A presentation by Ron Martinez, found of Aer.io, an Ingram Content Group company. For the EPUB Summit in Bordeaux, April 2016.

1. Building a New
Bookselling Ecosystem
Ron Martinez
@ronmartinez
www.aer.io
inventionarts.co
ingramcontent.com

3. Illustrated, interactive paperback by Aer.io founder, Ron Martinez. Bantam, 1984.

5. MOBILE
SOCIAL
MEDIA
COMMERCE
RIGHTS

6. Large Scale Innovation Projects

7. Karole Irene
Cofondatrice

8. ILLUSTRATED
GRAPHICAL
INTERACTIVE
BOOKS
2013

9. Design Palette = Device Capabilities
Text,
Some Images
Networked:
Some Sharing
Cool, but limited. ;)

10. Text and
Images
Rich media:
Animation,
video
Any kind of
interactivity
Sensors: geo-
location,
orientation
Media
Creation:
Camera, Mic
Networked:
live data,
social sharing
Tactile,
Touchable
Local Storage
Communication:
voice, text,
email
Design Palette = Device Capabilities

11. “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.”

12. ILLUSTRATED
MEDIA RICH
OPTIONALLY
INTERACTIVE…

13. Photography

14. Comics, Manga, Graphic Novels

15. Graphically Complex Books

16. Children’s Read-Aloud Storybooks

17. Art Books

18. Culinary/Cookbooks

19. Illustrated Non-Fiction

20. Fan Books,Television Catch-up Guides

21. Michael Tamblyn’s (of Kobo)
Observation:
30% of print books
are illustrated.
A small fraction are
eBooks.

22. BEHOLD!
THE ERA OF
ILLUSTRATED
MEDIA RICH
MAYBE EVEN
INTERACTIVE
eBOOKS!

23. BEHOLD!
ILLUSTRATED
MEDIA RICH
MAYBE EVEN
INTERACTIVE
eBOOKS!

24. BECAUSE
INCOMPATIBLE
PROPRIETARY
FORMATS
AND DEVICE
CAPABILITIES

25. Apple iBooks: Most Capable
EPUB3, Static, FXL, JS, CSS3, Multi-Touch
Kindle KF8: Mostly Static
Static FXL, No JS, CSS3, PanelView,Text zoom
Nook: Static or Proprietary (Kids)
PagePerfect (PDF), Nook Kids (proprietary)
Kobo: Static, Supports Readaloud
EPUB3 FXL, media overlays, no JS
Google Play: Static
Static FXL, no JS or media overlays

26. and NUMEROUS OTHER IMPEDIMENTS
Format
Fragment-
ation
Hefty
Retailer Fees
High Friction
Processes,
(Lots of
Rigmarole)
Little/No
Customer
Information
Loss of
Business
Control to
Platforms
Product Dev
Costly,
Conversions
Tricky
No Use
Metrics or
Analytics
Customers
Ignore Ads,
Live in Social
Streams

27. CREATE or
CONVERT
PRODUCT
PACKAGE
MULTIPLE
FORMATS
PRICE and add
SOCIAL DRM
DISTRIBUTE,
SHARE and
PREVIEW
Aerbook addresses these problems.
Roadmap:
Print on
Demand

28. SELL DIRECTSELL in STORES

29. POST DIRECTLY or in AFFILIATE VENUES
Within LinkedIn (Web)
Relevant Web and Social Properties can Easily Earn Retail Revenue by Posting Links
Within StumbleUpon
Preview, checkout, and
fulfillment in posts native to
each network.
Affiliate venues deliver
potential buyers, visibility in
exchange for revenue share.

