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Wednesday, November 10th, 1999 Media Cynic | Forum | Advertising | Classifieds | Jobs Pets.com Launches Off-Line Magazine Pets.com has announced that it has launched an offline publication called Pets.com, The Magazine. Pets.com, The Magazine will provide pet owners with pet-related lifestyle, health, behavioral and product information. Pets.com will distribute a million copies of the bi-monthly magazine. "Pet owners love the expert information available on our Website. In fact, we've received many requests for even more information, so we felt that creating a magazine would be a great way to extend our reach offline," said Julie Wainwright, Pets.com CEO. "Pets.com, The Magazine is an exciting new way to get this information to millions of pet owners while also encouraging them visit www.pets.com for the expert advice and products that they need for their pets." Pets.com, The Magazine includes lifestyle articles on pets as part of today's family, helpful "how to" articles, columns on the latest pet products, Q&As with staff veterinarians, a column by the Pet Attorney, and spotlights on animal shelters. The premiere issue of the publication will feature a cover story Q&A with the Pets.com Puppet Spokesdog Thing, the Pets.com advertising "spokesman." In addition, the premier issue will offer articles on ways to make pets part of your family's holiday celebration, traveling with your pet during the holidays and insights into what gifts your pet really wants for the holidays. The magazine will also include a "Fish 101" how-to feature for new fish owners. Pets.com's Vice President of Editorial, John Hollon, is the former Editorial Director of Fancy Publications, the world's largest publisher of pet magazines. Hollon oversees the publication as Editor and Publisher of Pets.com, The Magazine, which is written entirely by Pets.com's team of veterinarians and pet experts and edited by Pets.com's veteran editorial staff. "Because of the depth of our editorial team, Pets.com has the unique ability to create a stand-alone magazine that also reinforces the extensive pet information available at www.pets.com," said Julie Wainwright, CEO of Pets.com. "During the busy holiday season, Pets.com, The Magazine will enable us to introduce our brand to pet owners across the country in a memorable and effective way." Primedia Strengthens Fishing and Hunting Brands Primedia Inc. has announced that the Company will add to its fishing and hunting segments of the outdoor enthusiast market with a series of growth initiatives to strengthen existing brands and develop new media opportunities. Currently Primedia's brands in the fishing and hunting areas include In-Fisherman, Fly Fisherman, Walleye Insider; Catfish Insider, and Florida Sportsman. The new initiatives include the acquisition of Game & Fish magazine and North American Whitetail, Internet expansion and development, additional television programming and expanding Primedia's radio station syndication network. Commenting on the fishing and hunting initiatives, Tom Rogers, chairman and chief executive officer of Primedia said, "We are very excited about our unique role in the outdoor enthusiast market. Primedia has an enviable position in this category which attracts the largest groups of outdoor enthusiasts than any other, and will enable us to further build and expand new media platforms off of the strength of our traditional media brands in this very high potential enthusiast category." Xlibris Teams with Baker & Taylor Xlibris Corporation, an Internet publishing services provider, has announced a strategic partnership with Baker & Taylor, a leading book distributor. Through the new relationship with the Replica Books division, all hardcover and paperback books published through the Xlibris system will be manufactured by Replica Books and distributed by Baker & Taylor. Replica Books, whose core business has been reprints of out-of-print titles, will now service first-time publications through Xlibris. "It has always been our goal to provide complete, limitless market access to our authors and bring the highest quality digital printing technology to our finished books," said Xlibris President John. D. Feldcamp. "Our strategic alliance with Replica Books/Baker & Taylor increases our authors' exposure by an order of magnitude while creating the fastest and best manufacturing system available in the print-on-demand space." Based in Philadelphia, Xlibris Corporation is an Internet-based publishing services company owned by management and private investors. The company provides production and other publication services, enabling authors to bring their work to market in paperback and hardcover editions in a print-on-demand environment. Xlibris has enabled the publication of almost 700 book titles and hopes to complete 900 titles by year-end. SoftBook Press and NuvoMedia Jointly Propose 'Open eBook File Format' Specification NuvoMedia, Inc., maker of the Rocket eBook, and SoftBook Press, Inc. have jointly announced their draft of an "Open eBook File Format" specification. Designed to enhance the Open eBook (OEB) Publication Structure 1.0, the OEB File Format specifies how multiple files of a digital publication (i.e. chapters, graphics, copyright protection solutions) can be combined into the single file necessary for