NEW YORK, Jan. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- HarperCollins Publishers and LibreDigital, a Division of NewsStand, Inc., today announced an innovative partnership, designed to create, market and operate digital services for the publishing industry. As part of the agreement, the two companies will share technology and resources that together will help bring more book content online with comprehensive control. In addition, HarperCollins Publishers announced it has made a strategic investment in NewsStand and that Brian Murray, Group President of HarperCollins, will join the NewsStand board of directors.
"Publishers around the world have asked us to include their books in our digital warehouse and to make those titles available with our Browse Inside application," said Murray. "By applying the lessons we have learned with our first 10,000 digitized titles, HarperCollins and NewsStand have developed a turn-key digital solution to manage the digital publishing process from editorial to consumer. In the 21st century, we believe that all publishers must develop this capability, either in-house or through out-sourcing, to stay competitive and to reach the digital consumer."
Through the alliance, HarperCollins and LibreDigital will offer publishers an end-to-end solution of digital services in discrete, modular segments including digital typesetting, production, digital warehousing, Internet distribution, and online marketing. Publishers can select a combination of HarperCollins proprietary electronic typesetting and digital workflow tools with LibreDigital's proprietary digitization, digital warehousing, and Internet display and distribution technologies. This modular approach enables publishers to start with the right set of services and adjust as business needs change. HarperCollins and LibreDigital will co-promote the solution, which will be available to publishers through LibreDigital's worldwide sales force.
Kit Webster, NewsStand's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are delighted to have HarperCollins as an investor in NewsStand. HarperCollins has an in-depth understanding of marketing through the digital space. Their knowledge and leadership within the publishing industry, coupled with our robust technology and eight years of experience in digital publishing and commerce, provides for a powerful combination."
HarperCollins and NewsStand entered into an initial multi-year arrangement in 2006 as part of HarperCollins' broader digital strategy to protect authors' works and create a digital library of content for marketing purposes. To date, HarperCollins has digitized more than 10,000 books and has enabled the "Browse Inside" application for several thousand. These appear on HarperCollins Web sites and author sites allowing consumers to electronically view book content on screen.
Publishers interested in these services should email
About HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins, one of the largest English-language publishers in the world, is a subsidiary of News Corporation . Headquartered in New York, HarperCollins has publishing groups around the world including the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada, HarperCollins Australia/New Zealand and HarperCollins India. HarperCollins is a broad-based publisher with strengths in literary and commercial fiction, business books, children's books, cookbooks, mystery, romance, reference, religious and spiritual books. With nearly 200 years of history HarperCollins has published some of the world's foremost authors and has won numerous awards including the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott. Consistently at the forefront of innovation and technological advancement HarperCollins is the first publisher to digitize its content and create a global digital warehouse to protect the rights of its authors, meet consumer demand and generate additional business opportunities. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet at http://www.harpercollins.com/.
About LibreDigital
LibreDigital, a Division of NewsStand, Inc., provides the only integrated, dynamic digital publishing solution available to book publishers worldwide. The LibreDigital Warehouse is a secure, Internet-optimized service that empowers publishers to monetize and protect all of their copyrighted content through a comprehensive fulfillment and delivery model (including print titles, digital versions, syndication, and new media), assuring the true vision of publishing now and in the future. For more information, please visit http://www.libredigital.com/.
About NewsStand, Inc.
NewsStand, Inc. is the leading digital partner for premier publishers of newspapers, magazines and books and is one of eContent Magazine's Top 100 Companies. Currently, the company delivers digital content and delivery solutions to over 200 magazine and newspaper titles as well as book publishers in more than 120 countries. NewsStand is a privately held company headquartered in Austin, Texas, with offices in New York City Germany, and the United Kingdom. Investors include Adams Capital Management, Noro-Moseley Partners and the New York Times Company.
