Diversification, Discovery, and Data: 13 Insights from 13 Years of Safari, presented by Andrew Savikas, CEO of Safari Books Online, at Making Information Pay 2014, a track of IDPF's Digital Book 2014, at Book Expo America, on May 29, 2014

1. Diversification,
Discovery, and Data
13 Insights from 13 Years of Safari

2. 1. Not typical book buyers
• More than 1M active users
• More than 10,000 companies,
including almost half of the
Fortune 500
• Individuals usually reimbursed
by employer (most popular
plan is nearly $500/year)
• Org buyer usually a manager,
HR, Librarian, or CLO
• Annual contracts

3. 2. Not typical book dollars
Corporate Training is $70B US Market, $130B worldwide

5. 3. Not typical book reading
• Average user views about seven different titles per
week
• Around 20 minutes per week overall average
• (That’s less than 3 minutes per title)
• Aggregate data set can mask important underlying
trends, requires constant analysis

8. 4. Broad non-fiction
interest

10. 5. Unbundling
(and Super-bundling)

11. “I usually don’t find time to read an
entire book at once. There is too
much information. I would pay more
for 1000 of the right words than for
10,000 words.”
–Respondent in KPMG/Pearson survey 2012

12. “My people are bright but busy.
They are visual learners and they
want a lesson every 5 minutes.
Won’t sit still for 350 pages.”
–CTO Barclays Capital, Safari Customer

14. 1. INTERACTION DESIGN: beyond human-
computer interaction, 3rd Edition (2011)
2. Lean Analytics
3. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software
Craftsmanship (2008)
4. Python Guide for the Total Beginner LiveLessons
(Video Training)
5. JavaScript: The Good Parts (2008)
Top Tech Titles by total page
views - Recent Period

15. /library/view/Clean-Code:-A-Handbook-of-Agile-Software-Craftsmanship/9780136083238/ch01.htm
/library/view/Cultivate-Conference-2013:-Complete-Video-Compilation/9781491946060/part03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/17-chapter10.htm
/library/view/Lean-Analytics/9781449335687/ch03.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/00-cover.htm
/library/view/HTML-&-CSS:-Design-and-Build-Websites/9781118206911/06_introduction.htm
/library/view/Professional-Android-4-Application-Development,-3rd-Edition/9781118237229/9781118237229c01.xhtm
/library/view/The+Minecraft+Guide+for+Parents/9780133521931/pref02.htm
/library/view/The-Unofficial-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-2.0-Inventor's-Guide,-2nd-Edition/9781593272159/ch16.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/14-chapter07.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/18-chapter11.htm
/library/view/iOS-Programming:-The-Big-Nerd-Ranch-Guide,-3rd-Edition/9780132978767/ch01.htm
/library/view/JavaScript:-The-Good-Parts/9780596517748/ch01s02.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch04.htm
/library/view/Python-Guide-for-the-Total-Beginner-LiveLessons-(Video-Training)/9780133359121/part03.htm
Top sections viewed during same period

16. /library/view/Clean-Code:-A-Handbook-of-Agile-Software-Craftsmanship/9780136083238/ch01.htm
/library/view/Cultivate-Conference-2013:-Complete-Video-Compilation/9781491946060/part03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/17-chapter10.htm
/library/view/Lean-Analytics/9781449335687/ch03.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/00-cover.htm
/library/view/HTML-&-CSS:-Design-and-Build-Websites/9781118206911/06_introduction.htm
/library/view/Professional-Android-4-Application-Development,-3rd-Edition/9781118237229/9781118237229c01.xhtm
/library/view/The+Minecraft+Guide+for+Parents/9780133521931/pref02.htm
/library/view/The-Unofficial-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-2.0-Inventor's-Guide,-2nd-Edition/9781593272159/ch16.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/14-chapter07.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/18-chapter11.htm
/library/view/iOS-Programming:-The-Big-Nerd-Ranch-Guide,-3rd-Edition/9780132978767/ch01.htm
/library/view/JavaScript:-The-Good-Parts/9780596517748/ch01s02.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch04.htm
/library/view/Python-Guide-for-the-Total-Beginner-LiveLessons-(Video-Training)/9780133359121/part03.htm

