A new ebook platform has been born, only this one has bigger goals than just digitizing books. The Salak Group, Inc. and Bright Launch LLC have joined together to form Big Boost Media Group to build ebooks as a business tool, rather than just for entertainment, information, or learning. But are ebooks meant to be tools to further a business or a specific individual’s standing in the corporate world?
>“Everyone is aware of the growing penetration of eBooks,” said Uli Iserloh, Big Boost co-founder and president of Bright Launch, in a press release. “But eBooks are more than one-off books. Their ability to contain video, audio, links and interactive mechanisms makes them an incredibly powerful communications channel that can engage and capture high value audiences by delivering tightly focused messages.”
Iserloh’s concept of a book is sound, especially in terms of the definition of an ebook. From the early onset of recent digital publishing, critics and supporters alike agreed that ebooks should not just be computer file versions of a print book, arguing that the capabilities are so much greater than just transferring the words from one type of page to another. However, the company model does speak to a greater purpose for ebooks as marketing tools.
“Our approach can be applied to everyone from an author to an executive, corporation, nonprofit or retailer,” added John Salak, Big Boost co-founder and president of The Salak Group. “By helping our clients develop, format and distribute eBooks, we create platforms our clients can use to build brands, promote executives, raise funds for nonprofits, and sell other services and products they offer.”
Some shady recent practices in digital publishing have caused a number of critics to rail against that concept that an ebook can be repurposed to further an agenda by artificially driving a title up the bestseller list through a number of dishonest practices. But as Salak pointed out in an interview with GoodEReader, businesses or non-profit charitable organizations who develop a critically worthwhile ebook and invest in its creation are making smarter use of their marketing and advertising dollars; rather than placing those funds with a firm to develop a television commercial or by taking out print ad space, the company can spread a much broader message by advertising a thorough work of their expertise in the form of an ebook.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.