30. MARKET, SELL in SOCIAL STREAMS: NATIVE RETAIL
Within Twitter App
Within Facebook App
Like Fast-Growing Native Advertising, But Posts are Buyable Products

31. Publishers
Channel Partners
International
Content
eBook/App Stores
Affiliate Venues
Native Retail
Product
Gross Revenue
Net Revenue
Service Fees
Less Affiliate Rev Share
Retail in any online, social venue.
Aerbook Native Retail Network: VALUE FLOW

32. RETAIL AS A SERVICE
Build Once,
Export to
Multiple
Formats
Keep More
Retail Revs
(15% vs 30%
or more)
Reduced
Friction, No
Rigmarole
Get eMail
Addresses,
Customer
Information
End-to-End
Control of
Your
Business
Spend Less,
Easily Make,
Convert
Product
GetVisibility,
Metrics, Use
Analytics
Preview/Sell
Products in
Right Social
Streams

33. NOT A PRODUCT
PROBLEM
IT’S AN ECOSYSTEM
PROBLEM

35. Make any point of interest a point of sale.
Get your own bookstore in minutes.
Millions of titles to choose from.
Or add your own.
Visit http://Aer.io

36. A new, decentralized,
independent, bookselling
ecosystem.

37. Aer.io is not a retailer.
Aer.io is a trusted 3rd
party providing
Retail as a Service

38. How it works.

39. Who is it for?

40. A new kind of retail network, where anyone can
act as a seller, a buyer, a supplier, or all three.

41. The network itself is a retail ecosystem…
Media/Publishers
Influencers
Destinations
Brick & Mortar
Organizations
Cosmo, Disney, DailyDot, Book pubs,TED, etc.
YouTubers, celebrities, authors, pastors, players
Hotels, sporting events, museums, tourism
Bookstores, comic shops, lifestyle, Starbucks
Sierra Club, church groups, causes, schools
Websites
Social streams
Media streams
Locations
Native Apps
Sellers Channels
Content, context, audience
with need for new rev sources.
Multiple points of
presence & engagement.

42. Why do we need a new
retail ecosystem?

43. Bookselling has become
overly centralized.
The sale of too many books
is in the hands of too few
companies.

45. Buyers Sellers
Platform
Rise of the Winner Take All Platforms

46. Network Effects: Winner Take All
More Demand
More Drivers
More
Geographic
Coverage/
Saturation
Faster
Pickups
Lower Prices
Less Driver
Downtime

47. The faster it goes…
…the faster it goes.
Like a Ramjet

48. Fun Fact: The Ramjet was invented
in 1913 by René Lorin in France.
The 1947 Leduc Ramjet Aircraft

49. BooksAuthors
Readers
User Data Interests
Cards/Wallet
Permissions
$!
BooksAuthors
Readers
BooksellerDistributorPublisher
Lifetime CustomerValue!
User Data Interests
Cards/Wallet
Permissions
Lifetime CustomerValue!
Books, meet Ramjet.

50. More Demand
More Suppliers
(Including
Self-Publishing)
More Books
Lower
Prices
Within Fewer
Categories
More
Choices
Bookselling Network Effects

51. Other retailers are choked off
Suppliers Squeezed (Profit Margins Decimated)
Less budget available for books outside
narrowing categories
Self-publishing booms…(more, cheaper supply)
…but tends toward genre fiction
“The Filter Bubble”
But: This is a Winner Take All Market
A platform, not a conventional retailer.

53. • Algorithms guess what
users would like to see
based on information about
them (e.g. location, search
history, friends).
• Users become isolated in
their own cultural or
ideological bubbles as the
algorithm does not present
diverse information.

54. • Algorithms guess what
users would like to see
based on information about
them (e.g. location, search
history, friends).
• Users become isolated in
their own cultural or
ideological bubbles as the
algorithm does not present
diverse information.

55. So let’s build a new ecosystem!

56. • Vast catalog of print and ebooks, + gifts, videos, toys, more
• Fully self-service plus high volume enterprise workflows
• Distributed branding, curation, pricing, customer relationships
• DRM choice: for publishers, authors, readers
• Industry standards: no proprietary eBook formats
• Built on trusted 3rd party bedrock: (e.g. Ingram Content Group)
• Sell anywhere: existing sites, social streams, real world
• Attractive economics: supporting profitability
• A true retail network: universal cart, accounts
Not so fast, Buddy.

