New children's e-book publisher:Walk Broad Publishing

[Bob Russell]

When we hear of new e-book publishers, it always makes our ears perk up a bit. Walk Broad Publishing is a new children's e-book publisher with a daring new start from scratch.

We certainly can't argue with the motivation.

Walk Broad Publishing is a company dedicated to bringing quality, original e-books to the Next Generation of Readers.

I started Walk Broad to serve those readers who have embraced e-book reading on their desktops, laptops, tablet PC as well as devices like the Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, Cybook, iLiad (to name a few) to supplant, or in addition to, paper books.

Being an avid reader of e-books (who prefers them over paper books whenever possible), I am striving to do my part for their more general acceptance.

The first e-book offered is "Good Morning, Friend Moon" for $4.99, currently in "a customized PDF that will work in all available ereader hardware, the Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, Booken's Cybook and iRex iLiad.

As one looks at the site, the first thought that strikes me is how much work goes into a successful e-book publishing launch. A decent web store, with all the needed information about the books and formats, is already a challenge. Not to mention having good quality books in the first place. Then providing enough formats, and deciding where to start is another hurdle. Some of the veterans like the folks at Manybooks and Feedbooks show us what can be done if you are a sophisticated user.

Of course, there are the decisions to be made about DRM. I'm not sure what Walk Broad has decided, but you have to think that integrating DRM makes it a tough sell. However, I suppose, maybe a standard Digital Editions or Kindle DRM might have a chance, especially with those new to e-books.
And then there is the toughest thing of all. Even if you have top notch writing, and the best web site, and every format is supported and you don't burden the user with DRM... you still have to get people to notice you and be interested in getting your e-books. Free e-books are a great way to attract interest. If you have a great product, the more you grow awareness, the more you can reap the rewards with future sales. It's my firm belief, and I think so far the market bears this out for lesser known writers especially, that offering at least some free (and DRM-free) e-books is really the way to go.

Will Walk Broad Publishing (or the other e-book publishing startups) be successful? I don't know. I hope so. A lucrative market that shows successes from smaller publishers will certainly make e-books much more available to consumers are reasonable prices.

Will $4.99 for a new .pdf e-book from a new unknown publisher cut it? I don't think so. Especially without any obvious sample chapters to preview. But Walk Broad, we wish you well. And it's a long road from starting point to success, so I'm sure we'll see a lot of evolution in your web site, marketing and products over time. Good luck to you!

[pieter]

a children's e-book publisher.

I have to say that's a daring and intruiging concept at this point in time. On the one hand I'd think that very few children would have a dedicated e-book reading device, and that parents would rather have them read a paper book than sit behind a computer screen all day. On the other hand I guess many children are already more open to new forms than we are, in the sense that they wouldn't miss "that paper feeling" at all, and are thus more willing to buy and read e-books.
Well, good luck to Walk Broad publishing.

[Lemurion]

My five-year old knows how to use my Pocket PC. If this came in a reflowable format it might be worth putting on there for her. (She's easier on electronics than books-- she loves books to death).

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

That's right: Get 'em while they're young. I too believe the young generation will have a lot less trouble getting used to e-books than the older generations have demonstrated, and that it will likely be their dominant reading format as they grow up. Good luck, Walk Broad!

[gadgetguru]

If they have a slew of books in the pipeline, they should have given away the first one free. Nobody knows the quality of their books and no search inside feature, so I am not giving away $5 blindly for a new entry....

[BooksForABuck]

I'm a big believer in aggressive pricing (hence the name), but if you look at children's books, I think you'll find that $4.99 is not out of line.

Agree that they should offer some sample content, and that reflowable as well as PDF is essential.

I absolutely agree that Steve is right about getting them young. My personal feeling/fear--if we don't get them hooked on electronic reading when they're young, they'll grow up doing no kind of reading at all. It isn't a question of whether the printed paper book is dead, it's a question of whether recreational reading will survive the 21st century. (Naturally, I hope the answer is yes--we learn so much about who we are by reading the novel).

Rob Preece
Publisher, www.BooksForABuck.com

[martine]

Since we are rapidly moving toward a complete electronic age, I see in the future that children will be using electronic devices at an early age to do their homework and read books. Right now, many e book devices are costly and knowing how children can lose calculators, break them, lend them out etc., I doubt many parents would want to spend that kind of money. I think that e book readers' prices will drop, just like computers and other electronics have.

Setting up a sole children's e book store is a daring adventure. I would add young adult to the collection myself.

Tina
Publisher, www.extasybooks.com
Devine Destinies (mainstream imprint will soon open)

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by martine

Since we are rapidly moving toward a complete electronic age, I see in the future that children will be using electronic devices at an early age to do their homework and read books. Right now, many e book devices are costly and knowing how children can lose calculators, break them, lend them out etc., I doubt many parents would want to spend that kind of money. I think that e book readers' prices will drop, just like computers and other electronics have.

Setting up a sole children's e book store is a daring adventure. I would add young adult to the collection myself.

Tina
Publisher, www.extasybooks.com
Devine Destinies (mainstream imprint will soon open)

There are plenty of educational toys out there already that could be used for this purpose I believe. Perhaps an arrangement to support one of them could be devised. The biggest problems is that children's books really need vivid images. Battery life isn't much of an issue so other technologies like OLPC could be used as well.

Dale