feedback. Inside WEbook website there are no info about binding types, paper quality or cover type options to personalize your book once published. The only choice you have seems to be to upload a cover image. Book published with WEbook are distributed via Amazon.
www.webook.com
Other Self-Publishing Guides and Resources Worth Checking
- Self-Publishing a Book: 25 Things You Need to Know
… The basic premise is anyone can become a small publisher. You call the shots. You retain the rights to your book. And you take home a bigger royalty than you’d normally get from a traditional publisher–if you sell any books. Against the advice of my agent, I began perusing the big self-publishing companies’ Web sites and evaluating what they had to offer. Then I started poking around blogs and message boards to get customer testimonials. What I found was a veritable minefield with roads that forked in every direction and very few clear answers.
- 6 Ways to Publish Your Own Book
Online self-publishing services have given users the tools they need to create, publish and promote their work. These sites allow authors to bypass the process of finding an agent and pitching to publishing houses, a venture that can take months, if not years. Here are six great sites that will help you publish your work, guaranteeing you a published book that can be sold via different outlets, such as Amazon.
- Lulu vs. CreateSpace: Which Is More Economical For The DIY Author?
At the risk of coming off as some kind of Amazon shill, I’m afraid I’ve just got to blog about one of their services again: CreateSpace. I feel this is necessary because I keep seeing tweets, posts and Facebook notes from indie authors–especially authors outside the US—who intend to go through Lulu based in part on a belief that Lulu is the most economical choice for the services offered, and in many, many cases, this is simply not true.
Originally prepared by Robin Good and Daniele Bazzano for MasterNewMedia, and first published on June 29th, 2009 as “Self-Publish Your Book: Guide To The Best Self-Publishing Services“.
Kindle DX – Is Charging Premium Access For Content The Best Strategy?
Posted by: | CommentsThe Kindle DX allows publishers to charge premium access for content. But is distributing locked-down, must-pay-for content through a proprietary platform a good strategy for content publishers?
Titles are being pushed into Kindle format as quickly as Amazon can handle the conversions and postings.
In a year in which print book sales are sluggish, the reduced price of Kindle-edition books offers publishers a discount-bin pricing strategy with zero inventory or print-on-demand cost exposure.
But are low-prices and easiness of publishing really sufficient to stand the army of netbooks and other mobile devices used to read most content today? And, most importantly, are publishers fully prepared for extending their workflow to include an e-book media format addition?
In this article, content media author and corporate publishing expert John Blossom dissects and analyzes the Kindle content sales and distribution strategy and the opportunities and issues it opens.
Here, Mr. Blossom valuable insight on the future of the ebook distribution market:
The landscape of Europe is dotted with the ruins of hundreds of castles and city walls dating from the Medieval era of feudal rule, when local kings, dukes and other land-owners defended their claims to farms and forests through their ability to repel invaders from behind their castles’ walls.
Castle defenses worked reasonably well for several centuries, but eventually the use of castles as power bases became obsolete.
Was it improved war technology that made castles charming antiquities? To some degree, perhaps, but the larger force that made castles irrelevant was the rise of a new way to store and protect wealth: banking.
Once the rise of wealthy merchants made the marketplaces of towns and cities the real battlefields for proving out power, castles protecting farmlands became far less important for securing power than having an economic system that could enable efficient trade. Yet those old castles still stand, and, darn, they do look rather nifty even today.
The Kindle DX Opens a Promising Market
Fast-forward to 2009, as Amazon introduces its Kindle DX, the latest iteration of their wireless ebook reader that offers a larger screen with eInk technology.
Just as those kings and dukes were thrilled to build ever-larger battlements against their enemies, publishers are flocking to the Kindle as the wonder machine of choice, now with a screen size that lends itself to larger materials such as magazines and newspaper articles.
With a USD 489 price tag, the Kindle DX is hardly an economy model digital device; in fact, many new netbooks with similar screen sizes go for hundreds less and offer color displays with Web and PC functionality.
But as the copy from the Amazon catalog page reminds us, this new Kindle is slim, “Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines“.
