Are there any publishers not concerned about growing—or even entering—the e-book market these days? Qbend, a company launched at Frankfurt in 2010, presents itself as a gateway to digital book publishing and sales for publishers who are unsure of which format to use or resources to invest in the market.
Qbend converts files into all formats (and will keep up to speed with emerging formats), creates branded Web stores that present the publisher's face while Qbend does all the work, and offers multichannel sales. To promote its services, Qbend is allowing publishers to try out its services by letting Qbend create a Web store for up to 25 titles. Qbend Web stores are uploaded to Amazon and Apple retailers.
"If you're not sure if you want to, or how to, enter the e-book world, we give it to you for free," says Sriram Ramakrishnan, Qbend's v-p of marketing and sales. "We have a great platform that lets you try it out and gives you the full flavor of e-books."
Ramakrishnan also says that Qbend will offer custom publishing services so that content can be repurposed. Qbend will be presenting its services at the Digital Zone Theater, today at 3 p.m. and tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. And, of course, in its booth (2206).
What does "Qbend" mean? That's a question that makes Ramakrishnan laugh: it was just a quirky word that he and his partners—who have more than 30 years in the book business—came up with while brainstorming.
