For book publishers and non-profits with conferences canceled due to COVID-19, we’re making the Publica online library and reader/media player available free of charge.
Our aim is to support the move to online conferences, with globally available publication repositories for the widest range of media types–aligned with our mission to enable the free flow of information, knowledge, and culture worldwide.
As we witness the wave of cancellations of vital gatherings and conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our publishing and media commerce service, Publica, has decided to offer our service free of charge to
- Book Publishers hit hard by book fair cancellations, who want to their catalogs and new releases in front of retailers and readers
- Non-Profit Organizations whose events are vitally important both to their constituents and to the community-at-large
Here’s How to Participate
If any of this resonates with you and your organization, please get in touch using this form. You can also connect with me directly on Twitter at @ronmartinez.
Once we’re connected, our team will work with you to get your Publica set up and to get your publications up and available as soon as possible.
You’ll be able to upload and share complete publications or samples of books, catalogs, presentations, white papers, research and audio in ePub, EPUB3, or PDF format, and for audio in MP3 format with optional chapter setup.
Support for Online Gatherings
The cancellation of a broad array of academic, non-profit, and commercial events necessary to flatten the corona virus infection growth curve will impede the free circulation of knowledge and culture at a time when we need these the most.
While streaming presentations, special interest chat channels, and even immersive VR gatherings like those made possible by the wonderful Hubs by Mozilla service will support the continued flow of vital information, we believe repositories of relevant publications across the widest range of media types will capture, preserve, and disseminate that information long after online events have ended.
That’s why we’re opening up our service in this way.
With an Advanced Web-Based Reader/Media Player
Along with an online publications archive, conference participants and other users will have access to Publica’s advanced web-based reader, with support for offline reading, annotations, text-to-speech capabilities, sharing, and in-publication translation to dozens of languages)
The Publica reader is based upon open industry standards, including the Readium platform and contemporary browser technologies.
Accessible Publications of Any Kind, Anywhere
Our globally available reader supports the widest range of content types, including:
- audiobooks
- conventional ePubs
- enriched, interactive EPUB3 books
- research and academic publications
- PDFs
- graphic novels
- illustrated children’s books
- replica editions of print publications with zoom control into articles
- with more to come…
And whether delivered by web or native app, Publica respects and protects intellectual property rights, but without any user experience-destroying or access-impeding DRM schemes. Access is controlled by, effectively, streaming publications to users.
About Publica
Born in Buenos Aires with a founding team formerly leading Mozilla open culture and technology programs throughout Latin America, and global in scope and application, Publica is an advanced and beautiful service enabling owners of the broadest range of publication types and formats to share, market, and sell directly, with complete ownership and control of the brand experience, customer relationship, pricing, access model, and more.
Visit Publica.la to learn more. (Here’s a demo storefront.)
About Us
Publica was founded by CEO Pablo Laurino, who’s headed up education and research projects for the Mozilla Foundation throughout Latin America. He has assembled an exceptionally talented and global team of designers, developers, and business operatives to put together something truly exceptional.
I’ve been working for the last decade on making global content commerce and marketing services for publishers, retailers, and independents of every description. And I have a longstanding interest in narrative systems and emerging forms of media that resonate on the contemporary web and in social streams, and on new platforms like Alexa, and Bose AR.
Thanks for All You Do!
And good luck to all of us as we navigate through this difficult time.
