TV Company to break into books

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NBC are to move into digital publishing as this story reports from Wired today reported from the tech gurus here .

Some of the reasoning behind the move tie in with some of the

issues and topics we’ve been writing about here at 3D issue like making the most of your older content for example and always designing with the audience in mind – not just conversion….

NBC make the move as they have valuable content already which they can provide via the medium of digital publishing, they are good with a camera and securing rights to content.

Topics like this are relevant from the large right down to the small business, take a look at what your good at and utilize this in a digital publication, one mans trash is another’s treasure what you think is not relevant might just be, it all depends on the logistics.

For more info on this move and why they are pleased Apple have announced the new iBooks 2 text book App follow the link above and if you have queries on how you might use digital publishing in your business get in touch info@3dissue.com

NBC Publishing Wants to Prove a TV Company

Textbooks in ebook format to reduce prices?

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Apple’s latest project namely iBooks 2 and the ability to purchase

cut price text books has been cited as the potential savior for students and schools alike, students get cheaper text books in digital format that cost less and are easy to carry with many starting from $14.99 as opposed to hard copy editions costing multiples of that figure.

But is it really as clever a saving as it first appears? This segment of the industry is hugely valuable and closely controlled by a limited number of publishers also in many states the schools purchase the books and they reuse them.

Apple’s model for iBooks 2 and their textbooks doesn’t exactly conform to this system and never did at present using some of Apple’s products makes it difficult to copy content you’ve purchase let alone provide to another once your done with it.

School books are often sold by students when they are finished with them resulting in a return on the expenditure over a few years of education this can add up to quite the saving which may not necessarily make the text books as good value as they appear.

It would appear that Apple will need to devise a pricing strategy that can make this work as the requirement of a $500 iPad will certainly have to be justified at all levels perhaps more so at High School than College level.

For more information on why it is thought Apple won’t make textbooks more affordable follow this link

Image is from here .

How to analyze your digital magazine reader statistics

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Once your digital publication is online and published it’s vital that you look into the stats and track how successful the edition is. How is the magazine performing? Is it attracting the right person/your target audience? Without tracking and analysing the performance it will be difficult for you to make the necessary adjustments to future editions to improve performance and reader satisfaction.

3D Issue has an analytics feature allowing you to access reports on the digital magazine performance. By simply entering in your Google analytics ID in the software, your publication will feed the statistics to your Google account and record all interactions that a user has had with your digital magazine.

There is certainly a lot of information that can be extracted from these reports, and we therefore recommend that you have a clear idea of what information is important for you to track, stats that can identify whether how the publication is performing when compared to the objectives you set.

Here are some key statistics to look out for:

Total number of readers per issue

Be familiar with this average figure for your publications – if one edition is receiving significantly less views than previous issues you may want to look at how the reader accesses the magazine/newspaper/brochure. Is the link and promotion compelling? Is the release date and time suited to your audience? Do you provide your readers with a taster of what is in the publication that would entice them to read on further and click through to the whole publication?

Percentage of new readers per issue

This figure could be the result of the marketing activities of the digital publication. Analyse how successful the marketing campaigns were to your prospects. You can then work out your ROI from specific marketing activity to ensure in future the most successful marketing activities and campaigns are used again.

Most viewed pages

Know your reader. Look at the most popular pages, what is in these pages that make them popular? You may find that pages containing video clips are being viewed more than those without , if so, then perhaps in the next edition why not make a feature interview as a video instead of text?

Top exit pages

From this information you can analyse if there is a point within the publication that is turning away your readers, perhaps they lose interest at pages of text? If so, then in the next edition why not experiment by breaking up long areas of text with images/videos/Quotes?

However, if the a page has a call to action on it that links to your website away from the publication and this page has a high percentage of visitors leaving – it may show that your Call to Action is a great success! So something you can repeat in your next edition.

There are a number of other facts and figures that you can take a look at, the key is to discover the ones that are relevant to you and keep on measuring!

Top tip….How to set up with Google Analytics for your digital editions:

To help, we’ve created a introduction to the Analytics and tracking features available with 3D Issue. Check out this short video tour which will get you set up with your tracking in no time. Then you can discover what content is working for your digital publications!

Digital Book World, POD and more

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Digital Book World is taking place right now in New York and its

probably worth checking out some of the key note speeches taking place and the debates that will be carried on at the conference.

In an article noted earlier today in eBook reader the main points from yesterdays conference were held out as being a positive experience some of the salient points being that there is definite jockeying for position right now.

The demise of borders has been flagged as noteworthy of course and the potential for Print on Demand as an off-shoot of digital publishing and a potential threat to the brick and mortar stores from ‘pure play businesses’

Sourcebook’s CEO Dominique Raccah announced a new proposition from that will bring ebooks to market faster while also maintaining quality in the publication.

Ellen Archer of Hyperion spoke about the use of digital publishing and the use of the medium alongside other forms of communication.

In light of the turmoil in place right now the general consensus from New York is a good one. For more on this you may wish to refer to the original article here.

The image above was provided by these nice people.

Create Open and share or sell ePubs

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Big news this week on the Apple front as is now becoming the norm

for Apple with their early New Year conferences two big deals the announcement of the iBooks 2 App now available for download from the US App store and the announcement of Apple iBook Author software which complements the announcement of the new iBooks 2 App.

iBooks2 allows for text books to be sold in a new category on the iBook store, iBooks author allows for their creation in a somewhat sneaky way.

The Free Mac only software has a number of features the main one being that it will create an ePub type file though these are no ordinary ePub files but they will allow authors to upload directly to the iBook store – be sure to read the small print on this as in the Apple end user license agreement a condition of use stipulates that any use of the file will be at Apple’s discretion. And note the file is not an open source ePub it is a new file format Apple want to use solely in their eco-system so the file cannot be used elsewhere, Apple are taking a big step here the assumption they should do this simply because the software to do it is free -does’nt hold much weight.

This must be a first for a software company in that the Software to create the publication is free but the result is basically lame – the product has limitations on distribution, can Apple really do this?

A workaround is to use programs to create your EPUB or ePub depending on who you talk to (Apple say ePub or used to say ePub at least – will they use them at all now?) that has no such restrictions in place, to restrict the giving away of your work is surely a step too far? As if you were simply to sell the publication as an ePub through your own site you retain control and profits.

To add to this the new file format for iBooks 2 is not going to be compatible with traditional ePub file formats the format which Apple is proposing for iBooks2 has similarities to ePub3 but is not strictly speaking the same file format, here a clear example of how Apple has turned on the use of Open format traditional epub files and is ring-fencing publications for its own devices and therefore taking them away from other reading systems. Read more on this here.

By creating your ePub file and interactive digital editions in a software package rather than iBook author in the case of epub it can still be uploaded to the iBook store and also used in whatever way you wish, with no restrictions at all which is what this is all about surely?

The image above was provided by these nice people.

Digital Publications – Part 1 Beginners guide to output formats

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iBooks, ePubs, digital magazines…what does it all mean and what are the differences? This is a question we are frequently asked, there are now a growing number of terms being used around digital publishing, which if you are looking at publishing your content into a digital form could be confusing to know which option and or route is best for you.

Here we are putting together 3 blog posts that will quickly run through the key digital publishing basics of files, formats, devices and considerations. This first one covers the differences in the output formats of your digital publications.

1. Online Publication (browser viewed)

Online or web based digital magazines are created so that the end reader views the publication via a web browser. The actual file output format will usually be Flash or HTML5 or both. So your digital publication can then be launched via a link on your website or by simply sending the reader a link to the online location.

2. Web App

These are great for iPad readers for example, a web App would be a HTML5 digital publication, which can be launched from a iPhone or iPad home screen. The web App is then the digital magazine – without the browser toolbars, url bar etc.. Check out this quick video which shows a good example of a digital magazine web app .

3. Native App

A native Apple App would be a digital magazine that must be submitted first to the App Store, then once approved readers could download via the App Store. These native Apps are specific to certain devices that have access to the App store.

4. eReader formats Often referred to as eBooks, these publications are either in .epub or .mobi. These files are fore eReader devices such as the Kindle, Sony eReader and can also be imported into Apple iBooks. These publications tend to contain less media rich (videos, animations, audio etc..) than online digital magazines.

4. eReader formats

See also:

- Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

Digital Publications – Part 2 Beginners guide to what devices view which formats?

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Following on from part 1 of our beginners guide, here is our next instalment. This post goes through the different devices you may wish to consider publishing your digital content too, and which formats are used on these devices.

What Devices require which formats?

Tablets

The tablet category contains the Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy. These devices have web browsers (for example Safari on the iPad) so readers can view digital magazines via the browser. The consideration to be aware of here though is that Apple will not run flash on these devices so be sure that your online browser viewed publication is built using a solution that creates a HTML5 output.