17. /library/view/Clean-Code:-A-Handbook-of-Agile-Software-Craftsmanship/9780136083238/ch01.htm
/library/view/Cultivate-Conference-2013:-Complete-Video-Compilation/9781491946060/part03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/17-chapter10.htm
/library/view/Lean-Analytics/9781449335687/ch03.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch01.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch03.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/00-cover.htm
/library/view/HTML-&-CSS:-Design-and-Build-Websites/9781118206911/06_introduction.htm
/library/view/Professional-Android-4-Application-Development,-3rd-Edition/9781118237229/9781118237229c01.xhtm
/library/view/The+Minecraft+Guide+for+Parents/9780133521931/pref02.htm
/library/view/The-Unofficial-LEGO-MINDSTORMS-NXT-2.0-Inventor's-Guide,-2nd-Edition/9781593272159/ch16.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/14-chapter07.htm
/library/view/INTERACTION-DESIGN:-beyond-human-computer-interaction,-3rd-Edition/9780470665763/18-chapter11.htm
/library/view/iOS-Programming:-The-Big-Nerd-Ranch-Guide,-3rd-Edition/9780132978767/ch01.htm
/library/view/JavaScript:-The-Good-Parts/9780596517748/ch01s02.htm
/library/view/Python+Guide+for+the+Total+Beginner+LiveLessons+(Video+Training)/9780133359121/part02.htm
/library/view/Visual-Basic®-2012-How-to-Program,-Sixth-Edition/9780133407099/ch04.htm
/library/view/Python-Guide-for-the-Total-Beginner-LiveLessons-(Video-Training)/9780133359121/part03.htm

22. 6.The Long Tail is
Long

23. 50% of usage is for titles published more than 2 years ago

24. Even “popular” searches are a tiny fraction of total
Top 10,000 searches in a recent period

25. In the past 12 months, our top 500
enterprise accounts looked at some
portion of 35,382 titles out of 35,721
(nearly every title we have!)

26. 7. Demand for non-fiction
video content is exploding

27. And it’s happening fast
• Video is less than 10% of
available titles in Safari
• Top title in April was video
• 3 of top 5
• 6 of top 10
• 53% increase in video views in
2013
• Most customers use both book
and video content

28. • 76% of people watch at least 25% of the video clip
• 57% of people watch the whole video clip
• Tablets are driving video usage and engagement

29. Average Seconds Per View
All Tablet 314.617721
All Desktop 249.245236
All Mobile 217.673926

31. 8. Google loves great
content, and books are
great content

32. Millions of visits a month from organic search
that returns content previews from books in Safari

33. 9. But we need books
with better markup

36. 10. Demand is global

37. Snapshot of visitors by country for a recent period

38. First Choice Second Choice Third Choice
Australia Business Management Analytics
Brazil Java Android Databases
China Big Data Cloud Databases
UK Business Management Analytics
US Business Databases Programming
India Databases .NET Management
Malaysia Business Management Analytics
Topic selection and interest varies by country of origin

39. 11. Web reading
generates great
demographic data

40. Average titles accessed by email address domain
gmail.com
hotmail.com
yahoo.com
aol.com

42. 12. Web tools work really
well for book content

45. 13. But prepare for
Web-speed feedback
loops

50. Questions to Ask about
Subscription services
• Diversification: Does this partner help me reach
new markets and create truly new revenue streams?
• Discovery: Does this partner provide ways to
surface my content in new ways that go beyond
standard retail-style search and browse?
• Data: Does this partner share meaningful data back
to me (and do I know what to do with it)?

51. Thank you
• http://safaribooks.com
• http://safariflow.com (Free 30-day trial)
• @safari
• @andrewsavikas