iBooks 2 and iBooks Author: One Week Later, What We’ve Learned — An Executive Round Table with McGraw-Hill, Digital Book World, and Aptara

January 23, 2012 Blog No Comments

Yet again Apple stopped us in our tracks. We awaited each word with bated breath during last Thursday’s unveiling of iBooks2, iBooks Author, and iTunes U. Now what? After a week of social media frenzy, water cooler chatter, thoughtful analysis, and technical digging, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned. Join us Thursday, January 26 for a live round table discussion with McGraw-Hill – one of Apple’s education partners; Digital Book World – the publishing industry’s premier digital publishing forum; and Aptara – trusted digital solutions partner to the …

eBook Creation Service Aims To Make Publishing Quality eBooks Easier

December 29, 2011 Blog, Featured 9 Comments

eBooks are making a big dent in the publishing industry. There’s no doubt about that. They’re convenient, and can be downloaded on an increasing variety of mobile devices. In order to “strike while the iron is hot”, many organizations are rushing to get their existing content converted to eBook formats (there’s more than one). But doing so is oftentimes more complicated — and expensive — than many imagine. It’s easy to make costly mistakes — errors that can impact the usability (and sales) of digital publications. Data Conversion Laboratory (DCL) …

The Phenomenal Rise of eBooks; Downloadable Books Now Outsell Hardbacks and Paperbacks Combined

December 28, 2011 Blog, Featured No Comments

The publishing industry is reluctant to give out detailed sales figures on eBook sales, but David Roth-Ey from publisher HarperCollins said: “The electronic market is really booming. We are seeing 600% growth year on year in eBooks. That is in a frankly stagnant book selling market.” On Amazon since April 2011, 242 Kindle eBooks have been sold for every 100 hardcover books, SkyNews HD reports.

Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, On Adobe Technical Communication Software, Silos Busting, And Convergence

December 27, 2011 Blog, Featured No Comments

At the Adobe Technical Communication Enterprise Summit in Boston this past October, I was asked to comment on the future of technical communication, trends in the publishing industry, the importance of Adobe software tools for technical communicators, and related topics. In this short video montage, I discuss the move to eBooks and enhanced, interactive content. I also point out the biggest challenge (as I see it) facing Adobe as they seek to serve the changing needs of the technical communication industry — departmental silos. I suggest a “convergence” of Adobe …

[Webinar] Creating eBooks: Understanding the Opportunities, Challenges, Devices, and Standards

December 7, 2011 Blog 1 Comment

eBooks are a hot topic. And, there’s reason to be excited. First, there’s the overwhelming success of the Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad (and the tablet computing market it helped to spawn). But that’s not all. Sales of eBooks are skyrocketing. And, apps for reading eBooks on smart phones like the Apple iPhone and Android powered-devices are downloaded more often than many other types of apps, further fueling the excitement. Meanwhile, some school districts are getting rid of old school textbooks altogether, replacing them with eBooks and equipping students with …

Dirty Little Secrets of the Book Publishing Industry…Or Why You Shouldn’t Invest In Book Publishers Who Waste Your Investment Dollars By Avoiding Change

September 22, 2011 Blog No Comments

by Scott Abel, Content Strategist, The Content Wrangler If you’re an investor, you should know this dirty little secret. Most book publishers are wasting your investment dollars. That’s right. They’re burning through your cash at record pace, in a desperate attempt to keep pace with changing user expectations they didn’t have the foresight to plan for. They are throwing your money at problems that can be solved by making some changes to the way publishing companies work, something many seem unwilling or unable to do. And, they’re happy you don’t …

Replay of “What’s Next? Socially-Enabled User Assistance, Interactive Documentation, and Location-Aware Help” with Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

July 28, 2011 Blog 1 Comment

Here’s an on-demand recording of my recent webinar, “What’s Next? Socially-Enabled User Assistance, Interactive Documentation, and Location-Aware Help”, sponsored by MindTouch. During this fast-paced presentation, I use a story metaphor — kind of a history of documentation — to help attendees understand how businesses big and small are leveraging the power of the crowd to create exceptional socially-enabled customer assistance experiences, engaging interactive/enhanced digital content, useful mobile device apps, and powerful location-aware help. After the webinar, I answered questions from the audience that are documented here. video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo …

Noz Urbina Interviews Ann Rockley About Content Integration

April 15, 2011 Blog No Comments

Intelligent content guru (and the “Mother of Content Management”) Ann Rockley will be one of the featured presenters at Congility 2011, May 24-26 in Gatwick, UK. The theme of this year’s event is Content Integration: Leveraging Standards to Improve Customer Experience. Content strategist Noz Urbina talks to Ann about the need for content standards and a content strategy in order to create positive customer experiences.

Web Content 2011: Going Mobile – June 6-7, Chicago

February 22, 2011 Blog 1 Comment

In the world of online content, mobile is the new black! Since the advent of the iPhone, iPad, and a host of other devices, the technology community has become focused on mobility: mobile platforms, mobile applications and mobile tools. Within five years 50% of all Web traffic will come through mobile devices and more users will access the internet via mobile devices than desktops. Join me — and national content experts, marketers, strategists, developers and other industry thinkers — June 6th and 7th in sunny Chicago at Web Content 2011. …

There’s More to eBooks Than Words

July 12, 2010 Uncategorized 9 Comments

By Alan J. Porter “It’s all about the content.” This simple, yet insightful, comment by leading publishing consultant, Ann Rockley, during a recent webinar on “Exactly What Not to do When Making the Move from Print Publishing to New Media,” (listen to the recorded webinar) made me think about the many discussions I’ve had, and the many articles I’ve read, about the so-called digital publishing revolution. I came to the realization that most of us are missing one vital component of this new opportunity. It seems that no matter how …