These devices often have Apps that can view eReader formats (.epub and .mobi) For example the iBooks App can read epub files and these can be viewed offline. Check out this article that explains in more detail how to get PDF to epub to be viewed in iBooks .

Mobile Devices

This category of devices is treated very similarly to the Tablet section above. Devices such as iPhones and Android phones also have a web browser, so as above these devices can view online magazines. Again, consideration needs to be made as Apple iPhone like the iPad cannot view flash – so the HTML5 digital magazine would be the best option here.

Again, like the Tablet category, these mobile devices often have eReader Apps such as iBooks, so eReader (.ebub) files can be viewed in iBooks.

Desktops, Laptops, Macs/PCs, Netbooks

This category would view digital magazines via a web browser. Most web browsers run both HTML5 and Flash too so online magazines created in this way can be viewed on these devices.

eReaders

eReaders such as the Amazon Kindle, Sony eReader and eReader Apps such as iBooks on the iPad require eReader format publications. So these publications would be either .Mobi (for Kindle) or .ePub for other eReaders. These files can be downloaded to the eReader device via an online store such as Amazon or simply by supplying the file to your readers directly.

See also:

- Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

Digital Publications – Part 3 Beginners guide to digital publishing considerations

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Part 1 and Part 2 of this beginners guide went through the various different publishing output options and which devices could show this content.

Here we look at some further considerations you may want to look into before choosing which digital output and devices to publish for.

1. Your content source

Where is the source?PDF format (already designed), online via RSS feed or is it unwritten? Most Digital Magazine software solutions convert PDFs into web versions, but if you have a Blog or RSS feed consider PressJack (an application bundled with 3D Issue) this application can convert feeds into browser viewable digital magazines or into eReader formats – and ePub for example can be viewed via the iBooks App on iPads and iPhones.

2. Your publication type

When deciding which format to create, consider your publication type. If the publication is a traditional book/novel then you would probably consider publishing in eReader format. Whereas if you have a more graphical, media rich publication such as brochures, magazines, etc.. then an online publication may suit better.

3. Your audience

There are many devices available to your audience. If you want to create a publication that is viewable to iPad readers then consider that if you have a Native Apple App, then readers on other devices would not be able to view these. If you create a Web based digital magazine then your audience on devices that have a browser which include iPad, iPhone, Desktops, Laptops etc… can all view the publication.

See also:

- Digital Publications – Part 2 Beginners guide to devices

Blog and RSS to iBooks: Part 2 of How to publish your content to iBooks.

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Following on from the previous blog post How to publish your content to iBooks…. Part 1: PDF to iBooks there’s also another great tip we wanted to share with you. This tutorial shows you how you can convert your blog content or RSS feed content into a epub that can be read with Apple iBooks and on eReader devices such as the Kindle.

Perhaps you have a blog that provides category specific content, these categories often have their own RSS feeds associated with them. Take this blog that you are reading now, it has RSS feeds for categories such as ‘Apple iPad’, ‘Going Digital’, ‘ePublishing’ and many more such as one RSS feed for the main blog content. If you have content online in a blog or RSS feed then this tip could be very exciting….

Here we are going to take this Blog and using the tool PressJack which is packaged free with 3D Issue we are going to convert the blog content into an epub which we can then read via the iBooks app or even with our Kindle, then allow our customers to download and read on their iPad, iPhones and eReaders.

1) Select the feed or feeds you want to convert

Open up PressJack which comes packaged along in the 3D Issue suite. Once here, in the CONTENT tab. Click the ‘+’ sign and enter in the RSS feed. Tip: if you are not sure of the exact RSS feed you can click on the search button and type in the name of your blog to find the feed.

2) Click Build Still in the CONTENT tab, click on ‘Build’ this then goes off to the sources you defined in the first part, the software collects all the content and images from these feed(s).

2) Click Build

3) Any edits?

Are there are articles you do not want to include in the epub? If you do want to remove any, click on the ARTICLES tab and edit or remove articles.

4) Complete the build process

To complete the build process and get the output epub file, head over to the OUTPUT tab. Check the EBOOK option from the left side and ensure both the epub (iPad iBooks) and Kindle versions are checked. Then click PUBLISH on the right.

4) Download to your iPad, and upload to your site to allow your readers to download

Once the software has created the epub and kindle files, you can access these from the message that appears:

Locate the ‘ebook’ folder, you will then see the two files; epub (for iPad) and mobi (for Kindle). Open iTunes on your computer, connect your iPad and drag and drop the epub file from your computer into the ‘Books’ section in iTunes. You will now see your publication in iTunes, and when synced with your iPad, you can see the publication in iBooks:

and here is the publication on the iPad available for reading in iBooks:

Try it out for yourself!

Download the 3D Issue trial where you can follow these steps to create your own book for iBooks from your own Blog or RSS Feeds with PressJack.

You can of do this tutorial, upload the file to your site to allow your readers to download a epub of your blog or RSS feed to view on their iPad through iBooks – and remember Extra Tip: because this is in iBooks, the reader does not need to be online to view once they have downloaded.

PDF to iBooks: part 1 of How to publish your content to iBooks…

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The publishing world is all a buzz today after Apple’s announcement yesterday. Apple released an update to iBooks – welcome iBooks2. There has been much hype around these updates as it recognises the move towards digital reading and consuming of content, with Apple particularly targeting the Textbook market.

The textbooks that are to be sold through iBooks 2 will give students a more interactive learning experience which ultimately aims to enable students to get better results. Apple has some key textbook publishers on board too for this latest venture including Pearson and McGraw Hill.

So with this new announcement from Apple we thought we’d let you into a few tips and tricks of our own that will enable you too to get your content; whether that is a book, magazine or even your company blog into iBooks using 3D Issue. And guess what, it really is pretty straightforward!

Tutorial 1 – PDF to iBooks

1) Import your PDF to 3D Issue Launch the 3D Issue software (Lite, Pro or Enterprise) and click on ‘Create New’. Select the PDF that you want to convert. This now uploads the PDF into the software and you are ready to make any amends to the publication.

1) Import your PDF to 3D Issue

2) Make any edits required In 3D Issue, navigate to the DESIGN tab, and select the ‘eBook reader mode’ from the selection box on the right of the screen (highlighted in red below). This takes you into the eReader mode (opposed to digital magazine mode which creates digital editions for viewing via a web browser)

2) Make any edits required

Here you can make edits such as; formatting, add/edit text or images, add table of contents and front cover.

3. Publish your ‘eBook’ Once you are happy with the way the book looks, head over to the OUTPUT tab. On the left hand side, check the EBOOK option. Tip: check the ‘epub’ to create a version for iPad and iPhone iBooks, but also check the ‘Kindle’ to create a publication for download on Kindle eReaders too. Then, click BUILD.

3. Publish your ‘eBook’

4) Download to your iPad, and upload to your site to allow your readers to download

Once the software has created the epub and kindle files, you can access these from the message that appears:

Locate the ‘ebook’ folder, you will then see the two files; epub (for iPad) and mobi (for Kindle). Open iTunes on your computer, connect your iPad and drag and drop the epub file from your computer into the ‘Books’ section in iTunes. You will now see your publication in iTunes, and when synced with your iPad, you can see the publication in iBooks:

and here is the publication on the iPad available for reading in iBooks:

Try it out for yourself!

Download the 3D Issue trial where you can follow these steps to create your own book for iBooks from your own PDFs.

Or

Here is the epub we created in the above tutorial, it is the 3D Issue user manual, you can download this epub, put into iTunes and then sync it to your iPad or iPhone and read in iBooks.

Download the epub to view on your iPad in iBooks

You can of course do this to, upload the file to your site to allow your readers to download a epub of your content to view on their iPad through iBooks – and remember Extra Tip: because this is in iBooks, the reader does not need to be online to view once they have downloaded.

Coming up next…. how to publish your blog or RSS feeds to a epub and view them in iBooks!

3D Issue 5.1 is here | RSS feed to epub and mobi file format preparation

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Its that time again where 3D Issue developers get to take a

moment to reflect as a new release of 3D Issue rolls out to customers upgrading and new alike! 3D Issue version 5.1 is ready for trial download and upgrade today.

There are some great new features in Version 5.1 which are right on the tail of our previous upgrade to Version 5 whilst Version 5 brought us HTML5 and YouTube videos, this little release has a little file extra.

3D Issue V5 as many know includes a standalone application which converts your RSS feeds to a digital magazine now using the newly release 3D Issue V5.1 we can create epub and mobi files from those RSS feeds, so readers can sync a week or month or a years worth of RSS feeds to their device and take away – its great.

