Proposal:Cooperate with (and/or operate) ebook shop(s)

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The status of this proposal is:
Request for Discussion / Sign-Ups

Strategic Priorities

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1. Achieve continued growth in readership
2. Focus on quality content
3. Increase Participation
4. Stabilize and improve the infrastructure
5. Encourage Innovation

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Summary

Cooperate with (and/or operate) ebook shop(s). An ebook shop could operate as a subsidiary of the foundation (the ebook shop is a means, the foundation is an end).

Proposal

Cooperation with ebook shops could allow to publish Wikibooks in the ebook shops of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Libri and others. An ebook shop could invite authors to sell books under the Electronic Publishing Charity Source License (EPCSL).

• One could try to cooperate with Unicef and other charities for advertisement purposes and distribute funding to charity partners.
• In Germany one could try to cooperate with de:Klett Gruppe, de:Cornelsen Verlag and/or de:Westermann Druck- und Verlagsgruppe to establish an Open Hardware ebook for schools.

Motivation

• The foundation could ask for a small revenue for the cooperation.
• The books would become more available to the growing audience using ebook readers.
• As a participant the foundation might gain more influence on issues concerning the ebook market (e.g. Open Hardware)

Key Questions

• Operate an ebook shop? There may be publishers or wholesalers/resellers who do not have their own ebook system and might appreciate an effort to create a platform that is more open to participation by third parties.
• Which hardware should be used? Could a modified OLPC be re-used, possibly under the QNX or Minix3 operating systems? (QNX appears likely to offer better support and more useful software modules while Minix3 has already been ported.)
• Limit to WikiBooks or insist on all WikiPedia / WikiMedia content being available?
  • WikiSource is also good partner for such service.

Potential Costs

• Quite the opposite. Wikimedia is not in the business of selling publications but cooperation with ebook shops that offer Wikibooks for free is not selling publications and Wikimedia does not pursue the goal to stop third parties from making money by publishing books. (One would notice the "don't buy Harry Potter" advertisements in Wikipedia if it were the case.)

References

• Proposal:Allow CSL licensing for Wikibooks
• Gutenberg:Partners, Affiliates and Resources (gutenberg.org)
• Comparison of e-book formats (Wikipedia)
• Buchmesse 2.0 – Der Kindle und die Flucht nach vorne (German Wikinews)
• lulu.com: Aspiring Authors — If you're in grades K-8, Aspiring Authors will help you create your very own book. Have your teacher register your class on Lulu and start writing your original story. Each student that completes a book will receive their first printed copy for free.
• lulu.com: Add a Free ISBN — Learn how to have your book listed on Amazon.com.
• epubli.de: ISBN bestellen — Book with ISBN for 19,95 EUR per year. (German)
• And http://pediapress.com/, of course.
• heise.de: free ebooks with advertisements inside (German)

Hardware

• CES-Freescale takes aim at tablet computer market (Sub-$200 devices)

Community Discussion

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