SharedBook: On Demand

SharedBook and ODMP Introduce The Officer Down Memorial Book Today

In the space of a few weeks, SharedBook will launch more partner engagements than it has in the last two years. I’d like to think it’s recognition that there’s a lot on the Web that is worth preserving.

We started the series with Create-A-Cookbook for Allrecipes.com last week and today we're introducing The Officer Down Memorial Book with The Officer Down Memorial Page, Inc., every word of which should be preserved as ODMP is a non-profit organization "dedicated to honoring America's fallen law enforcement heroes." According to ODMP, "More than 18,000 officers have made the ultimate sacrifice in the United States and it is with great honor that the ODMP pays a lasting tribute to each of these officers by preserving their memories within its pages."

Hats off to founder Chris Cosgriff for building this site and for reaching back with the help of the National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund, Inc. to find information about officers who have died in the line of duty as far back as 300 years ago.

If you’d like to make a contribution to the upkeep of the site and for research about other law enforcement officers who may have fallen, please click here. And know that $10 of every book that you buy will also go to these efforts.

ODMP used SharedBook's open API to build integration into our Reverse Publishing Platform.

Connecting Offline

So much of the Web world in which we work is about social networking and online communities. We make a ‘connection’ or have an exchange, whether it be on Facebook or MySpace or LinkedIn or any of the myriad sites that exist to share one’s interests. But ultimately, these are often fleeting and incomplete relationships and it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of the offline communities in which we operate day in and day out. The importance of in-person connections came into play this week as one of our colleagues watched from afar as her family on the west coast was dramatically impacted by the wildfires in San Diego. We, as a community, pulled together to provide clothing and assistance and a non-virtual helping hand to hopefully contribute in a small way.

At SharedBook, we often hear that our Reverse Publishing technology is retro. We have passionate debates about whether the printed form will become obsolete, now that whole generations live their lives on the Web. But we believe with equal passion that not every experience can be virtual and ephemeral, that there are stories and ideas and photos and experiences that demand the weight of the printed form. We’re here to make them real.

Digitized Content and Customization: A Perfect Marriage

As consumers continue to move more and more into the digitized world, content owners such as magazines, music and recording studios, and TV and radio companies, are scrambling to digitize their archived materials.  But what is their main purpose for doing this? It can’t be solely to preserve the content in a medium that has a greater shelf life. One has to assume that digital distribution is playing a major role in how media companies are looking to monetize these treasured assets.

Almost every aspect of how we consume media and even communicate has gone digital. CD Players (although digital) have given way to MP3 players such as the iPod. Cars have GPS and navigation systems (I can’t remember the last time I bought a map) and many home phone users are switching to VoIP. Fortunately, people still find value in one medium that dates back centuries:  the book. People still like to read books. For some reason the digital world has not completely devoured this form of media altogether. Book stores are still thriving while record stores are unfortunately being closed in droves.

Another phenomenon that has come to the media world by use of digital distribution involves user generated content and the customization of content delivery. People are now getting used to being able to receive the content that is relevant to them based on their personal preferences. All this brings me to believe that we at SharedBook are on to something. With our platform, media companies that have digitized their archived content - articles, photographs, etc. - can now allow their online users the ability to select the content that is most relevant to them and create a book. This will enable media companies with deep content to monetize their assets in a way that just wasn’t available or even economical before. Imagine going to your favorite media company that has the content you are interested in and being able to build a customized book from that information. Now that sounds like a perfect marriage to me.  

Texting at The Yankees Game and On-demand Printing

I have a quick observation to share today. I went to the Yankees game on Sunday night, thankfully not last night, and couldn’t help but notice how much time the seat crasher to my right spent texting on his cell phone. I see people doing it all the time, and have been known to send a few myself, but I’ve never sat right next to someone who I can only assume must be THE IDEAL TARGET. Early 20s, time to spare (things weren’t so great in the game early on), and more focused on what everyone else was up to (or so it seemed), than the major league playoff game taking place right in front of us.

Is it really possible that just two years ago some of us were testing the waters with SMS as a way to drive consumer behavior? Judging by the intense focus next to me the other night, it must be a whole different ballgame (sorry, couldn’t resist!) now. I guess we have American Idol to thank, although according to this, usage rates in the U.S. have only reached 40 percent. There's still so much room for growth, which kind of reminds me of the print on demand space. We know the opportunities to reverse publish content from the Web to print are unlimited, and it's only just the beginning.

CarePages Keepsake Book

We thought Maura Welch of the The Boston Globe Business Filter might be interested in hearing about the CarePages Keepsake Book, and were thrilled that she mentioned it last week.

