Entries tagged with “toc announcement” from Tools of Change for Publishing

Best of TOC Collection Now Available as Free Ebook Bundle

Andrew Savikas
February 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (20) | Listen

Hit a glitch with the cover image, but the full ebook bundle (PDF, EPUB, and Kindle-compatible Mobipocket) is now posted for the Best of TOC collection (details on the content here). They're also shutting the Espresso machine down within the hour, so you can still try to grab a print one while/if they're available (no promises, sorry).

At TOC: Bookworm Online EPUB Reader Now Part of O'Reilly Labs

Andrew Savikas
February 10, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (17) | Listen

Update: There are now 400+ shiny DRM-free EPUB books from O'Reilly if you want to give Bookworm a test drive. Much of what's on our complete list with a green "E" next to it is available in EPUB and is Bookworm-friendly (the rest is just PDF for now, but you'll get the EPUB as a free update when it's available). (And get an extra 20% off through Feb. 20 with code EBKDSC, which is 40% off the print price.) More about our ebook bundles (free lifetime updates! No DRM! Kindle-compatible!) over here.

Regular readers know we're big fans of the Bookworm online EPUB reader. With Bookworm, you upload and organize your ebooks, and can read them online as well as a variety of mobile devices (iPhone shown below). It's open source, and built on top of well-documented and supported frameworks and standards:

You can even pick up where you left off reading as you move across devices.

As more content becomes available in EPUB format, tools like Bookworm encourage standards compliance (by rejecting invalid EPUB), and offer an alternative to proprietary ebook management reading/management systems like Digital Editions or Sony's eBook Library Software. (There's also Calibre, an open-source desktop ebook management system, which like Bookworm is built with Python.)

We liked Bookworm so much that we invited principal developer (and TOC speaker) Liza Daly to bring it into O'Reilly Labs, the R&D space that we're re-launching at this year's TOC Conference. From her post on the Labs blog:

From the beginning, O'Reilly has been an enthusiastic supporter of the project. Uniting the two under the Labs banner is a natural fit.

What does this mean for Bookworm's future?

Most importantly, core Bookworm code will remain open-source. If you would like to use Bookworm code, even commercially, you're encouraged to do so.

As part of the Labs project, we may add some features that won't be part of the core open-source package. Most other changes will be free and BSD-licensed. We're just beginning to think about where we can take this project.

I'll remain as the primary developer of Bookworm, but I hope that the added exposure O'Reilly brings to the project will encourage wider participation, not just of code but of ideas. I'm looking forward to taking ebook innovation to new places in 2009.

In addition to Bookworm, we've also opened up an RDF-based view of the public metadata for our books. Nearly all of this data was already available in a scattershot way from our catalog pages, the book's copyright page, Safari Books Online, and other sources -- our new "O'Reilly Product Metadata Interface" brings it all together in a standard, computer-friendly format.

This is just the beginning of a variety of experiments and pilot projects we have planned for the months ahead.

TOC Editor Note: Light Posts Through Holidays

Mac Slocum
December 24, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

The O'Reilly offices are closed through the remainder of the year, so TOC blog posts will be light until January 5, 2009.

We're thrilled with the interest and enthusiasm we've experienced throughout 2008, and we look forward to more coverage, projects and events in 2009. We hope everyone in the TOC community has a restful and enjoyable holiday season!

-- The TOC editors

Joe Wikert Joins O'Reilly Media

Andrew Savikas
October 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (8) | Listen

We couldn't be happier to announce that Joe Wikert has joined O'Reilly Media as the General Manager of the O'Reilly Technology Exchange (OTX) division, which publishes our flagship "animal books."

Readers of this blog know we're big fans of Joe's work on his Publishing 2020 and Kindleville blogs. Joe's perspective is very much aligned with our own, and we're thrilled to add him to our list of innovators who believe in re-inventing the future of publishing. From the press release:

"Joe brings deep experience in technology publishing to his new position, but perhaps even more important, he embodies the innovative, adventurous 'alpha geek' spirit we believe is key to succeeding in today's publishing environment," said Laura Baldwin, O'Reilly COO and CFO. "His vision of the future of publishing is very much aligned with O'Reilly's. I'm delighted to bring his leadership to our flagship OTX division as we focus on building new ways to disseminate information to today's technologists."

The OTX division, which publishes O'Reilly's storied "animal books," serves the developers and system administrators who have been a key O'Reilly constituency throughout the company's 30-year history. Wikert is spearheading the expansion of the OTX publishing program into a broader offering that spans print, online, and in-person products and services.

Joe is already a member of the advisory committee for the 2009 TOC Conference, and stay tuned for more from him here on the TOC blog. Welcome Joe!

Join the TOC Online Community

Andrew Savikas
September 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | Listen

If you've been to the TOC Web site lately, you might have noticed the link up top labeled "Community." We recently did a quiet launch of a social networking site built with Ning. It's meant to provide additional ways to communicate and connect with other folks facing the same challenges around the future of publishing and paid content.

In addition to standard features like Forums and Member Profiles, there are also Groups -- public and private spaces for conversations on specific topics. You can also upload photos and videos, as well as "friend" fellow community members.

When you sign up, you also get your very own blog (we'll be featuring posts from members here on the TOC blog).

I'm thrilled to say that there's already a small but impressive membership list, including Peter Brantley, Joe Wikert, David Rothman, Mike Shatzkin, Laura Dawson, Michael Cairns, and of course Tim O'Reilly. There will be a lot of opportunities for discussion in advance of the 2009 TOC Conference, and we're also cross-posting our "Open Question" blog posts there for additional feedback.

Like any Web community, it's a work-in-progress, but we'd love to have you join the conversation. For the time being, we're moderating new signups to minimize spam. Also note that during signup, you're asked for your age and gender -- these questions are part of the Ning registration, and aren't seen by me or anyone else in the community unless you choose to share them.