"Book with a bonus" is going mainstream.

Enhanced eBooks from HarperCollins

4/25/13

Enhanced eBooks (EEB) are a new kind of eBook Perhaps more accurately, they are the evolving next step of what eBooks can be and are becoming. In essence, an EEB is an eBook with video, audio, images and other extras included as part of the reading experience. They work best on tablets designed for multi-media experiences.

HarperCollins is launching a new line of EEBs. Here's how they talk about it:

"Enhanced eBooks* include multimedia and bonus content not found in standard e-book editions.

Each of these unique eBook editions offers special features, from behind-the-scenes video to exclusive interviews; maps, music, timelines, photographs, ephemera, and illustrations."

They are making these available to iPads, iPhones, or iPod Touches, Nook Tablets, Kindle Fires and Kindle Reader apps for iOs.

They also have a great introductory video that walks you through what an EEB is, complete with confused people interviewed on the street so that you don't feel alone in having no idea what an EEB is.

To get an idea of what this can look like, here's an example of a trailer for an Enhanced eBook from HarperCollins:

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Enhanced eBook Trailer

Why is this important?

The idea of "enhanced eBooks is not new. Authors and publishing companies have been creating digital multi-media books since computers made it possible, and before that there were innovative analog versions of author-artists who pushed the boundaries of what a book is. I wrote a while back about Inkling and how they are revolutionizing eBooks as textbooks. So why is this important to note?

The difference now, I think, is that it's becoming mainstream. The idea of an enhanced eBook is not something specialized for artists or for authors who want to push the boundaries. It's something publishers are starting to offer to many of their authors, and something that people are starting to expect because they are now used to content coming in multi-digital-media form. One interesting note is that HarperCollins is very intentionally presenting EEBs as something new that people don't understand or know about yet. Their video shows a lot of people being confused about the name, and shows a lot of authors and artists delicately interacting with EEBs while trying to figure them out and be amazed. It's an interesting tack that I like and think will work. It brings amazement into the equation rather than an aggressive "check out how awesome this is!" The other message they use is calling EEBs a "Book with a bonus," presenting it as something we all know and love, a book, but with some extras that make that book even better. I'd call that savvy marketing.

The move to the mainstream brings up some questions about authorship for me. Who makes the "extras?" If they are part of the story and embeddedin the text, are there multiple authors/creators/producers? Will books be written and created by teams rather than individual authors? If readers like these, will they become a new standard, putting new pressures and expectations on authors?

What do you think?

Image courtesy of screenshot from EEB intro video

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