CarePages are free Web pages that anyone can start to communicate with family and friends when someone is hospitalized or receiving care. Their #1 member request has been the ability to capture the content contained on an individual's CarePage in a more lasting, tangible form.

Using SharedBook's Reverse Publishing Platform, CarePages.com members can now automatically flow the content contained on a patient's site -- message board comments, updates regarding care and prognosis and photographs -- into a unique, personalized CarePages Keepsake Book that can be purchased immediately, or edited further.

More information is available here.

SharedBook Announces New Sports Partnerships

Mark, our new head of business development, discussed the topic of monetizing Web content yesterday and talked about the value that social networking and user-generated content can offer to companies in today's Web 2.0 world.

It is no secret that we believe the opportunities to reverse publish information from the Web to print are wide open. While we are not focused or limited to any one particular industry, we are working with a number of new clients in the sports category. In fact, we are in the process of developing solutions with JumpTV Sports (which encompasses the recently acquired XOS Network) and YAVarsity.com, a next generation high school sports Web site, that will give sports participants and their fans, a one-click way to create personalized season record books from existing online content such as game scores, message board comments and photographs. We introduced a similar product with Sportography, a sports photography company, earlier this year. As Caroline has stated, these companies recognize that certain online content offers even greater value to individuals in printed book format.

If you would like to learn more, please go to Photo News Today to read this week's announcement in its entirety or to SharedBook.com. To date, Kimberly Maul of The Book Standard, Jim Lyons of Jim Lyons Observations, Kristen Nicole of Mashable, and Michael Cairns of PersonaNonData have reported the information. Michael actually mentioned our new partnerships when he posted an interview he conducted with Caroline recently. As always, we appreciate everyone's help in spreading the word as SharedBook's Reverse Publishing business continues to grow.

Passions

In some ways, SharedBook is in the passion business. It is usually content that deals with one’s significant interests in life that one wants to own as a book. My husband, a Red Sox and Patriots fanatic, reads every word in every paper, magazine and site on these teams. I certainly don’t understand this passion and barely tolerate it. He, on the other hand, can’t imagine the hours I can spend designing our gardens or planning every detail of our vacations.

All of which reminds me of the first month at SharedBook in 2004 when we were putting our first prototype together – which happened to be a garden workbook. An associate at the time turned to me at one point and asked who we thought would buy such a book. An urban dweller not even faintly interested in gardening, she could not understand the product. Since she was consumed at the time with training for her first marathon, we asked if she would ever buy a book of the experience. An enthusiastic yes, and her subsequent work on a SharedBook product for marathons, turned her into a believer.

SharedBook already has more than 25 branded and themed books for people to document their passions. Shortly, we will be announcing partnerships that will bring 10 more to market. Stay tuned.

Introducing the CarePages Keepsake Book

I would like to take a moment to mention our new partner offering today!

We launched the CarePages Keepsake Book this morning. CarePages.com offers free, personal, private Web pages that help family and friends communicate when someone is hospitalized or receiving care. Together with our friends at CarePages, Inc. we’ve created a way for CarePages members to publish the health updates, photographs and encouraging and supportive messages posted in their online communities.

We hope this new venture will further support the wonderful work of our partner in providing an environment of caring and hope for its members.  We’re proud to be a part of it.

If you would like to learn more, you can read the full announcement here, or go to http://carepages.sharedbook.com.

What Goes Around

Five years ago, when SharedBook technologists started working on the specs for what is now the SharedBook Reverse Publishing Platform, we believed that our platform would particularly resonate within the trade publishing world. Pre POD, pre-Web 2.0, pre-personalization, we learned the hard way that we were just too pre. So, we turned our attentions to the travel and sports worlds, where we found wonderful customers like Regent Seven Seas and Yosemite National Park and Little League International and AYSO. Then came social networking and clients like Legacy.com and CarePages (launching soon) and a slew of others to come this summer. Having just returned from the O’Reilly TOC Conference in San Jose, I’m excited about the creativity and thinking within the trade publishing world. For most, a book is no longer text within bound covers, but content that can be distributed in a host of new ways. Watch for a SharedBook installation within this world soon.

SharedBook CEO on ScobleShow

We participated in our first live Internet interview during last month's Web 2.0 Expo. Talk about pressure! Caroline sat down with Robert Scoble to discuss our Reverse Publishing Platform for the ScobleShow. The footage was streamed live over Ustream.tv and is now posted on PodTech.

Take a look if you're interested -- Robert asked a lot of great questions and it will give you an overview of how we work with companies like CarePages.com (testing now, launching soon), Legacy.com and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, to leverage their online assets in viral flipbook or professionally-printed book formats. We appreciate Robert's help in spreading the word, and for easing the pressure of speaking live to an unknown audience!