57. Reader
SellerPublisher
Serve Three Constituencies

58. • Attractive economics
• Digital and Print, Industry Standards
• Mobile, social, native: “ambient”
• Built on trusted 3rd party bedrock
Requirements: All
ReaderSellerPublisher

59. BUILT ON OPEN STANDARDS, BUILT TO SCALE
JavaScript
3

60. • Self-service & volume enterprise workflows
• Varied approaches to market: direct + easy
path to buyer’s preferred retailer
• Preview and sell anywhere
• DRM choice, including “hard” DRM
Requirements: Publisher
Publisher

62. Aer.io Master Account: Administration
Client
Client Account

63. Aer.io Retail, Plus, Flyer

64. Share and
Preview in
App or
Browser
The book will show in
native post format within
any social stream or app,
and open up to a
commerce-ready preview.
Link to book opened in browser.

65. Sample and
Description
Detailed description and
selected sample of the
book may be set by the
author or publisher.
Link to book opened in browser.

66. Read in Any
Device.
Book may be optionally
downloaded, in ePub or
automatically-generated
.mobi for Kindle.
Link to book opened in browser.

67. Fully equipped for
Sharing, Likes,
Tweets, more.
Reader may also follow
the book, the author, the
publisher, email to a
friend, or comment.
Link to book opened in browser.

68. Commenting on
Facebook.
Comments will appear on
reader’s Facebook stream
along with the book,
whether on Web, or in
the Facebook mobile app.
Link to book opened in browser.

69. Book appears in
Facebook timeline.
Books appear as
Facebook posts.Tap
to read, share, buy.

70. Pinterest

71. Order Now
within a tweet.

73. Readium Sample Embedded in the Page

74. A Word about
Social Metadata

75. Original Web
Metaphor
User is visitor to a
destination….

76. …to user IS the
destination for media
flowing in streams
organized around
interests and
relationships.

79. What role does DRM, and
approaches like SDRM
play in supporting a
diverse ecosystem?

80. Three kinds of DRM

81. Hard DRM
Soft DRM
Proprietary
DRM

82. Hard DRM
Proprietary DRM
+
=
Roadblock to alternative
retail ecosystems.

83. Simple illustration:
If you require HARD
DRM, you cannot sell
direct to a Kindle user,
cutting your available
market in half.

85. But key publishers
require Hard DRM
Current Options:
LCP, Sony, Adobe,
Other…

86. Hard DRM TBD
SDRM
No DRM

87. • Self-service & volume enterprise workflows
• Vast catalog of print and ebooks, + merch
• Distributed branding, curation, pricing,
customer relationships
• Sell anywhere: sites, social, real world
Requirements: Sellers
Seller

88. Select from 14MM products.

89. Top publishers, brands:14MM items live.
Publishers can add their own books and eBooks

90. Set the price.
Customize product listings.

91. Aerbook Retail Network
Example Retail Network Economics Description
30.00 List price Publisher’s list price.
30.00 Selling Price Discount off list by 0.0% % discount purchase off purchase price (set by Retail Partner)
18.00 Wholesale, list discounted by 40% Wholesale price, per publisher-set percentage. May vary.
0.30 Flat card transaction fee 0.30 Card processing flat fee
0.65 Pick Pack Ship 0.65 Pick, Pack, and Ship by Ingram
4.50 Aer.io Service Fee 15.0% Aer.io service fees, including credit card processing (2.9%)
24.10 Total Cost of Sale Total cost of sale
5.90 Net Sale Net
5.90 To Native Retail Venue 100% Percentage split to Partner Venue
0.00 To Aerbook 0% Percentage split to Aerbook
30.00 Checksum (Validate numbers)
19.67% Percentage of Sale Price to Venue Revenue share to partner. Compare to Amazon affiliate share

92. Beautiful.

93. Responsive.

94. Multi-format.
Socially rich.
Embed any media.

96. Squarespace
BookLaunch.io
Tumblr…
Embed anywhere
with a line of code.
…and more.
Or use Aer.io’s
freestanding
store pages.
WordPress

97. • Attractive economics. (Good Prices.)
• Reasons to Buy
• Simplicity: Micah’s “post-file” experience
• Reliability: built on bedrock, user’s ebooks
are not going to disappear
Requirements: Reader (Buyer)
Reader

107. A new, decentralized,
independent, bookselling
ecosystem.

108. Illustrated, interactive paperback by Aer.io founder, Ron Martinez. Bantam, 1984.