Bookshout

BookShout Logo

BookShout is a technology operating company founded in 2010 by Jason Illian[1] in the Book Publishing Industry with offices in Dallas, TX and New York City, and backed by John Ingram of Ingram Publishing.[2] It hosts over 1 million eBook files in its catalog and works with over 1,000 publishers including Chronicle Books, Hachette Publishing Group,[3] HarperCollins,[4] Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Penguin Random House, Perseus, Simon & Schuster,[5] Wiley,[6] and Workman.[7]

BookShout is the largest provider of bulk eBook sales in the world[8] and has partnered with numerous corporations to provide them with digital content such as, CareerBuilder, Dr. Ben Carson,[9] CBS' How I Met Your Mother, Cisco, the Hearst Corporation, Intel, and Microsoft. BookShout has also partnered with South by Southwest (SXSW) to provide all eBook content for the 2015 event.[10]

BookShout's eReader technology works on Android devices, iPads, iPhones, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD/HD+, and the web. BookShout reports to The New York Times Best Seller List and has a proprietary digital rights management (DRM) scheme.[11][12]

The company raised $6 million in Series B funding in 2013.[11][12]

Reception

As noted above, BookShout has received a favorable reception amongst publishers, media companies, authors, and investors. In August 2013, Nate Hoffelder of The Digital Reader - who assessed BookShout from multiple points of view - gave BookShout's offerings a mixed review. From the end user's perspective, he notes: BookShout does not allow the end user to redeem ebooks "through the Kindle, Nook, and other ebookstores" as Livrada can. "But I would think BookShout would rather that you didn't notice such details and instead focus on their partners".

On the other hand, when taking the perspective of industry insiders, he observed:[13]

But in spite of the lack of support for the major ebookstores, BookShout does have at least one card up its sleeve. Their platform is focused more in giving the author/publisher more control. It's a white-label solution, and for example BookShout offers partners the option of branded redemption pages ...

That type of branding can be worth a lot.

In autumn 2014, members of MobileRead (an "online community dedicated to the exchange of ideas and information relating to all aspects of the Mobile Internet boom"[14]), when presented with BookShout's offer of "A Free eBook for You", unleashed a barrage of criticisms, including the inability to access or back up content acquired via BookShout outside of BookShout's proprietary app or webviewer (echoing many of the concerns K.T. Bradford noted in the DigitalTrends article "5 reasons to liberate your ebooks from their DRM prison"[15]), or to read on an E-ink reader or the original Kindle Fire.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Minatrea, Joshua. "Jason Illian: Author, Speaker, & CEO of Bookshout!". Art House America. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Owen, Laura Hazard. "Don't Shout Too Loud, Amazon Might Hear". Publishing Perspectives. GigaOM. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  3. ↑ Burdick, Kelly. "A Kindle killer?". Melville House Publishing. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  4. ↑ "Harper, Ingram Team with BookShout to Offer Bundling". Publishers Weekly. 1 August 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Reid, Calvin (16 September 2014). "BookShout to Offer E-books to Public Media Via Special Sales". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "BookShout! Pivots to Launch Direct Sales Platform for Ebooks". Digital Book World. 28 August 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
  7. ↑ Cader, Michael (15 September 2014). "Digital Briefs: Kobo In Holland, Public Radio/TV eBook Premiums, and More". PublishersLunch. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Kozlowski, Michael (30 September 2014). "BookShout! Sells 9.4 million Bulk eBook Codes". Good e-Reader. Oak Branch Media Inc. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  9. ↑ MarketWired (23 September 2014). "#1 New York Times Best-Selling Author Dr. Ben Carson Releases New eBook With BookShout!" (Press release). SYS-CON Media. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Kozlowski, Michael (December 11, 2014). "Bookshout Partners with South by Southwest for eBooks". Good e-Reader.
  11. 1 2 "BookShout raises $6 million Series B". PandoDaily. 25 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-10-21.
  12. 1 2 "bookshout! Closes $6M in Series B Funding, Expands Distribution and Engagement Platform for Publishers and Authors" (Press release). Berkshire Hathaway. Business Wire. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
  13. ↑ Hoffelder, Nate (August 28, 2013). "Bookshout Pivots From Social Reading to Bulk eBook Sales". The Digital Reader.
  14. ↑ "Mobileread FAQ: About Us". Mobileread. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  15. ↑ Bradford, K.T. (August 21, 2013). "5 reasons to liberate your ebooks from their DRM prison". Digital Trends.
  16. ↑ Froide (October 17, 2014). "Simon & Schuster offers 'A Free eBook for You' via Bookshout.com". MobileRead Forums.
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