On April 11th, I ran the Paris Marathon. An event that I trained for over the last six months.

As I was running the marathon, my mind went through all the effort that was needed to get ready for the race. Running 42 kilometers is not easy and it takes a toll on your body. The only way to be ready for it, is the preparation that is required months before the race. The preparation and the discipline to maintain your training schedule allows you to compete and potentially complete the race. My race was going well and I was on pace to get to my 4 hour goal when I hit the wall during the 38 km mark. My legs gave in and I was in severe pain. Physically my body was telling me to let up but mentally I knew that I could not stop because the finish line was so close. The last 4 kilometers was a mental vs. physical battle to get to the finish line. At the end I crossed the line achieving my time goal and gaining a personal victory for myself. Crossing the finish line was an incredible feeling of pure and unadulterated joy!

I realized while running the marathon that what we are building at Impelsys is also like a marathon.  We, at Impelsys have a clear goal in becoming the leader in supporting the global book publishing market to deliver and market their electronic content.  We are passionate and determined to get to the goal and win, not only for ourselves but for our publishing customers.  Our training in the “marathon of business” has been the effort that we have put over the last several years to study the transition of the publishing industry, to understand what traditional publishing was all about and to use this understanding to help them adapt and succeed in the electronic world.  In turn, helping them add revenues through new and previously unexplored business models and building the content delivery infrastructure for the online world.  Just as my marathon training required extreme discipline, achieving this vision too requires discipline, determination and an ever thirsty passion to succeed.

Our industry is a dynamic, ever-changing, ever-evolving one, where almost every day there is something new out there, something more that customers want and something better that someone else is doing.   In today’s competitive business world the secret ingredient to success is in having your consumers win. We have built our capabilities and dedicated our vision towards helping our clients’ win, by ensuring that their customers in turn win. We are determined and confident in getting to our finish line.

Click here for presentation and video: The new dynamics of Publishing

The publishing industry is evolving at an astoundingly fast pace. Besides going digital, the industry is gradually transitioning from a b2b business model to a b2c model. This is largely due to the changing scenario of retail, distributions sales and marketing, all owing to the recent and widespread popularity of social networking or social media.
– Presented at the O’ Reilly Tools of Change Conference 2010, By Sameer Shariff, Founder and CEO of Impelsys Inc. (iPublishCentral)

Earlier this month, Apple did something which by now they seem to have mastered - launch yet another killer product that has left everyone spellbound.  Even those who are picking holes in the product can’t stop talking about it.  Because, notwithstanding all the shortcomings (Read, no flash, just one USB port, 4:3 screen display, etc.), everybody knows that it will sell in millions.

For those in the publishing industry the launch of iPad meant a little more. By launching a device that supports rich multimedia, eBooks, eBook Reader, etc. backed by a full fledged iBookstore, Apple has sounded their arrival into the eBook market in style.  While the Amazons, Barnes & Nobles, Sony, etc will go in to a huddle in their respective boardrooms to devise a counter strategy, the Publishing community has much to cheer about.  So, what could be the single most talked about topic in the publisher organization.  May be figuring out how to get their content ready for the iPad.

Isn’t that quite obvious.  Here is a device that packs eBook functionality unlike any of its predecessors.  The leap from e-ink to full color graphics, and complete multimedia support opens exciting opportunities for the publishers. It is said that the iPad supports epub format, and has proprietary DRM in the mix to allay any copyright worries for the publisher.  Publishers that have already have an epub strategy will probably find it easier to capitalize than those that do not.  But, they still have the challenge of devising a strategy for the iPad specifically as their earlier strategies were probably built around the standard devices like the Kindle, Sony Reader, etc. In other words, having their content in epub format is just not going to be enough for publishers; not if they want to harness the power and performance of iPad optimally.

Let’s just give it some thought.  STM Publishers can now have eBooks that are rich in multimedia illustrations, and exciting ancillary content built around their existing content that makes the learning experience more interesting and absorbing.  K-12 publishers can build Talking eBooks, animated storybooks, etc. that redefines the way a child interacts and relates to books and characters in books. There are many that agree that the iPad could be the ultimate plaything for a child. A child likes to touch and feel, hold, push buttons, etc, and the iPad allows all this and more, making a very strong case for more and more interactive content for children. WARREN BUCKLEITNER, in his blog on NY Times, stresses that this is a new outlet for storytellers.  And, publishers are storytellers, and the iPad has just made it more exciting.