Indigo Books and Music’s “Shortcovers” allows you to read books, magazines etc on your mobile device and they continue to grow. They recently announced a new developer program and now created the Shortcovers Publisher Conversion Program.
On the company blog they state “Basically, we wanted to make sure that no matter what size a publisher is, or how “digital” they felt they are, they can still get their books onto devices and into the hands of readers. Shortcovers wins because we love having more books to sell. Publishers win because they get an easy entry into the eBook space. Readers win because they get access to thousands of new titles they might not otherwise be able to read in eBook form. And it’s good for the eBook market as a whole because it encourages standardization and competition in this growing market. Good news all around!”
The Publishers Conversion Program offers two options for converting content:
– At no cost to publishers, Shortcovers will convert selected files into EPUB format and exclusively distribute the digital content and determine pricing in the Shortcovers store;
– For a fee that can be 50 percent less than other conversion options available to small and mid-sized publishers, Shortcovers will translate documents into EPUB format, make them available through the Shortcovers web and mobile storefronts and return the EPUB files to the publisher to distribute to other third parties.
Michael Tamblyn, vice president of content, sales and merchandising at Shortcovers said “Every publisher, large and small, should be able to participate in this rapidly growing digital marketplace. With the Publisher Conversion Program, we increase the availability of EPUB files, which is great for us, great for publishers, and for the eBook market as a whole. The days of proprietary file formats are over.”
