RockASAP, an ebook initiative by Handygo Technologies has announced its partnership with publishers like Diamond Comics Books, OM Books, Rajkamal Prakashan, Katha, Times Group and Pratham increasing the number of publishers available on Rockstand from 54 to 100. The publishers have inked a partnership with RockASAP that is based on revenue sharing. RockASAP is also planning to sign a contract with Disney by the end of this financial year. Why are publishers signing up for an ebook platform? Speaking to Medianama, Rishi Mohan Jha, Head, RockASAP Retail Pvt. Ltd. said that some of these publishers had released their own app but the limited number of titles with each publisher makes it necessary for readers to download several apps. This he says has been working to Rockstand’s advantage. The partnership is being viewed as an additional source of revenue for the publishers. Target audience: Although Rockstand is looking to go global, currently their main focus is to target the Indian market and hence the increase in the number of partnerships with Indian publishers to provide more regional content. Presently, Rockstand offers content in 13 languages including English, Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu. Apart from adults, Rockstand also caters to children with titles like Chacha Chaudhary, Billu, Pinki etc. They currently provide 54 magazines on the app. Process of publishing and features: Publishers usually share the pdf of the books with RockASAP which are then converted by them into ePub. Rockstand bears the cost of digitizing the books. Rockstand is a…
