Electronic Delivery Company Launches Self-Service Content Platform

Impelsys’ iPublishCentral markets and distributes content online.

By Vanessa Voltolina
10/22/2008

Global electronic content delivery company Impelsys has launched iPublishCentral, a platform it says better enables publishers to market and distribute their content online.

“Publishers can now digitize and monetize their printed books without the burden of a lengthy development cycle or the hefty costs of traditional online publishing and infrastructure,” Impelsys CEO Sameer Shariff said in a statement. The iPublishCentral platform enables publishers to “take advantage of their content to build new online products and revenue streams with extremely fast time-to-market,” he said.

The platform, according to Impelsys, offers publishers an end-to-end workflow solution that converts and monetizes print titles by tapping into three integrated modules: iPublishWidget, iPublishWarehouse and iPublishPortal.

Like other widgets, the iPublishWidget allows readers to promote content across social networks and blogs, and increases SEO. Meanwhile, the iPublishWarehouse allows publishers to sort, search, retrieve and distribute electronic versions of titles from a digital warehouse, and the iPublishPortal can be used to develop customizable portals while an online content generation system allows publishers to leverage content into online content products and bundles, the company said.

So far, Impelsys hasn’t partnered with any magazine publishers but is working with four book/journal publishers including MIT Press and the American College of Physicians. “One of our main reasons for choosing iPublishCentral was that its Flash-based projects display beautifully, and they offer us flexibility with how we market,” MIT Press marketing director Gita Manaktala told FOLIO:.

Publishers have the option to start on iPublishCentral at no cost for the basic features, the company says. Pricing for additional services haven’t been set yet, Shariff said.