Why even compare a Kindle to a netbook when it offers such obvious advantages and comforts to print readers? And if the price is a little to steep for some people, a few of them may be able to rejoice (a little): some major newspapers such as The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Boston Globeare offering a discount off of a USD 400 – plus annual subscription to their papers via the new Kindle – if you live beyond the delivery range of their paper editions.
This new-fangled technology does allow some miraculous breakthroughs, doesn’t it? It’s not as if the Kindle does not have its own unique virtues – or its own promising revenue streams. Sales of smaller Kindle units have been brisk, and the affluent older people buying them online are also fueling skyrocketing ebook sales.
Charging Premium Access For Content
Silicon Alley Insider notes that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos brought a stunning statistic to light during the Kindle DX intro show: when Kindle-formatted books are available on Amazon, about 35 percent of those books’ sales are now through Kindle editions.
There was no breakout as to how many buy a print edition as well, but the chart behind Bezos at the intro showed this percentage hockey-sticking from only 14 percent in February of this year.
Based on my own experience with getting my Content Nation book into a Kindle edition, much of this growth is actually publisher-driven: titles are being pushed into Kindle format as quickly as Amazon can handle the conversions and postings. In a year in which print book sales are sluggish, the reduced price of Kindle-edition books offers publishers a discount-bin pricing strategy with zero inventory or print-on-demand cost exposure.
In other words, in a year in which the slowly-moving denizens of print are trying to salvage some semblance of sensible quarterly earnings, the ability to charge a premium for access to content on electronic platforms – or any platform, for that matter – has to be a strong plus.
Yet in doing so many of these publishers continue to invest minimally in developing a more competitive stance in the more competitive markets of online publishing that are able to reach younger and broader audiences far more effectively than Kindles.
Kindle is attractive to newspapers and magazines as a platform that can be used to appeal to older and more affluent audiences who are the targets of their advertisers, a fact that fuels hopes that a larger Kindle will enable them to sell display ads at good rates for this elite group.
Yet where will tomorrow’s older and more affluent audiences be congregating? Kindle, we hardly knew ye.
Kindle is an important content delivery platform that has enabled the book industry to begin its slow transition to the online era and that has offered a shelter for premium content sales in the face of an online content industry that largely baffles most publishers.
Yet for the most part it is a transitional proprietary platform, much as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online were proprietary transitional services for premium online content prior to the emergence of the web as a dominant content delivery network.
Is The Kindle a Transitional Strategy?
Publishers are welcome to continue to build short-term profits on Kindle as part of their transition away from the printed versions of their content, but the rush to Kindle at this very late stage in the online game is ultimately yet another indication that many publishers are ill-prepared to compete in the web world of highly distributed content production and aggregation.
If there were a commitment by publishers to use some significant portion of their revenues from Kindle sales to invest in making a more effective transition to Web revenues, then perhaps there would be reason to think that Kindle will represent an effective transitional strategy.
But with a soft economy making profits in publishing more elusive, it’s more likely to turn into a strategy that yet again kicks key decisions about web strategies down the road.
In the meantime billions of people around the world are going to be equipped with very affordable netbooks over the next few years – many of them being about as slim as a magazine, no doubt.
My book royalty checks say “Thank you” to Kindle for the time being, but underinvestment in advanced web strategies is making publishing via traditionally print-oriented publishers an increasingly unattractive option for authors trying to reach both mass audiences and affluent audiences.
The skyscrapers that house major media companies will stand for many years, no doubt, just as Europe’s feudal castles still stand today.
But unless those companies start to gear themselves for the reality of a market-driven content economy, instead of a property-driven content economy, we may see those glass buildings as tourist attractions displaying the hubris of a bygone era sooner than one may imagine.
Originally written by John Blossom for Shore and first published on May 7th 2009 as “The Great(er) White Hope of Publishing: Kindle DX Enables Locked-Down Content to Live On. For Now.“.
About the author
John Blossom’s career spans more than twenty years of marketing, research, product management and development in advanced information and media venues, including major financial publishers and financial services companies, as well as earlier experience in broadcast media. Mr. Blossom founded Shore Communications Inc. in 1997, specializing in research and advisory services and strategic marketing consulting for publishers and consumers of content services.
Photo credits:
Charging Premium Access For Content – artzone
Is The Kindle a Transitional Strategy? – jpsdk