electronic delivery. The proposal will result in a common PC file extension for eBook content of .oeb (filename.oeb). The Open eBook Publication Structure 1.0, completed in September 1999, defines the format that content takes when it is converted to electronic form. The OEB File Format provides an effective way to combine multiple files such as text and graphics into a single package for electronic delivery. The OEB File Format is based upon the industry-standard Multipurpose Internet Markup Extension (MIME) that is in widespread use, most notably in email applications for file attachments. The OEB File Format will be proposed during the next meeting of the Open eBook Forum in December. The complete specifications are available from either http://www.nuvomedia.com/oebff/ or http://www.softbook.com/oebff/. V! Studios to Launch GlobalDig.com V! Studios, Inc. of McLean, Va., has announced that it will spin-off its GlobalDig.com website, which will become a publishing portal. The site, which houses the secure Global Digital Media system (GDM), will allow authors, and other owners of documents and files, to publish their works. The system is designed to guarantee the copyrights of authors, and allow them to earn royalties for every copy sold. The system also allows out-of-print authors to return to print. The site will be unveiled at the beginning of the year 2000. "We believe that authors deserve the majority of the royalties for their hard work and risk," said Maurice Benesch, President of V! Studios. "Internet technologies have made it possible to radically reduce the costs associated with the traditional publishing process. These savings should be passed-on to consumers and authors. The technology not only creates new and better revenue streams for authors, but for any and all individuals and corporations that own content." The system's other features include services of digital conversion, graphic color cover design, and marketing. Authors/document owners control the prices of their documents and also receive feedback about the customers who buy their works through aggregate information about the demographics of his or her readers. "Technology has changed the rules in publishing. The current way of publishing is ineffective for millions of talented writers and for millions of books that are out-of-print," said Dyung Le, an MIT-trained Director of Technology at a major e-commerce company. "GlobalDig.com is about using the very best technology to empower the individual author as well as the innovative publisher." MyComix.com Launches Website for the Comic Strip Community MyComix.com has announced the launch of MyComix.com: The Comix Community, an online hub for comic strip artists and fans. MyComix.com features discussion groups, daily comix news, an artist support section, comix postcards and the 'MyComix!' feature, which lets readers create a personalized page with their favorite comix. "By enabling comix readers to directly search and access nearly 600 comix in one place, the MyComix.com database creates new opportunities for emerging artists to find and develop their fan base," according to David Elliott, VP of Marketing. "The MyComix.com database has become the centerpiece of a comix community that features over 90 terrific daily and weekly comic strips, and where readers can view every day their personalized MyComix! page." AlexLit.com Buys Mind's Eye Fiction Seattle-based Alexandria Digital Literature has announced the purchase of Mind's Eye Fiction. The buyout, for an undisclosed amount, adds titles and authors to AlexLit.com's website catalog of contemporary fiction. "This purchase allows us to offer customers at both sites an expanded selection of high quality authors, titles and genre choices," said AlexLit.com CEO Dave Howell. "AlexLit.com customers now have easy access to mystery, romance and western titles, in addition to our current catalog of fantasy, science fiction and horror." Customers can also purchase AlexLit.com stories for ebook readers. The company has contracts to provide content for Rocket eBook, produced by Nuvo Media, Inc. and sold through Staples and most recently Costco. It also provides content for SoftBook Press, Inc.'s SoftBook Reader, Palm Pilots and WinCE machines. Xerox/Reciprocal e-Publishing Clearing Service (ePCS) Announced Xerox Corporation and Reciprocal have announced the Xerox/Reciprocal e-Publishing Clearing Service (ePCS), a digital rights management service for publishers. The new Xerox/Reciprocal ePCS provides an end-to-end service for publishers wanting to place high-value documents, such as academic course-packs, books and research reports, online in a copyright-protected environment. Xerox also announced that it has made an equity investment in Reciprocal, a privately held company headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y. "Both Reciprocal and Xerox are driving adoption of electronic distribution and sales of published materials, a market forecast to be worth more than $3 billion within the next 2 years," said Ranjit Singh, senior vice president and general manager of Xerox Internet & Software Solutions. "The new ePCS is a unique service which will enable publishers to take advantage of the true potential of the Internet with new business models and revenue opportunities." 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