BNC Tech Forum 09 - Neelan Choksi will highlight the lessons learned after launching Stanza, Lexcycle’s flagship electronic book reader for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Choksi will cover a variety of topics including the value of marketing, the effectiveness of different publisher strategies, the importance of standards and user perspectives.

1. Brave New World
Reading Electronically
2009
O’Reilly TOC Conference
Book Net Canada Technology Forum 2009
Neelan Choksi
March 12, 2009
COO, Lexcycle
neelan@lexcycle.com
twitter: stanza_reader

2. Who Am I?
• COO, Lexcycle
• Former COO, SpringSource – open source
• President and Co-Founder of SolarMetric
(acquired by BEA Systems in 2005)
• Previous Employers – Exxon, Andersen
Consulting, TechTrader, MIT Blackjack
Team
• External Board Seats –
SpringSource, Tasktop
• BS from MIT, MS from Stevens Institute of

3. Last 30 Days in e-books
• Feb 5 – Google Book Search for iPhone
• Feb 6 – Amazon hints at mobile device
solution
• Feb 9 – Amazon Kindle 2 Launch
• Feb 16 – Adobe Reader Mobile SDK 9
• Feb 25 – Indigo Shortcovers launched
• March 4 – Amazon Kindle for iPhone Launch
• March 5 – B&N acquires Fictionwise

4. e-books – Inflection
Point
• $52 million Wholesale e-book sales in last 4
quarters
* Source: IDPF US Trade Wholesale Electronic Book Sales

5. The Drivers of the
Opportunity

6. Mainstreaming of e-
• Oprah Effect books

7. Big Name Vendors

8. New Hardware
• Netbooks
• Lots of new eReaders

9. Improved Displays: E
Ink

10. Improved Mobile
• Larger touchDisplays color
screens w/ crisp
• OTA, wireless
• App Store

11. Challenges of
Navigating the Waters

12. e-book Alphabet Soup
Formats DRM
- -
-
.LIT Microsoft Reader
HTML
- -
-
Mobi Adobe Adept
RB
- -
-
AZW eReader
CHM
- -
-
PDB Mobi
OEB
- -
FB2 Apple FairPlay
- -
PDF DNL
- -
RTF many others
- BBeB
- EPUB

13. Enter IDPF’s EPUB
• Standard format – users don’t want to care
about formats (or DRM for that matter)
• Proliferation of proprietary formats (and
DRM) is bad for users, creates lock-in for
vendors
• Standard format eases a historical burden of
conversion

14. The Main Players
Sony Reader
Amazon Kindle

15. So Many More Devices
• •
Aztak Mentor EB- Plastic Logic Reader
•
900
Fujitsu FLEPia
• •
iRexiLiad
Polymer Vision
• Readius
STAReBOOK
• •
BookeenCybook Wizpactxtr
•
Gen3
Onyx Boox
• •
Bookeen
FoxiteSlick
• Ganaxa GeR2
• HanLin eBook

16. Mobile Reading
iPhone Other Devices
• •
Stanza FBReader
• •
Kindle for the iPhone eReader Pro
• •
eReader MS Reader
• •
Shortcovers Global-Reader
• •
Classics Mobipocketebook
• Reader
BookShelf
•
• … many more
BookZ
• Libris
• standalone books apps

17. Stanza Overview

18. iPhone Distinctions
As an eReader:
• International reach
• Color display
• Multi-function device
• Built-in wireless
• No external light required
• App Store

19. Stanza iPhone & iPod
Touch
•1.5 million users in 60 countries
• Over 7 million books downloaded
• 100,000+ books available (half
free)
• Translated to 12 languages
• Featured in:
• NY Times, Boston Globe
• Time “Top 11 iPhone
Applications”
• Forbes
• Wired “10 Most Awesome Apps”
• iTunes Top Applications of 2008

20. Sources of
Commercial Content
• All Romance eBooks
• Books on Board
• Fictionwise
• O’Reilly Media
• Smashwords
Buying patterns representative of print sales

21. Sources of Free
Content
• Harlequin
• Feedbooks
• Project Gutenberg
• Munseys
• BookGlutton
• Random House

22. Primary Usage
• In bed – 31%
• Commuting on bus / train – 29%
• In waiting areas – 13%
• At home – 12%
• At work – 5%
• At a bar or café or lunch or dinner – 5%
• On an airplane – 5%
• 2 write-ins mentioned “In the bathroom”
Readers enjoy having access to their library at all
times in their pocket or handbag

23. Publisher Promotions
• Pan Macmillan Excerpts – first to notice
Stanza
• Random House Free Titles
- Back list of certain authors
- Included excerpts for forthcoming books
• Harlequin Free Titles
- 4 free “Minis” in December
- 15 free titles from each imprint in January

24. O’Reilly Book
• O’Reilly’s iPhone: The Missing Manual application
Application
• Currently at TOC discounted price of $4.99

25. Hunted Book Application
• Released March 10 – same day as physical book
• $17.99

26. Lessons Learned

27. Lessons Learned -
Readers
Its all about the people
who are reading!

28. Lessons Learned -
Readers
• Quality matters – Virtuous or Vicious Cycle
• Every reader is unique – Give readers lots of
options to customize their reading
experience
• Every device is unique – Things that work for
one device may not work on another device
• Listen to the user – they are happy to tell
you what you are doing wrong
• Give your readers a voice

29. Lessons Learned –
• Holistic viewReaders
of the entire experience for a
reader: (continued)
Search / Pur- Down- Start
Find
browse chase load Readin
book
content book book g
Available via partners.
• Not enough to focus just on one piece.
Readers expect more.

30. Lessons Learned –
Readers
• Moving users from established behaviors
takes time and patience
(continued)
• Friction = bad
• Immersive reading

31. Publisher Lessons
• Calls to action need to be clear and
contextual
• KISS – make it simple for the user
• Hold your technology providers, conversion
houses, and distributors to a higher standard
• Keep experimenting – be bold
• Have a budget for marketing e-books
• Think about multimedia
• Support EPUB
• Support DRM-free

32. Publisher Lessons
• Figure out ways to support your authors better
in the electronic world
- Websites
- Blogs, Twitter, Social Networking, Book
Trailers
- Understand the technology
• Don’t let this just turn into a blockbuster
industry:
- Find self-service methods and appropriate
revenue splits for mid-tier authors

33. Author Lessons
• Make sure your publishers are making your
books available electronically:
- Minimum formats: EPUB, AZW, PDF
• Don’t leave marketing just for the publishers
- Twitter, Blog, You Tube, Discussions
- Be out there