Other updates and some minor bug fixes that we’ve fixed are out lined below:

- Some email addresses were being detected as web links this is now back as it should be

- Facebook sharing includes the image in the wall post

- Added option to software to allow for printing rasterized image of desktop page

- There were a few font rendering problems which have been fixed

- New ‘Poster Image’ for embedded videos can be added as you add in your video file

- Enhanced readability & user-friendliness throughout

- Improved ‘Cancel Operation’ while building publications

- New caution message where a PDF contains an excess vector images

- Fixed line conversion on PDFs

- Improved the embedded link detection during the conversion process

iPad App

- Removed ‘Exit’ button from iPad publication placed on home screen

Flash interface

- Improved notes display

- Notes text is no longer deleted if mouse is clicked

- Fixed page-turning issue in right to left publications

- Page-turning when hotspots are placed in corners now fully flowing.

- Sidebar reacts differently when set on the top/bottom

HTML5 interface

- Fixed incorrect text in email sharing feature in HTML5

- Warning message for SWF buttons in HTML5

- Desktop HTML5 version had issues with landscape PDFs when flipping pages

- Shading only appears now if a background image is selected in html5 version

- Added blank page to HTML5 publication if publication has an odd number of pages

To upgrade contact sales@3dissue.com or just to say hi is good too. The new V5.1 trial is on-line now for download too. Thanks to all our Beta users out there and customers too for the feedback.

The image above was created by Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net who are here.

Top 5 digital publishing mistakes and solutions

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Digital editions; whether you are creating digital magazines, digital newsletters or digital brochures they are a great way of broadening reach whilst providing your readers with a unique, engaging viewing experience. There are, however some mistakes when creating your digital editions that should be avoided in order to create the very best reading experience for your readers. Check out our list of Top 5 mistakes to avoid…

MISTAKE 1 – One design fits all

SOLUTION – Optimise design for digital

The way that digital and print readers read and consume media is different. Digital readers are often on the move, they could be reading on a train journey, whilst in a queue at a store or at home. This means that they scan the material, looking for key points of interest which once spotted they can then read more into. The digital reader may also be viewing on smaller devices such as iPads and mobile devices.. this available reading space can therefore be much smaller than the full size print publications.

Think about how you can optimize the design and layout for them. Consider making articles shorter, text larger, adding highlighted or feature points that stand out on the page. As mobile devices show the publication as a smaller version, optimise the pages so that they can the text without having to zoom in. Take a look at this digital magazine sample ; it highlights how a publication is optimized for online viewing by keeping one key point per double page spread.

MISTAKE 2 – Digital editions take a long time to load

SOLUTION – Reduce the Load time

Ensure your digital publishing solution allows you to spread the load for larger publications. A load controller allows you to specify a set number of pages to load in the browser at one time, instead of the entire publication at once – which for a 1000 page catalogue would result in your readers facing a prolonged waiting time. A quick fix by setting the load control allows fast access for your readers.

MISTAKE 3 – Your mobile readers experience a ‘basic’ view of your digital publication (or cannot view the publication at all

SOLUTION – Enable HTML5 to reach all your readers regardless of their device

Adobe stated they are discontinuing flash support for mobile devices in favour of HTML5. This means HTML5 will surpass Flash as the primary platform for digital magazine distribution as HTML5 is supported across all devices including the iPad and iPhone.

3D Issue Version 5 will automatically generate HTML5 editions as well as flash versions of your publications. This means that the two versions of each magazine are created and uploaded to your website, then when a user comes to view one of your digital magazines their browser is checked and they are automatically shown the most suitable version for the device they are on.

You can see this in action via our samples. If you head over to this digital magazine samples page if you click on any of the samples whilst you are on your PC/Mac you will see the flash magazine, however view the same page and access any of these samples from your iPad you will see the HTML5 version. If you don’t have an iPad to hand you can click on the ‘Tablet View’ link under each sample and this will show you what iPad users would see. This solution is the only tool on the market that offers the same rich digital magazine experience in HTML5 that readers have come to expect in their flash editions.

MISTAKE 4 – Not taking advantage of online distribution networks

SOLUTION – Use available channels

Use all the channels you can to gain exposure for your digital magazine. If you have an email subscriber list then this is where to start, send out the email with the digital magazine to your subscribers as a priority – after all these are people that have actively opted in and requested to be receive this as soon as it is ready.

Then once your email subscribers have received the edition, then think about where your other ‘fans’ are… Facebook, Twitter, Google+, all these networks have people subscribing to what you have to say, so post them a link to the edition so they too can view. You might even want to think about now and again providing these networks with the subscribe link so they can get the digital content delivered straight to their inbox in future.

MISTAKE 5 – Search engine users cannot ‘find’ your publication or content

SOLUTION – Take 5 minutes to complete the SEO section to your publications

If you always leave the ‘SEO info’ incomplete then you are really missing out customers finding your publication via search engines. Here is an example of how an online publication is listed in Google:

Note that there are keywords present in the Page Title, a meaningful and useful page description that helps the searcher understand what the ebook is about and finally keywords in the url (taken from the name of the project folder.) If the SEO info in the ebook software is left blank, finding it via a search engine (which is the route the majority of your customers would take to try and find you) would be very difficult as the search engine would not rank it very high on any keywords as there are none in the key areas.

It’s not just digital ‘magazines’ you can create..

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We’ve realised that the term ‘digital magazine’ is used fairly frequently when digital publishing software such as 3D Issue is concerned. But don’t think it’s just magazines that can be turned into digital versions using the software….you could try some of these publications to give them a whole new, interactive look and feel, as well as reaching a wider online audience across tablets, mobiles and desktop users…

1.Newsletter (Customer or Company)

By converting this newsletter into a digital edition you can drive traffic to your site to view the online digital newsletter. This newsletter can contain multimedia that makes the newsletter more engaging to your audience as well as the added benefit that the reader analytics can be tracked and analysed to see how effective the newsletter was.

2.Case Studies Collection

Consider collating case studies and testimonials to create a unique testimonial publication, giving your clients the information they require in a professional, accessible format. If your customers fall into different sectors then create a unique testimonial digital edition for each sector. As you can upload multiple or single pdfs into 3D Issue to convert – collating these brochures can be a quick process.

3.Presentations

Tired of PowerPoint? Stand out by converting your presentations into digital format. You can simply save your PowerPoint presentation as a pdf, upload to the 3D Issue software and add your interactivity. Your digital presentations will have the page turning effect, can include videos, audio and hyperlinks and be viewed online so a customer can view at a personalised url address (by calling the file by the customer name for example) at a time that suits them.

4.Sales proposal documents

Sales proposals as a digital edition can transform the static pdf proposals into an edition that can include multimedia videos and links to further related information such as associated product brochures and customer case studies.

5.Company or Product Brochures

Sending out hard copy brochures via the post can be both time consuming and costly. If your brochure is in PDF format then converting it through 3D Issue will allow you to email your clients a link to view a digital version in minutes of their enquiry.

…and if that isn’t enough, you could try these too!

-Report

Digital publishers – Are you making the most of your older content?

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An interesting stat was released earlier this week by Hearst Magazines, it seems that there is a significant rise in the number of back issues being accessed and paid for by digital readers. In fact Hearst Magazines stated that 30% of the single copies sold on tablets are back issues. Wow that’s a big opportunity publishers and marketers can be taking advantage of…and the good news is it’s very easy to increase accessibility of your content!

So why are we seeing this rise? It is most likely down to accessibility as readers can now have options in a digital edition that have never been available to print readers. Have you as a print reader ever been flicking though a hard copy magazine and wanted more information that is referenced about? Read an article that states this was covered more on July 2011′s edition? Hmmm… to get July 2011 edition via print could take some time in ordering and tracking it down, making it a difficult, long process. Digital editions eliminate the time and difficulty for readers to access this older content. If you’re a 3D Issue user, this is how..

Link to previous editions or related Digital Magazines

One of the features 3D Issue digital magazine software offers you the creator is to allow your readers to have access to related or back issues from inside the magazine they are currently viewing. This is commonly referred to as the Archive Feature. It is very simple to set up, and once done your readers can access a graphical library of front covers of other publications you think may be of interest to them also, clicking on a front cover takes them to that edition. To check out more detailed information of setting this up see this article on setting up your digital magazine archive in minutes

Create an eBook from your blog archived posts or particular topic category

How many times are you asked a question from a customer and you think ‘I’m sure I’ve written about this before’ ? If you take a look through your blog archived posts, chances are you come across articles that are still applicable today. There is often golden content that has become less visible and hidden as newer content is added. Your blog readers simply do not get to see all the content from the first page.

