e-bookshop site with iPad reader app

antic

antic

Perch
Does anyone know if there is an online platform for selling e-books which also comes with an iPad (and PC/Mac) reader app for purchased content?

The reason being mainly to prevent people copying and passing around the purchased material (as they can do with PDFs), as well as presentation (ie. how the free books, iBooks, and Borders Books iPad apps work).

I've looked around and various e-commerce & bookshop packages and services, but haven't found anything which offers more sophistication than simply dowloading PDF files.

Surely someone's already come up with an online bookshop + iPad app combination?
 
you mean for your own bookstore, or to put it on others?

I have a barnes and noble nook, and their nookapp is on ipad and others, along with the kindle app for ipad and others too.

I guess the biggest issue with ebook apps is the constantly changing OSes powering them, especially the fragmented android market that google has blessed us all with!
 
Hi Stephen, I mean being able to sell books on their platform. I found that Borders allows people to sell their own books using their system. Does Barnes allow that too?

I've tried looking for a bookshop web app which comes with an e-reader app for iPad etc, but as I suspected nobody seems to have done that (yet).
 
antic said:
Hi Stephen, I mean being able to sell books on their platform. I found that Borders allows people to sell their own books using their system. Does Barnes allow that too?

I've tried looking for a bookshop web app which comes with an e-reader app for iPad etc, but as I suspected nobody seems to have done that (yet).
Click to expand...
yes B&N allows it, and they are more financially stable than borders as well.

They have an entire section called Pubit for self published books:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/pubit-self-publish-ebook-publishing/379002433/

here are their pricing as well:
Publisher will set a List Price for each eBook between $0.99 and $199.99.

Publisher will be paid a royalty off the List Price according to the following terms:
  1. For eBooks with a List Price at or between $2.99 and $9.99
    • 65% of the List Price
  2. For eBooks with a List Price at or below $2.98 or at or greater than $10.00 (but not more than $199.99 and not less than $0.99)
    • 40% of the List Price
Publisher will, at all times, ensure that the eBook List Price:
  1. Is no greater than the eBook's List Price at any other retailer, website, or sales channel.
  2. Is no greater than the eBook's print edition (if applicable).
  3. Complies with the minimum and maximum pricing policy as stated above.
Sample royalty calculation:
  1. List Price: $9.99 - Publisher Royalty: $6.49
  2. List Price: $20.00 - Publisher Royalty: $8.00

ref:http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=support


amazon does it to with a 35% or 70% split option that I can't make out exactly how it works quickly :D

http://forums.digitaltextplatform.com/dtpforums/entry.jspa?externalID=393
 
Thanks very much for all that info Stephen, very good of you.

I've checked out B&N and it seems they're geared up mainly for US customers, as you need a US bank account to receive funds from sales. Very odd. Being outside the US that's a bit of a hassle. You'd think they'd make it easier for a global audience.

I'll check out Amazon too, didn't realise they let people sell ebooks as well.

I wonder how 2012 apocalypse books are selling this year? :)
 
antic said:
Thanks very much for all that info Stephen, very good of you.

I've checked out B&N and it seems they're geared up mainly for US customers, as you need a US bank account to receive funds from sales. Very odd. Being outside the US that's a bit of a hassle. You'd think they'd make it easier for a global audience.

I'll check out Amazon too, didn't realise they let people sell ebooks as well.

I wonder how 2012 apocalypse books are selling this year? :)
Click to expand...
my mom had looked into this for a friend recently, and sent me some of info so I had it handy ;)
 
Don't know if you're still looking, but Google just announced their One Pass platform, http://www.google.com/landing/onepass/ Maybe it would help? I don't think given Apple's new terms that you could do the in-app purchasing on an iPad. You could with any Android-based readers.

You could write your own reader app in something like Appcelerator Titanium, which supports Apple's in-app purchasing model. You'll have to give Apple their 30% cut.

Tim
 
Thanks Skypanther. I'm trying out Borders at the moment, they seem author-friendly and have a reader app on a few devices.

Just checked out your FestOS and Door2Door apps, they're great ideas. Have you had some luck generating income from them? I'm interested as I have a couple of projects in mind too, so just looking for inspiration to get off my butt and do them. :)
 
Thanks for the kind comments. FestOS hasn't generated much interest or revenue I'm afraid. I have a couple of paying customers for hosting sites using that system and a few hundred downloads from the Google Code repository. No community involvement, which is disappointing.

The Door2Door app is doing better. I haven't recouped my development costs yet. But it's selling (better on Android than iPhone surprisingly) and I get some good input from users. More importantly, it gave me the skills and portfolio to land a fairly large smartphone app development contract.

Definitely, get off your butt and get inspired to do your projects! I'm curious what they are, but I understand that you probably won't tell the world until you have them done.

Tim
 
antic said:
Thanks Skypanther. I'm trying out Borders at the moment, they seem author-friendly and have a reader app on a few devices.

Just checked out your FestOS and Door2Door apps, they're great ideas. Have you had some luck generating income from them? I'm interested as I have a couple of projects in mind too, so just looking for inspiration to get off my butt and do them. :)
Click to expand...


Hopefully borders bankruptcy won't hurt their ebook plans. I'd imagine in most ways it will be one of the most likely to stay as it favors them in the revenue over traditional publishing.
 
skypanther said:
More importantly, it gave me the skills and portfolio to land a fairly large smartphone app development contract.
Click to expand...
Excellent! I checked out Appcelerator but unfortunately I'm a .Net developer, not a word of php in my vocabulary. Sometimes I regret that. Not often, just sometimes. ;)

Yep, I'll stay mum till there's something to see. :)

Thanks Stephen, yes maybe Borders is getting a taste of their own medicine, after having themselves caused a lot of smaller bookshops to close down!
 
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