Bookboon
| File:Bookboon logo.png | |
| File:Bookboon Screenshot - March 9, 2012.png A screenshot of the whole page of Bookboon.com taken as of March 9, 2012. | |
| Type of business | Online, private company |
|---|---|
Type of site | eBook publishing service |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Founded | 1988 (as Ventus Publishing) |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| No. of locations | 11 international locations |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people |
|
| Industry | eBook Publishing |
| Products | Free eBooks |
| Services | eBook Downloads, Advertising |
| URL | www |
| Advertising | Yes |
| Registration | Not required |
| Launched | 2005 |
| Current status | Active |
Bookboon, is an online book publishing company based in London, United Kingdom. Bookboon originates from Denmark where it was founded in 1988 as Ventus Publishing. Bookboon offers quality [citation needed] eBooks which can be downloaded for free on the company’s website. All books are exclusively written for Bookboon by professors and experts within their fields of expertise[citation needed]. The eBooks, which can be downloaded in PDF format, range from travel guides and business eBooks to university textbooks.[1][2][3]
The company has experienced over ten million downloads over the course of 2011, which also marked a 500% growth of the eBook publisher’s download numbers.[4] Bookboon is currently the largest publisher of eBooks in the world.[citation needed]
History and background
The company started as a family business, as Ventus Publishing, on 1998 in Denmark. The owners had two sons named Thomas Buus Madsen and Kristian Buus Madsen. The two would be pivotal in making Bookboon successful.[1] Ventus Publishing focused on student textbooks written by their in-house staff and some freelancers.[4]
In 2005, Thomas Buus Madsen, along with his brother Kristian Buus Madsen, launched Boookboon.com. Madsen got inspired to start Bookboon while he was a student: his fellow university student took out a copy of a textbook from the school library and made 50 photocopies of it before selling them to other students in front of the classroom.[5]
Bookboon initially focused on providing academic textbooks and business books for the Danish market. Bookboon followed a very simple [citation needed] business model by providing free eBooks and paying for them by embedding advertising every three to five pages in the book. The Madsen brothers had previously worked on the launch of a free newspaper called METRO in Denmark and were confident enough that the model would work. Sales teams were established across Europe and succeeded in attracting advertisers keen on reaching students.[6][7]
Bookboon publishes titles focused on specific areas, including accounting and economics, information technology and engineering, management and personal development. The business is financed by advertising, and the books available on the website are factual books relevant to a wide readership. Through its advertisement model, Bookboon looks for companies wishing to brand themselves towards students and Experienced Professionals. Dell and London Business advertise through Bookboon. Other advertisers include several top commercial brands, such as UBS, IKEA, Accenture, Volvo, Maersk, and Ericsson.[6]
In 2006, the company expanded to Sweden, and then to Germany and the Netherlands in 2007, but it wasn’t until the company expanded to the United Kingdom and started publishing books in English in 2008 that the company became truly global.[citation needed]
In 2011, Bookboon was featured in BBC News' Webscape segment of the BBC flagship technology show Click presented by Kate Russell, a weekly program covering news and recent developments in the world of consumer technology.[8] This helped to broaden the popularity of Bookboon’s free eBook service. Bookboon was also featured on Kate Russell's blog.[9]
In the same year, the number of downloads from the website grew by 500% in nine months. By the end of 2012, Bookboon is expected to own a 10 % market share of the eBook publishing industry in the United States,[2][10] thanks to 50 million foreseen eBook downloads.[11]
The company is currently focusing on expanding in North and Central America, and moving into Asia, southern Europe, as well as Africa.[citation needed]
eBook platform
Bookboon's 1,500 titles are available in PDF format. The platform is independent and can easily be printed. It is also an ideal [citation needed] medium through which to deliver advertisements: these appear in the book layout exactly as the advertiser intended [citation needed] and allows them to be actionable, hyperlinking them back to the web.
References
- ^ a b "About the company - Bookboon.com". Bookboon.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "Free eBooks Revolutionize the US Book Industry". MarketWatch.com. February 23, 2012. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Hoffelder, Nate (February 16, 2012). "BookBoon Offers Free Technical, Guide, & Textbooks". MediaBistro.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Kozlowski, Michael (February 17, 2012). "Bookboon Spearheads Free and Original eBooks". GoodReader.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Montemurro, Christine (February 22, 2010). "BookBoon.com works to alleviate students of textbook bills". LoyolaGreyHound.com. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b Nawotka, Edward (March 07, 2012). "Is Denmark's Bookboon the Biggest E-publisher on Earth?". PublishingPerspectives.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "iload.to illegal: The best legal alternatives on the Internet (Originally published in Danish)". PreisGenau.de. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Kate Russell (September 02, 2011). Webscape: Cloud-based artistic apps (BBC News). United Kingdom: Click.
{{cite AV media}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "@MyWebDaily reviews: Book Boon". MyWebDaily.com. October 24, 2011. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Gary, Nicolas (February 24, 2012). "Bookboon, who covets the European market 10% of the US ebook (Originally published in French)". Actualitte.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Dilworth, Dianna (February 24, 2012). "Bookboon.com Expects 50M eBook Downloads This Year". MediaBistro.com. Retrieved March 09, 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help)