Here’s a tip you can use today to reinvent this content – produce it as an eBook, all thanks to PressJack, the new RSS to digital magazine tool that is packaged free with 3D Issue software. Think about what your eBook could focus on – some ideas are “The ultimate guide to ______” or “50 tips to improve ______” entering in your specialist subject and solution as appropriate. Unless the content is time-specific or no longer appropriate then there’s no reason why this content should be pushed to the hidden depths of your blog archive never to be seen again. Right? The eBook creation process will only take you 10 minutes with PressJack and you don’t even need to have specialist IT programming or design skills which is a bonus.

So you thought creating a lead-generating eBook would be more time-consuming? The truth is, if you have the content already then reproducing this content is a great, fast way of creating something stunning and relevant to your audience.

Use 3D Issue Version 5 for B2B Content Marketing

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We noticed a good piece on The Next Web today which we wanted

to share and to utilize by showing how 3D Issue Software can help with regard to content marketing in a B2B (Business to Business) context. If you have’nt heard already 3D Issue is now a suite as with each purchase there is a copy of a software package called ‘PressJack’ which converts your RSS feeds and web content into a digital magazine. The basis of the article was a PDF document entitled “2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends” from the content marketing institute which details a range of statistics and findings on content marketing surprisingly enough. Read up on content marketing from the experts here.

The first points made are that:

• On average, B2B marketers employ eight different content marketing tactics to achieve their marketing goals.

• 60% report that they plan to increase their spend on content marketing over the next 12 months.

• Marketers, on average, spend over a quarter of their marketing budget on content marketing.

The article then goes on to outline 5 key points to bear in mind when creating a piece of content.

Transparency – allow your reader in but not the entire way remember we are talking here about teaser style marketing pieces we suggest these are used sparingly in a B2B context, we all like a joke but this is business at the end of the day right?

3D Issue lets you control your content, as the publications are stored on your server you can put up what you want and take it down just as fast! Use this – build publications in advance for a campaign, all ready and when it comes time to execute upload each as and when you need to enticing customers at the same time, hopefully your content will engage and be shared via 3D Issue’s sharing options for post to wall in Facebook, for their Tweet or Google+

Go the distance – prior planning prevents poor performance! If we plan our content marketing and do it in a staged way and connect in a meaningful manner our piece will get cut-through.

Using 3D Issue to its fullest will allow you to plan communications effectively, if your content has been created and is ready for execution add video or audio and give publications some life, Version 5 allows for YouTube video implementation too, so you can save on server space.

A two-way street – Social media and interacting is vital in B2B contexts too so stay alert follow and be followed, like and post and the feed will be open, Twitter is oft cited as underutilized in the B2B arena – it shouldn’t be, but don’t underestimate the benefit of a good LinkedIn strategy too.

3D Issue allows your readers to share your content, this can be really valuable every post on a Facebook page is seen by that persons friends and is more likely to be viewed and bring traffic to your site encourage the share option – maybe add a graphic or arrow to your publication to get readers sharing, in a B2B context sharing a link is a nice gesture and can often be a useful thing for customers and prospects alike. It’s not all about you – content creation is important, if there is’nt someone out there creating it for you every day then get someone else involved lots of bloggers are keen to guest blog to gain attention and so on – use these options.

Measure – make sure that your content is not published for the sake of it, plan, create, publish and de-brief – did it work, or not if not then why not?

3D Issue has full integration with each of your profiles, set them up and track activity for information on statistics which may be derived from 3D Issue fire us an e-mail info@3dissue.com

The image above was created by Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net who are here .

Publishing for mobile devices – Trends revealed

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Following on from our recent news post “ Mobile growth in 2012 – are you reaching this expanding digital audience? ” Techcrunch reported on OS share of smartphone sales on their site yesterday which highlights some further interesting points around market share and where the mobile market is heading. This is particularly useful for publishers and marketers to see the trends in which devices and operating systems are being used most widely to access content.

The article reports on the race for market share which is seeing a tough battle at the top:

“iOS’s U.S. market share (by sales) jumped from 26% in the third quarter of 2011 to 43% by October and November. Android, however, came out on top, with 47% market share during those two months, down from 60% in Q3.”

This is a significant change, when comparing historical market share figures. Previously Android had been the leader by a good margin, and it had been this way for some time. RIM’s share seems to have declined at a steady rate with Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile and others staying around the 5% mark.

So what caused the rise of iOS and apparent fall of Android between Qtr 3 2011 and October/November 2011? Looking at the breakdown of handset sales it seems the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S has made a strong contribution to this topping the chart of the top 10 models during October and November 2011 in the mobile device category; iPhone 4 in 2nd place topped only by the iPhone 4s in 1st place. The holiday season also contributed to a rise across device sales.

It’s important for marketers and publishers to ensure their digital editions can be viewed across multiple mobile devices, as the competition between devices continues to be a highly competitive and changing space. HTML5 digital editions enable this (so be sure to check the HTML5 mobile and tablet option if creating 3D Issues of your publications!)

Mobile growth in 2012 – are you reaching this expanding digital audience?

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As we settle into 2012 we’re already seeing some strong predictions and forecasts for the digital and mobile industry for the coming year. There have been several reports already released by industry experts, and here we highlight some key areas that will be very interesting for marketers looking to tap into this growing digital audience.

In 2012, the audience of internet users in the U.S. will expand by 3.1% to 239 million, representing 75.6% of the total population. This means that 3/4 of the total population will be online in 2012. (Source: Hubspot )

The Hubspot team also state that Mobile internet users will reach 113.9 million in 2012, up 17.1% from 97.3 million in 2011 and 76.4% of tablet users will be iPad users

Over a 17% increase in mobile internet users is a huge growth rate for one year – mobile devices and tablets have enabled people to easily access the internet and therefore online content when and where they need it.

And what about the eReader market? Well positive growth is expected in this area to with adult-aged eReader users expected to reach 45.6 million in 2012, up from 33.3 million in 2011.

The good news is that marketers and publishers can very easily create digital publications for these mobile, tablet, ereader and of course desktop users to without specialist technical or deisgn skills. The new version 5 3D Issue software allows users to convert PDFs into flash for desktop users and HTML5 for mobile users – enabling end readers to view and consume media rich digital publications on their chosen device. The software can also be used to create eReader verisons in .epub and .mobi formats so Kindle, Sony eReader and other device owners can also read content on the go.

5 easy ways to increase sharing of your digital publication

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Have you ever published a digital magazine and received fewer readers than you had hoped for? Or do you have a loyal subscriber base but you’d love to increase these subscribers? The key is sharing and recommendations from current readers. Your existing readers and subscribers can very easily reach out to their friends and colleagues…but they need a reason, a driver to do so. Here are our top tips:

- Make it easy for your readers to share

If you want your readers to do something then you need to make it as easy as possible for them. Firstly the content has to be unique, interesting and worthwhile to be shared. Your readers will want their friends to be grateful of receiving this content…they don’t want to be seen as passing on uninteresting material. Also ensure that if you want to encourage sharing that you enable the sharing features in 3D Issue. This simple button in the interface allows readers to easily select to share via Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or email. You could also use the ‘intro’ area to the left of the front cover to add a custom image or message highlighting sharing options.

- Give your readers a great first impression

You need to keep your subscribers happy, and this starts with giving a good first impression. How? Well is it easy for them to access the publication – do you have attractive ‘read our latest issue’ button on your site? When the reader clicks to read the digital edition does it load quickly? (TIP: Remember in 3D Issue you can enable the ‘load controller’ to launch large publications faster, and control the quality and size of the publications) Can your mobile readers on iPads or other mobile devices also view a stunning fully digital page-turning version? (TIP: Check the mobile and tablet output options for creation of HTML5 digital editions for these readers) It is often extremely worthwhile asking someone unfamiliar with your publication to test it out and give their honest feedback, you can then make any necessary adjustments before sending out to your subscribers.

- Provide a ‘subscribe’ route

Revisit the process of signing up to your publication. How easy is it for a new customer to opt in to receive the newsletter / brochure / magazine? Do you have a user friendly sign up page that is reachable from key pages on your website? Can your existing subscribers forward on the publication to their friends? Put yourself in the position of a new visitor to your site and go through the process, noting any opportunities which could be tapped into to increase your subscriber rate. For more information on making the most of your subscriber sign up page check out this article

- Think about timing

Often the key to people forwarding on your publication is dependent on when they receive it themselves. For example do you receive a bunch of emails first thing in the morning that you then automatically ignore whilst you address important actionable emails in your inbox? You want to try and avoid your digital edition link via email hitting the subscribers’ inboxes at the wrong time. If you catch them at the right time they are more likely to a) open it b) read it and then c) recommend to their friends.

- Write killer headlines

Following on from the last point, you need to ensure you have the highest chance of your publication being read so that they can then recommend it themselves. If the subscriber does not read it then there is 0% chance that they will recommend to their friends to read. Therefore revisit all the routes of how the subscriber receives and accesses your digital publication – are your headings, links and access text inviting and exciting enough to make the subscriber open and move forward with reading the publication?

