|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Executive
Director
Nicholas Bogaty
(212)
924-9081
www.openebook.org
Open eBook Forum Announces eBook Industry Statistics Programá
Quarterly eBook and eDocument Figures to Be Released by Industry
Trade Group
Los Angeles, CA á May 30, 2003 á At Book Expo America
today, the Open eBook Forum (OeBF) announced an industry-wide program to collect
and publish eBook and eDocument sales and publishing statistics on a quarterly
basis. Registration for publishers and retailers who would like to participate
in the program is now open on the Open eBook Forum website at:
http://www.openebook.org/statsregistration.asp
The program and the survey methodology were developed by
the OeBF eBook Industry Special Interest Group with active involvement and
support from publishers such as Random House, Inc., Simon & Schuster, St.
Martin´s Press, HarperCollins Publishers and AOL Time Warner Book Group;
technology companies including Palm Digital Media, Gemstar-TV Guide
International, Microsoft Corporation and Adobe Systems Inc.; and electronic
retailers and distributors like OverDrive, eBooks Corporation and
Fictionwise.com. Comments on the program were also solicited from non-OeBF companies in
the publishing and retail sectors.
óWe believe that growth is more accurately measured when a
true and verifiable reflection of market activity is in place. The OeBF survey
as it is currently defined will provide the basis of a more accurate data
collection instrument,Ç said Micheal Segroves, Director of Business Development
at Palm Digital Media.
A comprehensive methodology including data points to be
collected can be found on the Open eBook Forum website at:
http://www.openebook.org/statsregistration.asp
óRandom House is looking forward to participating in the
statistics program,Ç said Amanda Kimmel, Director, New Media, Random House, Inc.
óThe OeBF is the right place to make this effort. It will be a terrific resource
for the electronic publishing industry.Ç
Any retailer or publisher who meets minimum eligibility
requirements is welcome to participate in the program. óWe made every effort in
setting up this program to open the doors to the entire universe of eBook and
eDocument retailers and publishers who want to contribute,Ç said Nick Bogaty,
Executive Director of the OeBF. óThe more companies participate, the better.Ç
óThe statistics program will be immensely beneficial to the
eBook and ePublishing industries,Ç continued Bogaty. óThe press, public, OeBF
members and contributing companies will finally have genuinely valid industry
statistics.Ç
Registrations to contribute statistics to the initial
report will be reviewed by Harold Henke Ph.D., an
independent consultant at Chartula, Inc. Registration will end on June 29th,
2003.
The collection of statistics for Q2 2003, Q1 2003 and the
entire 2002 will begin on June 29, 2003 and last for two weeks ending July 14,
2003.
Chartula, Inc. will also compile and analyze the submitted
statistics for two reports. One for public consumption and another more detailed
report for OeBF members and companies who participate in the program. Statistics
will be reported in the aggregate and will not be tracked to individual
companies. For more detail, see the survey methodology at:
http://www.openebook.org/statsregistration.asp
The statistics program is sponsored by OeBF Gold Sponsors:
Microsoft Corporation, Adobe Systems Inc., Palm Digital Media and OverDrive,
Inc.
About the Open eBook Forum:
The Open eBook Forum,
www.openebook.org , is an international non-profit trade and standards
organization for the electronic book publishing industry.
Gold Sponsoring Members include technology leaders
Microsoft Corporation, Adobe Systems, Palm Digital Media and OverDrive, Inc.
An OeBF member list and membership information can be found
on the OeBF website at www.openebook.org
| 
