Building a First-To-Market Distribution Platform for Ebooks
84,916
eBook downloads
Through the platform.
$2.63
Average payment
What readers chose to pay after reading.
0
DRM introduced
Sharing files between readers is encouraged rather than blocked.
The client
Openbooks distributes ebooks digitally on an unusual business model: readers download a complete book free, then pay whatever they think it was worth once they have read it.
The challengeWhat the teams actually needed
Nobody had built this before, which meant designing an architecture for it rather than adapting one.
Challenge 01First to market
Openbooks wanted to be the first company with a product of this kind, which put a premium on speed.
Challenge 02Pay-it-forward, in software
The pay-what-you-want architecture had to be designed from scratch.
Challenge 03Conversion at scale
An engine for converting ebooks into the right formats had to be developed alongside it.
What we did
An ebook store built on the economy of trust
Work ran closely with Openbooks and its stakeholders. The priority was an efficient workflow ready for fast iteration, so the initial product thesis could be tested rather than assumed.
Frequent deployments
A flow with frequent deployments is what made fast iteration possible at all.
Alongside their team
The work ran in close collaboration with the client’s internal team rather than at arm’s length.
Algolia for search
The Algolia search engine and other third-party tools were introduced to speed development up.
Live, then at the Book Fair
The platform launched in March 2015 and was featured at the London Book Fair the following month — the first ebook store where people share books simply by sending a copy to a friend.
Client testimonial
You just choose the title, download the file with full ebook and then you can share it with as many people as you like. Copy the file or send as an attachment in email - just like that. We also implemented extremely user-friendly models: “read before you pay” and “pay what you want”. As a result of OpenBooks.com, I believe that books no longer have to be judged by their covers alone and that no person is excluded from reading and enjoying books simply because of financial limitations.
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What’s next