5 Best Practices for Digital Marketers in 2012

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A useful post we read today posted on mashable.com here gives and

insight into how you may or may not choose to plan and work your marketing communications for the upcoming year and beyond as many plans will be. The salient points from the post are mentioned below and I’ve also added in where we feel 3D Issue V5 will allow you to execute with this style in mind.

1. Own Your Voice, Don’t Share It

BMW say ‘Joy’ has your brand a word to call their own? Have a think of the keywords you want to own and take them, some industries are that little bit more competitive but than others but a sure fire way of owning your chosen brand words is to present them well and a page flip publication will work nicely.

2.Resolve to Be Relevant

Give your customer based what they want 2011 was a tough year with the world economy not in the best of shape, by choosing careful content and targeting specifically your customers will appreciate your efforts.

3. Context is King, and Content is Queen

Aesthetics count, for SEO content is King but at the heart of communications is the look and feel no matter how clever and engaging your new advertising collateral is, if it looks terrible then no body will want to look never mind share it. Use 3D Issue to create and execute effective advertising for your brand and your advertisers.

4. The Data is Smarter. Are You?

Clicks are good but what is better is cut-through, 3D issue integrates fully with your Google Analytics ID providing a full range of reader statistics on your publication, quality data will help in planning and execution for the future.

5. They’ve changed the Channel.

You’ll need to ensure that the social aspect of each campaign is used effectively every 3D Issue allows readers to distribute for you so ensure that they know this can be done, tell your readers to use the button and share the publication. Every publication shared via Facebook is posted to your readers wall and seen by their friends which is a core aspect of using social networking to reach possible new customers.

The image above was created by Chrisroll / FreeDigitalPhotos.net who are here.

14 Top Digital Marketing Resources

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We like to provide our users with good tips, tricks and information that ultimately helps create even better digital editions and become more successful with your marketing efforts. We’ve been on the lookout for the best articles out there that could help you and have presented them here so you can read what the experts have to say!

There are 14 top resources here covering a number of aspects of digital marketing. Enjoy!

Digital content creation

- The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers

- 5 Simple Ways to Open Your Blog Post With a Bang

- 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Content Mix

- How to Produce Timeless Content That Helps You Today, Tomorrow and Forever

Planning and strategy

- How to Put Together an Editorial Calendar for Content Marketing

- 5 Actionable Tactics for More Efficient Content Marketing

- Maketing Grader

- The Noob guide to Online Marketing

Content Distribution

- 4-Step Guide to Writing Flawless Marketing Emails

- “How to Use Twitter for Business – An Introductory Guide”

- “How to Use Facebook for Business: An Introductory Guide”

- “How to Use Google+ for Business: An Introductory Guide”

Tracking and Measurement

- Content Marketing Metrics for Newbies: 28 Content-Related Measures to Track

- 5 Website Metrics Every Marketer Should Be Tracking

Ebook Pricing a Mystery – or a timeline?

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We noticed this article earlier today which discusses the pricing of eBooks and how they are retaining the high price of their hard copy format, despite the savings that the publishers are now making on distribution and other costs with logistics and so on.

The article says that the savings by using the new medium

should be reflected in the price and that the lack of recognition by one of the ‘big six’ publishers in the US not to follow this model is going to end in a disaster.

But does it really? Should eBooks really be that much cheaper than their alternative in hard copy? The publisher and author’s revenue model aside, why should a reader pay less simply because the publication is in digital format – then again in an equitable situation perhaps they should but this is not an equitable situation this is a sellers market and they control the content. The eBook is in effect the same but better so isn’t this actually a saving to the end reader anyway? Less space taking, note making.

Where does a buyer get to dictate a price because a seller’s costs became lower?….when competition goes up which can be as a result of barriers to entry dropping and this is not about to happen to the major publishers – just ask the ‘Big Six’

The article indicates that readers may seek out the Indie author’s and that music has faced the digital challenge and adjusted to suit, this can only be a reference to the 99c song from the iTunes store for example but the songs generally cost this beforehand anyway so here one is getting less that they did with the old model for the same price this is a loss!

Also the Music industry has had to focus much more on performing live for revenue as illegal music sharing continues and going on tour with a book is not really going to fill stadiums across the country.

It would be expected that the price for the major sellers in eBook format will still amount to the pricier purchases regardless of the increasing popularity of the Indie-Alternative author after all. Only where the seller has decided that his book can be sold at a lesser price due it would be expected to higher sales will the price fall it will not fall because of lower costs to publishers, but it may have to if illegal file sharing threatens their business models.

The image above was created by digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net who are here .

Blog to Digital Magazines! Have you tried it yet?

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A few weeks ago we launched Version 5 of 3D Issue which introduced several great new features to the HTML5 digital magazine software you can take a look at all the new features of 3D Issue Version 5 here . You may have noticed that we packaged a new digital magazine solution along with 3D Issue version 5 – This application focuses on your existing web content, so whilst 3D Issue converts PDFs into digital magazines, PressJack (the added application) converts your RSS and Blog content into digital magazines!

To get you started and fill you sith some ideas – Here are some of the top uses, all of which can be created in a matter of minutes!

Customer newsletter

It’s common for businesses to use their blog content to form a weekly or monthly newsletter.

Historically, creating newsletters could be a time-consuming task. First the lead text needed to be extracted from the articles and the associated images, then these would be placed into an html style newsletter, links to the correct articles and then testing……as we say, time-consuming! PressJack users now take 5 mins to create their monthly newsletter. By simply telling PressJack the location of the blog and clicking ‘build’ the digital newsletter is then complete with the latest blog articles and images and ready to send to the subscribers!

Recycling older, (but still great!) blog content

When a blog article gets older, new blog articles push the older ones down the list, then onto page two of the listings. Once articles are not on the first page, there can be a dramatic decline in visitors to that article. Many businesses get visitors back to these articles by posting the link on their Twitter or Facebook account, now they can also use PressJack to get traffic back to these articles too! Just because content in a blog is not listed on the first page of the blog doesn’t mean this content is not great content – some articles are written about tips or tricks which are still relevant a few months later for example.

PressJack users have created digital magazines on content that has been pushed off the first page, so they build the publication based on their blog feed and then select which articles to feature in the digital publication and send this out to subscribers interested in all articles in a specific category – including older articles that could be missed on the blog..

Focused, topic based publications

Web visitors often have specific interests rather than ‘everything’. PressJack can be used to create digital publications on specific subjects; for example an online local news site could have a huge number of news categories, however visitors could sign up to customized digital publications on their specific interests such as ‘Soccer News’ or ‘Out and About’ and ‘Local Reviews’ – one magazine customized to them that cuts out areas of less interest.

We’d love to hear how you have been using PressJack, so users and publishers, let us know any other great ideas you have!

3 Free Chapters of eBook “Breaking the Page”

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A preview of a new book to be published by O’Reilly Media

promises to explain how we can best utilize the enhancements available to the publisher now with digital publishing specifically in mind.

The Author Peter Meyers has been researching for the book since 2009 and whilst his thesis may not be for everyone there is value in this content. The real focus of the work is on ePub and .Mobi files with the theme of keeping them simple being of paramount. Many of the topics hit on in this free eBook download are available in 3D Issue Version 5 where the author promises to explain the best ways to:

- Integrate audio, links, and motion so they partner with prose rather than distract from it

- Design content to match the reader’s mindset—from info snackers to patient perusers

- Compose for the traditional page as well as the “infinite canvas”

- Instrument “smarter” books that aid memory and assist comprehension

- Conceive multi-state graphics and customizable charts

- Embed social tools to harness reader enthusiasm while respecting their need to focus

- Make sense of everything from eInk to ePub, and from app books to books in browsersThe above list was taken from the link indexed below.

For the new 3D Issue customer out there this is a good read and as a free download time well spent though it is only three chapters and note that registration is required for download via this link 3D Issue accept no liability for files downloaded as a result of use of this link or the free ebook.

Image created by Maggie Smith thanks.

3D Issue makes changing Logo a breeze

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As many of our customers work in marketing and marketing

communications in particular there is some interesting news floating about today about one of the worlds most valuable brands we wanted to mention HP or Hewlett Packard to give the full title.

HP are looking at potentially re-branding to the logo in this post, which looks a little faint if we’re honest but then again that may be just subjective negativity when we are so accustomed to seeing the old logo detailed on the right here.

Re-branding is always an exciting time yet also one that takes so much prior planning for execution it really cannot be underestimated, the blog where we noticed this change says that this may be a move for HP to shift in its perception amongst customers to a revered brand like Apple for example.

The re-brand is being developed by International design house movinghouse .

