50+ thinkers and planners within MSLGROUP share and discuss inspiring projects on corporate citizenship, crowdsourcing and storytelling on the MSLGROUP Insights Network. Every week, we pick up one project and do a deep dive into conversations around it -- on the MSLGROUP Insights Network itself but also on the broader social web -- to distill insights and foresights. We share these insights and foresights with you on our People’s Insights blog and compile the best insights from the network and the blog in the iPad-friendly People’s Lab Quarterly Magazine, as a showcase of our capabilities. This week, our topic is Vook . For more, see:http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

1. crowdsourcing | storytelling | citizenship
People’s Insights: Volume 1, Issue 14
Vook

2. Vook
Vook is a public, cloud-based e-publishing platform that allows
authors to create great-looking digital books, distribute them on
e-bookstores and track sales for a fee.
Source: http://vook.com

3. Multimedia e-books
Vook lets users create multimedia e-books with audio, video
and images that can be dragged and dropped into the documents,
creating an enhanced reading experience.
Source: http://gesterling.wordpress.com/2009/10/01/vook-launches-multimedia-books/,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ovHjsRlw68

4. The origins
Vook launched in 2009 as a digital publishing specialist, with
four titles. Since then, it has worked with household names
in the media industry, publishing over 800 multimedia e-books.
Source: http://vook.com ,
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jfk-50-days-ipad-edition/id402259732?mt=8

5. Question marks about multimedia books
Purists did not take well to multimedia e-books. They felt that reading
was all about setting the imagination free and not about images or
videos. The charm of a book lies in the reader's interpretation, they felt.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com

6. Publisher to e-book aggregator
Eventually, Vook decided to change from a publishing house to a
conversion service that enables people to make and share books. This
fitted well with its ambition of encompassing the full production cycle.
Source: http:// http://www.teleread.com , http://thenextweb.com

7. Revenue model
Vook changed its revenue stream to a licensing model by which users
paid monthly subscriptions. It stopped taking royalties on e-books sold
by authors, which meant that the business risk stayed with the author.
Source: http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

8. Stories created faster, easier
Vook makes it easy for authors to create and release their stories by
simply uploading a file and making changes to it. The key to it is that
authors can release e-books fast, without publishing lags.
Source: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/tech-in-twenty/2012/03/22/tech-in-twenty

9. Sales tracked in real-time
After styling, authors enter meta data and pricing information. The
e-book can be distributed to Amazon, iBooks and BN.com or uploaded
to e-bookstores. Vook provides a sales-tracking dashboard.
Source: http://vook.com/whats-vook/

10. Too expensive
Critics said that the platform doesn't do enough to justify its price
tag of $79/ month ($849/year) to $299/month ($3,199/year)
compared to Sigil, Bookbaby, CreateSpace, etc.
Source: http://www.publishersweekly.com

11. Vook works for non-fiction
Multimedia content has not worked for fiction as videos stop readers
from exercising their imaginations. Non-fiction work, like how-to books,
have done better as video can help explain complicated steps.
Source: http://shelf-life.ew.com/ , http://facebook.com

12. The future of publishing?
Experts say if the price can be controlled, and a need is created for
multimedia books, the deadly combination of self-publishing and
multimedia books could well become the future of publishing.
Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/ , http://goodereader.com/

13. More People’s Insights Weekly reports
Every week, we dive into one topic for discussion on the MSLGROUP
Insight’s Network and discuss insights and foresights, in three key
areas: crowdsourcing, storytelling and citizenship.
Crowdsourcing Storytelling: Citizenship
Mahindra Spark the Rise @MarsCuriosity #Kony2012
For more reports, visit: peopleslab.mslgroup.com/peoplesinsights/

14. Read People’s Lab insights and foresights
The People’s Lab team shares the insights and foresights from the
MSLGROUP Insights Network on the People’s Insights weekly blog and
the People’s Insights Quarterly magazine.
MSLGROUP Insights People’s Insights People’s Insights
Network weekly blog Quarterly magazine
50+ MSLGROUP planners We deep dive into Every quarter, we will compile
share and discuss inspiring conversations around one the best insights from the
projects on corporate project -- on the MSLGROUP network and the blog in the
citizenship, crowdsourcing and Insights Network itself but also iPad-friendly magazine, as a
storytelling. on the broader social web -- to showcase of our capabilities.
distill insights and foresights.
For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

15. Coming soon: People’s Insights Annual
Report
In early January 2013 we will publish the People’s Insights Annual
Report, in which we synthesize our insights from throughout 2012 and
provide foresights for business leaders and change-makers for 2013.

16. People’s Lab: Crowdsourcing Insights &
Innovation
People’s Lab is MSLGROUP’s proprietary crowdsourcing platform and
approach that helps organizations tap into people’s insight for
innovation, storytelling and change.
For more, visit http://peopleslab.mslgroup.com

17. For People’s Lab
solutions, contact
pascal.beucler@mslgroup.com