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Direct sales of ebooks in multiple languages

By Joe Wikert
April 24, 2013

O’Reilly has long been a leader in fostering community and building a direct sales channel. This week we took the next step in enhancing the customer’s direct buying experience by offering German editions for many of our ebook titles. Take …

We need incognito book purchasing

By François Joseph de Kermadec
April 18, 2013

In the physical realm, purchasing a book without revealing one’s identity involves little effort beyond proceeding to a store one does not usually patronise and paying in cash. Unless one is seeking illegal volumes, which are unlikely to be obtained …

The new kingmakers

By Stephen O'Grady
February 26, 2013

When I got into the technology business almost two decades ago, a few things seemed odd. First, that businesses were paying a lot of money for technology that was so hard to use. Second, that businesses would spend weeks or …

Identifying DRM-free ebooks

By Joe Wikert
January 7, 2013

One of my colleagues, Edd Dumbill, asked me a simple question over the holidays that I thought I’d share with the TOC community: Is there any way to quickly tell whether an ebook on a retailer’s site is DRM-free? I’m …

Commerce Weekly: Gift cards get Square

By Jenn Webb
December 13, 2012

Here are a few stories that caught my attention in the commerce space this week. Give a gift through Square Mobile payment company Square got into the gift card business this week, launching a gift card service tied to its …

Wiley & O’Reilly Media sign ebook distribution deal

By Joe Wikert
November 15, 2012

I’ve mentioned before that O’Reilly’s direct ebook channel is an extremely important sales outlet for us. We want our content to be in all stores but the direct channel is pretty much the only one where we can establish an …

The value of free

By Joe Wikert
July 25, 2012

In this TOC podcast, Wattpad CEO & co-founder Allen Lau explains the free content foundation of his company.

"Lightweight" DRM isn't the answer

By Joe Wikert
June 27, 2012

In this open letter to the IDPF's Executive Director, Bill McCoy, O'Reilly GM & Publisher Joe Wikert explains why a DRM-free approach is far better than any "lightweight" DRM option.

"Lightweight" DRM isn't the answer

By Joe Wikert
June 27, 2012

In this open letter to the IDPF's Executive Director, Bill McCoy, O'Reilly GM & Publisher Joe Wikert explains why a DRM-free approach is far better than any "lightweight" DRM option.

For many publishers, direct sales is an untapped opportunity

By Jenn Webb
June 13, 2012

In this TOC podcast, OR Books co-founder John Oakes talks about the importance of a direct to consumer channel and why OR Books has made it a priority.

For many publishers, direct sales is an untapped opportunity

By Jenn Webb
June 13, 2012

In this TOC podcast, OR Books co-founder John Oakes talks about the importance of a direct to consumer channel and why OR Books has made it a priority.

Getting your book in front of 160 million users is usually a good thing

By Jenn Webb
April 15, 2011

Pirating your own book may seem like an odd promotion strategy, but that's just what Megan Lisa Jones did with her new novel. Matt Mason, author of "The Pirate's Dilemma," says P2P platforms like BitTorrent are a great way to reach audiences and distribute content.

Getting your book in front of 160 million users is usually a good thing

By Jenn Webb
April 15, 2011

Pirating your own book may seem like an odd promotion strategy, but that's just what Megan Lisa Jones did with her new novel. Matt Mason, author of "The Pirate's Dilemma," says P2P platforms like BitTorrent are a great way to reach audiences and distribute content.

Kevin Kelly on how to sell free

By Jenn Webb
February 22, 2011

As publishers wonder how to make money when everything digital seems to be heading for a zero-price point, Kevin Kelly offers some practical advice.

Kevin Kelly on how to sell free

By Jenn Webb
February 22, 2011

As publishers wonder how to make money when everything digital seems to be heading for a zero-price point, Kevin Kelly offers some practical advice.

Want to succeed in online content? Get small, be open, go free

By Mac Slocum
February 16, 2011

Formation Media CEO Sam Jones discusses his recipe for online content success: It has to be free, it has to be widely available, and publishers must operate at a web-appropriate scale.

Want to succeed in online content? Get small, be open, go free

By Mac Slocum
February 16, 2011

Formation Media CEO Sam Jones discusses his recipe for online content success: It has to be free, it has to be widely available, and publishers must operate at a web-appropriate scale.

Flex Development using Notepad++, the Flex SDK, and Ant...All Completely Free!

By Charles Bihis
December 15, 2010

"Flex is a highly productive, free, open source frameworkfor building expressive web applications." This is taken directly from the Flex product page on Adobe.com (emphasis mine). However, after talking to many web developers over the years, I've come to find...

Four short links: 14 October 2010

By Nat Torkington
October 14, 2010

Google Creates New Inflation Measure (The Guardian) -- The Google Price Index will be based on the cost of goods sold online and could use real-time search data to forecast official figures. Clever use of unique data, but can the GPI findings be reproduced by another agency? I do like the idea of moving national statistical measures into real-time....

Four short links: 28 September 2010

By Nat Torkington
September 28, 2010

What Happens at Y Combinator -- a fascinating infomercial for Y Combinator, but it's interesting despite the soft focus. Usually we advise startups to launch when they've built something with a quantum of utility—when they've built something sufficiently better than existing options that at least some users would say "I'm glad this appeared, because now I can finally do...

Four short links: 19 November 2009

By Nat Torkington
November 19, 2009

Chumby One (Bunnie Huang) -- new Chumby product released. In addition to being about half the price of the original chumby, the new device added some features: it has an FM radio, and it has support for a rechargeable lithium ion battery (although it’s not included with the device, you have to buy one and install it yourself). There’s...

Unity 3D is Now Free

By Andrew Trice
October 30, 2009

I read today that a new version of Unity, a 3D Platform for the web, was released yesterday. It is full of new features, but most importantly, it is now free.

Four short links: 20 October 2009

By Nat Torkington
October 20, 2009

Poles, Politeness, and Politics in the Age of Twitter (Stephen Fry) -- begins with a discussion of a UK storm but rapidly turns into a discussion of fame in the age of Twitter, modern political discourse, the "deadwood press", and The Commons in Twitter Assembled. There is an energy abroad in the kingdom, one that yearns for a new...

Four short links: 30 Mar 2009

By Nat Torkington
March 30, 2009

A great free book, dead newspaper dig, movie Torrent wakeup, and money from free: Digital Foundations with Adobe Illustrator -- CC-licensed book that gets you started using Adobe Illustrator. I'm loving it, and I have the artistic ability of a particularly philistine rock. See also their advice to authors on how to negotiate a Creative Commons license. (via bjepson's delicious...

To be free, information has to be smart (comments on Chris Anderson's "Free!")

By Andy Oram
March 24, 2008

WIRED Magazine's editor in chief Chris Anderson, following up on the popularity of his Long Tail meme, theorizes in the March 2008 issue of WIRED about the modern tendency to put information online at no cost. I think this is highly volatile and that the phenomenon will be driven in very different ways from his six models. "Free as in freedom" may ultimately triumph. Furthermore, professional quality doesn't come for free, so projects and industries have to find ways to fund it.

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