On a lighter note this also reminds of the little heard of HP+iPod deal back in 2004 and no it was’nt an emulator it was an actual iPod but branded as HP under a licensing agreement with Apple, rare and a real find if you can get your hands on one.

The deal lasted from early 2004 until July 2005 so short lived and if nothing else is an interesting anecdote. Oh lest we forget how odd it got when Puff Daddy the rapper actually got his own diamond HP+iPod too !.

If you are using 3D Issue Version 5 there is no need to worry about your potential re-brand every issue created is connected to the logo you specify during the set up process – if your organization is thinking of a re-brand you change the logo and all editions will then display your new logo, even retroactively on V5 publications, giving you one less thing to worry about.

Digital publishing news from around the world today Monday December 12th

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In the USA Forbes magazine wins as the best Business sector magazine in Adweek’s first

FIFA Club Soccer World Cup

ever Hot List ‘Readers’ Choice Poll’ conducted on Adweek.com in October. Total number of votes was 182,000 Frobes.com reached 25 million people monthly on-line Forbes Media Web sites also includes ForbesWoman.com; RealClearPolitics.com; RealClearMarkets.com; RealClearSports.com and RealClearWorld.com, the additional sites bring the total readership for Forbes on-line to 0 million per month.

In New Zealand, The Law Commission (which is an independent body that makes suggestions to the Parliament) has suggested online news services and bloggers should be regulated by a new authority, which would also cover traditional print and broadcast media. The idea being that web content needs to be regulated in the same way as print.

In South Africa the demise of many publications has taken hold with most recent a popular title called Cleo deciding to stop publishing after circulation dipped below 20,000 units per month, in the South African state magazines such as Cosmopolitan have a circulation of 80,000 issues per month. The failure of the publication is widely held to be due to the uptake of social magazines and the lack of this content in Cleo.

In Japan the FIFA Soccer Club world Cup program is now available in Digital format included are details about each club, and content on players and coach interviews. The digital version of the Official Programme will preserve the 2011 edition of the competition in vivid detail and is available in English and Japanese, the FIFA Soccer Club world cup is a competition brings 7 of the world’s top teams to one competition.

Creating Flash & HTML5 digital editions with iPad Apps without the App Store

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The recent announcement by Adobe that they are to abandon their support for Flash

mobile makes the inclusion of HTML5 in 3D Issue both timely and entirely warranted as the new standard is soon to become the defacto format for publishing in this space.

HTML 5 is already in use and provides the look and feel of Apps in an on-line capacity without any need for downloading or 3rd party App stores, on iOS devices in particular any publication may be presented using 3D Issue as an App by adding an icon to the home screen providing a new and effective way to present content.

HTML5 has the benefit of the look and feel of an App at this early stage of its development and the demise of the Flash format seems certain initially for the Mobile segment and undoubtedly later on the desktop.

To add a homescreen App icon there is an indicator on the reading pane when a publication is displayed which indicated to readers how to add their shortcut – for more information on this check out the video below. There is also the option of specifying the file image which will be displayed on the iPad homescreen from within 3D Issue – video for this is coming soon! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive updates for when this is available.

eInk screen in color soon

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The technology behind the eReader market is an interesting one

(no pun intended) the company responsible are keen to slowly drip feed new technology at a steady pace to device manufactures bit by bit and the latest news is a great step forward as it appears that the e-Book reader market is to really take it to the tablets with the introduction of color eink coming soon.

This technology is not to be confused with that on the Kindle Fire and Nook Color as tested in this review. This ink will be like regular old Kindle but in color – no glossy screen.

This Blog has mentioned in the past that the iPad with its superior yet high gloss screen was at a distinct dis-advantage in comparison to the gray scale of the Kindle et. Al, the iPad was too bright and when darkened too dark – it was not as well suited to the use as the dedicated eReader devices.

The new devices with colour will bring the ebook home, magazines may continue to do well on the high gloss screen of the tablets – as the paper they are printed on tend to be high gloss anyway?

This technology had been predicted by some sources as coming to market this time last year. It may have been the case that at that time the market was not mature enough for this release or it may not have been ready.

The only problem we can forsee is that the devices are to be prices in iPad pricing territory just shy of $500 for a “pre-holidays price” –ouch!

Amazon open store for Italy and Spain

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As Eurozone economies turn to each other in the hope of adding

even a sense of stability one thing is for sure the Amazon eBook is on sale! Amazon recently announced (Dec 1 st ) their launch of another eBook specific store offering 20,000 books to the Spanish market and slightly less to their Italian counterparts.

Amazon opened their German and French bookstores recently too and also UK and Ireland. The German bookstore contains 650,000 books for one of Europe’s most populated countries.

With the German store opening to offer digital publications in April, the UK/Ireland store followed in August and France in October.

3D Issue Version 5 has a full eBook reader mode built in to add your text and edit for eReaders, also allowing for MP3 playback and movie files to be added.

V5 3D Issue going strong!

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3D Issue version 5 launched yesterday and we wanted to update everyone on the great

feedback we’ve been getting on the software so far and it only went live a few hours ago!

Customers old and new alike are really excited about the new options and the tablet versions in HTML5 in particular is causing quite the stir out there next most popular is the ePub and Mobi file preparation, there are so many new features in the software more feedback is sure to come!

As we blogged about yesterday the new release of Version 5.0 is a real step forward as the digital publishing medium begins to take what we are calling “more shape” as the first HTML 5 solution in the market for this type of software we are sure that readers and creators alike will be more happy than ever with their digital editions created in 3D Issue Version 5.0

As always we welcome your feedback and opinions so let us know how you are doing and what you guys think of the new publications for those of you who may have missed it see the best in HTML5 and the other features here and did we mention that the Nextweb wrote about us too? check out their article on our new publishing platform here from yesterday.

The World’s First True HTML5 Digital Publishing Tool Is Here!

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3D Issue has officially launched 3D Issue version 5.

Launched today, Version 5 introduces many new features that add significant value to both creators and end readers alike. This solution is the only tool on the market that offers the same rich digital magazine experience in HTML5 that readers have come to expect in their flash editions. 3D Issue version 5 also incorporates easy eBook conversion for Kindle, Nook and other eReaders, as well as the software tool PressJack, a 3D Issue-branded program that converts RSS feeds, web pages and videos into sleek digital magazines.

“3D Issue has been on the forefront of digital publishing since its inception, and we are pleased to bring our technology to our widest audience yet, allowing iPad and iPhone owners to access the dynamic, interactive content that HTLM5 digital magazines can offer,” says Paul McNulty, Managing Director, 3D Issue. “We want to go beyond translating static print magazines into static electronic magazines. By using HTML5, we can provide all readers with a richer experience that truly realizes the promise of digital technology—with live links, embedded videos, and many more features. ”

3D Issue version 5 is built to be completely intuitive and is targeted at the average marketer and publisher without any design training. With a simple interface, users can covert PDFs and blogs into readable and engaging digital magazines. Users can add hyperlinks, videos and sound to create interactive publications that go far beyond what print can deliver. Publishers and marketers can easily convert a graphic-dense magazine into an eBook format, or turn an eBook into a magazine, all within minutes.

New features in version 5 include:

• HTML5 output

• Mobile, iPad, iPhone compatible

• eReader output

• Save App icons to ipad and iphone home screens

• Blog and RSS to digital mag

• Presentation mode

• Saved searches

• YouTube embedded video

• Interface update and new UX

• Toolbar layout options

• Thumbnail view

• Additional Info text areas

The full features lists can be seen here The new version is available to download free for 30 days, check it out here – http://www.3dissue.com/ and click on the download trial button!

Study shows 11% of magazine audience via Digital

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A Gfk MRI Study shows that 11% of readership is in digital only

form. The study was part of Gfk’s ‘Survey into the American Consumer’ where 26,000 residents are interviewed in their homes and queried on their reading habits and so forth.

The findings are positive, total magazine audience calculated from total number of consumer exposures to magazines was over 1.5 billion and of this 166 million were calculated as digital only, note that these are not sales figures but rather the exposure to digital publications. The Gfk Chief Research officer Dr. Julian Bairn mentions that the new figures for Spring 2012 when released will provide comparative figures.

The figures here were calculated over March through October 2011. The full press release can be viewed in digital format here

Digital Advertising Revenue for ‘The Atlantic’

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Atlantic media today announced that its recent revenue stream

from on-line advertising has surpassed that of its print, 51% coming for the former and the rest from the traditional print mediums.

This is being cited as a major moment and potentially the first time a digital version of advertising has surpassed that of the print version of a publication, the Atlantic group does not have any cheaper material than its rivals.

The groups well known title is ‘The Atlantic’ click here for more information on this great indicator of the shift to Digital from the Guardian on-line in the UK and also here in digital publishing news from the New York Times .

