On March 20th we finally launched the Sesame Workshop eBookstore. The launch was followed by a spate of e-mails from subscribers telling us how thrilled they were to finally lay their eyes on the digital versions of their favorite stories and to see the characters come to life. This followed by overwhelming response from mainline media, television news and bloggers who covered the news about the launch, had us in high spirits. Working with a household brand like Sesame Street has been very special to us and with this launch our hard work and nights of toil finally saw the light of day.

Brands like Sesame Workshop opting to convert as many as 900 of their 5000 published print titles into eBooks, definitely marks a milestone in publishing. Traditional publishing, while still very much a part of the industry is incomplete without its digital counterparts.

In the past year, the publishing fraternity has gained critics and patrons, received praise and condemnation, faced evolution and revolution, been named the light of the future and the black hole of failure. But one thing that unites those critics and the patrons is the realization that the eBook cannot and will not be ignored.

The stamp of approval and the verdict has been passed with brands like Sesame Workshop going the eBook way. While there has been much debate on the subject of eBook pricing, Sesame Workshop has opted to go with the subscription based pricing model.

Fans, parents, teachers and schools can subscribe to get unlimited access to a library of more than 100 Sesame Street eBooks for an annual subscription price of $39.99, with a special early bird offer at $24.99. Titles are offered in a variety of formats such as eBooks that allow a child to read along at their own pace; audio eBooks that contain narration, sound effects, and music as well as animated and interactive eBooks that bring beloved Sesame Street characters and stories to life in full-color animation inviting children to play along and learn.

So do take a look at the brand new Sesame Street eBook store, show it, share it and relive your childhood with your kids, nieces, nephews, neighbor’s kids, the noisy ones down the lane and every Sesame Street fan you know. And, if you want a sneak peek before subscribing, they also have 5 free eBooks introduced every month!

In the new blog series from AEP, What’s Keeping You Up At Night?, experts offer their advice on the most pressing issues facing the educational publishing industry.

The following question was posed to the current featured expert, Sameer Shariff of Impelsys Inc.

Q. How do you get your content discovered once you create an e-strategy and deliver your content online?

A. In the electronic space where more and more people are reading online, viral marketing tools like widgets and book previews provide good opportunities for publishers to market their titles across the web. Here are few ways you can use widgets and book previews to get your content discovered online.

1. Capitalize on web 2.0. Use widgets and book previews to spread the buzz around your titles on social networks and blogs. You can blog about your latest title, add a title’s preview link to your social network profiles or as status updates, and also tweet about it. Readers who include your content on their social profiles in turn send out access to your content samples to all the people on their respective networks. This helps in spinning out a viral web of individual content nodes without having to spend time, effort, and money to contact these readers and their networks directly.

2. Search Engine Optimization. Widgets also come with a ‘buy link’ option that allow readers to buy directly from your e-commerce portal and get traffic to your website. Most of the social media is indexed by search engines. As the number of people who include your content samples increases, it increases the weight of your content in search results. As these widgets are spread across the web, they increase the back links to your website that improves your web page ranking and search results.

3. Make new announcements. Each widget becomes a small window that a publisher can use to send additional announcements and updates to already existing network of readers without having to create additional marketing programs. For instance, promotional offers and discounts can be effectively communicated to readers to see immediate results on your promotional program. This can be used in addition to your marketing email campaign and as a tool to reach out to existing readers and their networks.

With widgets and book previews you can reach global marketplaces and build a presence in online communities that will help you understand your readers, their preferences and build direct relationships with them.

Back in Bangalore after a successful show at Frankfurt, and managed some time to write this blog after sorting out a mountain of emails. 

Frankfurt Book Fair was hectic.  Can’t say enough about the serial meetings, non-stop walk ins, and hundreds of enquiries about our new product - iPublishCentral has created waves, and the team is still reeling under the tremendous response it has got.