Enhanced eBooks using EPUB3 and HTML5 enable publishers to grow sales

 

LONDON — April 11, 2016 –  OverDrive, the industry-leading platform for eBooks, audiobooks and streaming video to libraries and schools, continues to expand internationally as new channel partners launch in Germany, China, Denmark, the Middle East, Japan and South America. With the addition of 500 publishers such as Grupo Planeta, Bastei Entertainment, ACT and Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press to its growing catalog of more than 5,000 publishers, OverDrive now offers content in 50 languages to channel partners in 59 countries. OverDrive continues to grow its global footprint and expand and diversify its catalog of more than three million in-copyright digital titles, including enhanced eBooks using industry standard EPUB3, HTML5, synchronized MP3 audio that can be read on all mobile devices without installing an app.

See demonstrations of OverDrive’s inventive technologies in stand #3B51 at the London Book Fair in West London, April 12-14. OverDrive will be showcasing innovative enhanced eBook features such as Read-Along eBooks (synched audio and text), EPUB3 rich graphic novels, children’s titles, cookbooks, and much more.

To help meet global demand, OverDrive has introduced several key features to its platform and app, including OverDrive Listen, which allow users to “see audiobook, play audiobook” immediately in their browser and right-to-left reading to help readers enjoy the original manga-style, Arabic and Hebrew titles. As a founding member of the IDPF, OverDrive has been promoting the use of non-proprietary eBook and audiobook formats to enable authors and publishers to reach the largest audience of readers, as well as create the industry’s easiest experience to discover, sample and read.

“Publishers can take advantage of OverDrive’s EPUB3 support to drive sales in new markets,” said Alexis Petric-Black, OverDrive’s Manager of Publisher Services. “We’re the only library and school distributor that can work with enhanced eBooks using open standards that display children’s picture books as the author and publisher intended.”

The OverDrive platform reaches a multichannel network of 34,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide, with millions of readers discovering and engaging with digital content on a comprehensive, easy-to-use website or app. To maximize reader discovery, OverDrive has developed creative ways to reach and engaged new readers. For example, OverDrive has partnered with Cityread London for the first time to get this year’s featured book, Ten Days by Gillian Slovo, in eBook format for local public library authorities to promote. During the month of April, readers with a valid library card across London can borrow the eBook from participating libraries. In addition, the company works closely with publishers for direct-to-consumer promotions, connecting digital titles with readers and buyers in a variety of ways.

To learn more about interactive eBooks or Book Club access models, visit OverDrive in stand #3B51 at the London Book Fair in West London, United Kingdom, April 12-14.

 

About OverDrive
OverDrive is the leading digital distribution platform, supplying the industry’s largest catalog of eBooks, audiobooks, streaming video and periodicals to 34,000 libraries, schools and retailers worldwide. We support all major computers and devices, including iOS®, Android™ and Chromebook™. OverDrive delivers all digital media on a single platform, and offers innovations such as OverDrive Read, the breakthrough EPUB and HTML5 browser-based reading experience, and Read-Along eBooks.  Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, Ohio USA and is owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten. For more information, visit www.overdrive.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and our blog.

Contact:

David Burleigh,

Director of Marketing & Communications

dburleigh@overdrive.com

216-573-6886 ext. 218

 

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