An interesting fact from the source is that in 2008 only 9% of the group’s content came from digital advertising and the website has seen growth to 5.4 million users.

Benchmark Magazine Mobile Media Study

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The first study into magazine reading on mobile devices was released today by the MPA (The association of Magazine media) the research looked at the habits and feelings of 1090 respondents.

This quantitative piece of research is the first of its kind according to the association and a is noted as a landmark in digital publishing research due to the availability of a large number of people, although this Blog feels that such a study could quite well have been completed earlier this year too? perhaps not last year; nonetheless the findings are positive and clear some of the more interesting points being:

83% are interested in Archiving content

86% want to share their (not theirs really ….!?) content

46% are reading more content on their digital devices

63% want more content to be available on their devices

73% want to interact with advertising

What is noteworthy and a step in the right direction is that the poll was not specific to the iPad but also included magazine reading on the lesser equipped but nonetheless highly popular Kindle and Nook style products namely eBook readers.

Read the full digital breakdown here

3D Issue Tip don’t forget your Meta data!

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Did you know that 3D Issue has can help in your SEO campaign?

The common perception for SEO is that Flash and some other file formats e.g. PDF are best avoided as they are unreadable by the search engines and of no real benefit when it comes to SEO.

This is true but optimization of the file through naming and placement can help – notably through conversion with 3D Issue you can make your site grow.

We also know that Google favors sites which are in the habit of adding useful content regularly, thankfully even though spiders which scan the web for Google and other search engines might not be able to read Flash 3D Issue gets around this by allowing you to add meta-data to each publication you create.

By selecting a specific profile for your publication type (e.g. you may have one for newsletters another for sales pieces) and associating your chosen keywords/title and description with that piece 3D Issue can build HTML code to sit alongside you publication on your server so your site grows, even if the Flash is not visible – the HTML code is and SEO likes this very much.

This is also a top reason why hosting your own publication is the surest way to gain popularity with the search engines, by hosting and connecting with your site and not an external one your work on content does not go amiss – as the search engines track and prefers trustworthy and relevant sites if your content is stored elsewhere this won’t be as beneficial if your aiming for that elusive top spot on search.

The advent of HTML5 will make this even more effective as even though the technology is in it’s early days it appears that the search engines will be more effective in searching the newer standard.

And don’t forget that 3D Issue also connects with your Google Analytics account for full reader statistics.

Web Apps are the new Spec sheet

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An interesting post this week a sks how the Spec sheet is now

obsolete and really how true is that?

Back in the early ‘noughties’ when it came to purchasing a PC or MAC (less so in the case of the latter maybe) the first stop was to speak with an IT orientated friend

or really anyone at all involved in computers. People who were in any way associated with the industry were constantly haunted by requests about the computer they should buy…

Fast forward a decade and now the entire decision is based on price and brand and aesthetics, not the Chip or RAM or the storage space rather the choice is whether the user wants desktop or laptop and then price really.

Intel were the first to make people really care about the processor ‘ inside ’ pun intended. – yet now this is all slipping away as people really do not understand their complex and varying product differentiations anyway – Core Duo v Dual Core I ask you!….Intel must have done this on purpose, this blog asks why do that at all…remember when you were aiming for 200Mhz and that was it? ah nostalgia.

As the web becomes (and indeed as it became more important) it was the tools available on-line that became important not the power behind the machine, the promise of cloud computing and developments like what Amazon are working on with its buffer based system (don’t dumb down too much now..) mean that this is a trend sure to continue.

The Amazon Fire is out already?

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Is the Fire out already? When Amazon announced that they were

to release a Premium tablet at a reasonable price and lets be honest it was exciting, they promised great books and content and a lovely screen to view it on and a cool way of buffering information from the web via the Amazon computer set up.

All this and then the thing launched early about six days early and – the reviews are bad good review here .

This is a disaster for the Fire the idea that a digital publishing based device with the color screen was going to be good was based on the company behind it, what was’nt noticed in the pre-release hype was that the device is running on a dodgy version of Android which resembles nothing you’ve seen before but the conversion is not done well. The reviews vary from the sketchy Apps to the bulk and the too shiny screen.

Remember Apple has already seen the RIM (Blackberry) Playbook out of the market as we blogged about when the tablet device was withdrawn. And the HP Touch(book?)pad is still in the odd bargin bin out there if you look really hard, like in Alaska remote hard.

This is all a shame how good would it have been to see a true low cost competitor for the iPad at this stage – the market is ready the people are ready – but nobody can do it that is until Apple probably go and do it themselves!

Android v iOS for HTML5 Apps

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After yesterdays announcement that Adobe are to abandon their

Flash development for Mobile comparisons now are now being made at which Mobile OS is best for HTML5 developers, HTML5 will run on all devices but some it seems are currently better than others.

The terminology is techy and perhaps tedious but as reported by ReadWriteWeb today the winner out on top at present is surprise surprise Apple’s iOS ticking all the boxes for the key factors you’ll certainly be (or not) looking for..!

Take for example CSS3 and Canvas (which Android cannot really do that well or so our developers tell us) other lingo for this micro audience yet important debate include WebGL and HTML5 form fields. Check out the full article for more here .

All in all this is a good report which it seems will leave Apple a step ahead from the rest for a little while but we’re pretty sure that the guys at Google will be working hard on the Android OS to catch up, that’s why RWW say today, as HTML5 is going to change the App scene in a big way - this is a battle for being the third ‘OS’ after Android and iOS – providing an App experience via the web – slick!

Adobe to abandon mobile Flash

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The web is all a buzz today and all the focus is on Adobe who have

announced that they are to abandon their Flash based proposition for Mobile and focus on HTML5 for its future propositions.

The battle between Flash and HTML5 may not be quite over with updates still in

the pipeline for security on Android and desktop Flash will continue but it remains clear that Adobe are to leave development aside and now for mobile move forward with the more robust HTML5 web standard.

Reasoning for the failure appears to be due Adobe ignoring mobile Flash until it became too late.

The reasoning for the delay is cited to be because of Adobe’s initial belief that the smart phone revolution was to remain a niche and never managing to get Flash to run properly on mobile devices – something that HTML5 is very good at in a non-buggy way, which Flash was known for in some usages.

Apple will obviously be enjoying this one their abandonment of the standard which much of Adobe’s proposition is based in has been well commented on at this stage.

Travel book Co. – Lonely Planet up their game

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Lonely planet as one of the world’s best known travel guides has

recently been through a tough patch, acquired by the BBC in February of this year, if your looking for a company which failed to re-focus away from hard copy print then this was it.

But Lonely Planet are on the way back, the Melbourne Australia based firm founded by a husband and wife team in 1973, have had to shed 70 of their team which was 15% of the workforce and re-locate to London, England.

Their director of Transformation is looking to build on a new model at the company to lift the previous 20% or so of turnover which was generated from e-content in the past year. Up from 9% in 2007.

So it would appear that even the travel book is not safe in these times of digital editions, which of course makes real sense, up to the minute travel guides which are based on the key factors and dates of a location are a great bonus, new sites and events are changing all the time and with digital travel guides planning will become easier and more enjoyable – but will the spontaneity that makes travel so worthwhile still be present?

Giving digital magazines for free or no?

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An interesting article which we noticed today looks at whether

digital content should be provided in parallel or as an additional charge. Many consumers feel that the digital version of a publication should be part of the sale when we purchase the hard copy, this is largely based it is thought on the premise that the digital edition is of lesser expense and therefore a natural gift to make.

This might not necessarily be the case the digital edition whilst not carrying the same logistic and printing costs can incur relatively high development costs. John Loughlin, executive vice president and general manager of Hearst Magazines is of the opinion that its OK to charge for both, whilst Time Inc.’s senior vice president for consumer marketing, Nate Simmons, states that the concept is similar to Time Warner’s TV Everywhere platform, but that this is just “magazines everywhere.” Time Inc. like some other major titles will provide a digital copy for free to subscribers.

The provision of a digital edition for a basic hard copy purchase is really a no-brainer but the equation becomes more complex where a publication is more sophisticated that it’s hard copy cousin.

Some examples provided by Loughlin of Herst Magazines for there being no entitlement are that seeing a movie does not entitle patrons to a free download, or that purchasing a Hard copy book does not entitle to an eBook version.

This blog recalls that Disney recently took to providing digital editions in its already crammed DVD/Blu-ray double packs so why not for books too?

Google eBook store now selling to all of North America

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Google complete it’s service to the North American eBook market

by today announcing that they will now sell eBooks north of the border in Canada as well as the US. The deal comes almost a year since the launch of the Google eBook store in the US last December.

eBook store Canada includes deals with Canadian publishers and according to the press release “hundreds of thousands of titles will be available for purchase” those free use books are there too as free downloads.

But be careful! the Google Store will not Synchronize with that new Kindle so your narrowing your choice of device to the other eBook readers out there which includes the very competent Sony Readers, Nook and the Barnes and Noble device.

Books will be synced across devices via the cloud or as the Canadians will pronounce it ‘ clude ’! J The Google store boasts partnerships with publishers including Penguin, Random House, HarperCollins, House of Anansi, Dundurn and McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Reports of pricing for digital copies are varying and readers will want to shop around as a result. See here to visit the Canadian store for ebook goodness .

In other news Google released and then pulled their first iPhone app with reports not looking good Teccrunch list the 5 things they would like to see in the App when it is relaunched – this blog thinks that Google did this as a way to show how more sophisticated their Android Gmail App really is and how they want to keep it similar in some ways to Facebook’s launch of their native App earlier this year it crashed immeadiately and caused a real stir, another case of would’nt rather than could’nt?

And in more other news there is reportedly a Nook 2 to be announced in Color November 7 th

How tablet users read News

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An interesting report published originally via Journalism.org

indicates that the majority of readers of News on tablets are doing so via their Internet Browsers and not via Apps.

The study indicates that the universe used for the tablet research holds that

11% of the adult computer owning population is tablet users and that of these over half (53%) are consuming news via the devices. Only e-mail beat news in the time spent at the tablet comparison.

Only some are actually paying for content 14% have paid for news content, and the price point of $5 was expressed as suitable if there was no alternative way of getting news on their device.

The study also notes that whilst users of these devices are very likely to download news apps (66%), they are still turning to the browser and web version to access the news. This may come as a surprise to many, as the perception amongst content curators if often that they need to get an app for their publication.

For infographics .

The non-app consumption of news is not what the publishers would want, the opportunity for revenue will be via App purchases and in that eco-system. Internet usage indicates that the thirst for content for free continues as the Pay-Wall model for websites has been less than successful thus far.

In summary some key findings of the report were:

- Tablet users are educated, employed and earning money but not necessarily young

- Tablet users reads in-depth articles but share news less

- Apps have not taken over as the primary way to get news on the tablet

An insightful report with some good points to read the full version read more about this digital trend .

History of Webstandards Infographic

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An interesting article posted today at ReadWriteWeb looks through the history of web standards since 1962 and also includes s

ome nice nuggets of information including facts like:

How many websites were there in 1993? Hint..so so much lower than you might have expected.

Also learn who first coined the term ‘Hypertext’ and that the percentage of the world’s population on-line in 1998 was only 1.9% which sounds very low also

Godwin’s Law is even in there too for good measure.

An interesting article which is worth a read and is criticized a little by this particular website, included are some predictions for future developments.

Oh and there is a typo in there too HTML5 wasn’t actually created

until 2004 (it says 200o in the infographic)

Hope you like this and if you’ve any feedback let us know contact 3D Issue at info@3dissue.com

Facebook, Twitter and 3D Issue – or e-mail a link

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We’ve had quite a few questions this week about how 3D Issue can

3D Issue Share Options

integrate with your digital communications strategy and how the software can allow you to get involved in reader social networks.

We blogged about this earlier this year too have a read back for some other useful tips too.

There are three major options built into 3D Issue software the first is the Facebook option, this lets your readers click a menu in the toolbar which opens a post to Facebook page right alongside their 3D Issue. Post to Facebook is a page which when completed by your readers will allow them to add the Publication with a message to their page, which will then be displayed to friends or a selected group if applicable. This offers a really wide Target audience for your publications so if this sounds like what you want to happened encourage readers to post to their wall.

Perhaps integrate some design work into your document to draw attention to the Share button or re-name the button to something you’d prefer – you could call it the Facebook button!

The other key options are Twitter and e-mail, which are also located on the same ‘Share menu’ equally useful, the former opens your Twitter page so readers can cut and paste link into a tweet whilst the second allows for a quick e-mail of a link.

Simple tried and tested means of spreading the word! If you’ve any questions let us know, e-mail info@3dissue.com

Digital publishing device Trends

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There are a few trends emerging in the digital publishing device

arena at present as the eReaders “2.0″ take stage – it is all really taking shape now that the Kindle Fire has been announced, not too shabby is the response from Kobo which will be the Vox.

The line between tablet and eReader is getting thinner surely?

The Vox will be available sooner than the Kindle Fire and will be similarly priced at $199 the Canadian company Kobo are keen to cause upset with their release date, though the announcement didn’t cause the same stir amongst the media like the recent announcement of the Kindle Fire did which we reported on in this very publication earlier this month.

The digital publishing world article indicated that the key trends in the market right now are.

The original article as posted on Digital publishing world is worth a look.

40% of Tablet and Smartphone Owners Use Them While Watching TV

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The latest survey from Nielsen finds that we are even more likely

to focus on multiple screens at the same time and the popularity of the tablet device is the primary cause. These are trends which those involved in digital publishing need to consider for effective execution of their communications.

Results have shown in the Nielsen survey that whilst watching TV viewers who use a tablet are using the device during advertisement breaks in fact 40% of them were doing so.

Unsurprisingly there was less multitasking from eBook readers than the tablet users.

The use during the advertising breaks were along general Internet lines with e-mail topping the poll for full results see the findings here.

Nielsen also point out that the readers and also viewing coupon sites and product info. For digital publications it would appear that readers of these would be in the 46% category where users were “searching for unrelated info”

This report was also linked to via this site earlier today. The image above was also posted as part of the the survey results as published here.

Report on B2B and content Marketing

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An interesting post today advises on a recent report into the

various means of using content to generate new leads for B2B businesses, in certain circumstances this content could also be used in the B2C relationship also.

The type of content which it is held is more effective in the former relationship is the use of White papers, Webinars and informative Blog content. Questions such as the following are mentioned as pivotal

- Why is content marketing essential for B2B lead generation?

- How are B2B buyers using content to make their purchase decisions?

- What type of content is best for generating and nurturing B2B leads?

- How can marketers leverage various online marketing content formats?

The piece makes the point that customer interaction is vital to sustain valuable customer relations and that generating leads is now a more expensive business than before.

To check out this report follow this link have you used 3D Issue in an interesting way recently? Let us know e-mail us at info@3dissue.com

Some tips on design

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We noticed this article earlier today and figured it was a good

resource for customers who are maybe in the habit of using the same format every time with their 3D Issue software.

As we’ve Blogged before it is so important to design for the web every time a piece of marketing communications or other piece is created so that your hard copy looks and feels great but also so that when converted for the web it functions as you want it to.

In this article the author raises some interesting points which many will find useful, he asks about how to balance the content versus the design element, and includes simple tips on how to create in a nice way e.g. leave white space – which we say all the time but is it there?

He looks at some of the website reading services and how sites convert in this process and also looks bask to manuscripts as old as the book of Kells for inspiration.

Google Announce 3rd Quarter Results

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The third Quarter earnings were announced at Google today and

little surprises in store with an increase again for the big G with a total stream of $9.72 Billion and income of $2.17 Billion, the revenue increase is a jump of 33% since this time last year and what a time it has been for Google since then.

Google+ has reportedly 40 Million users as members “flock to join”

There are 190 Million Android devices active;

And 200 Million Google Chrome users.

(What about Google TV I hear you say?)

As expressed by Larry Page during the company’s earnings call earlier today. Google have been hiring too, with a total now of 31,353 to give perspective Microsoft have close to 90,000 employees with a value not much higher than Google.

Largest UK magazine axed due in part to Royal Mail

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Back in February it was reported that the U.K.’s largest magazine

by circulation was to be axed from July.

News today has confirmed that the Satellite Television provider will be discontinuing its publication completely after deciding not to go ahead with even a quarterly edition of the publication. SKY are the company in the UK who bring shows such as HBO’s ‘ PanAm ’ or ‘Boardwalk Empire ’ to screens across the UK and Ireland .

Total circulation for the publication are 8 million for the TV guide and 7.2 million combined for the Movie and Sports magazine, neither of these publications were paid for by subscribers to SKY TV.

Reasoning behind the decision are based on costs and that their communications will now “go where their customers are” – on-line, so a weekly e-mail will replace the publication with an app.

The BSKYB network which offers triple play proposition in the UK (TV, Internet and Phone) has been previously chaired by Australian born Rupert Murdoch, media giant and the owner of iPad only news title ‘The Daily’ which intended to change the way people consumed their news by charging for content. Despite attempts from Rupert and his son James who later held the top job at SKY their efforts at a take-over were thwarted in 2010/11

Recent increases in postage costs at the Royal Mail in the UK have also placed increasing pressure on publications such as SKY magazine where the revenue stream is sunk.

What remains to be seen is whether there will also be a digital edition to replace the former model.