AVENTINE, a free app for the iPad and iPhone (MERGED)

[Cliff Ball]

I just got an e-mail from Rubicon Media(never heard of them) having an application for Ipad, called Aventine, and they want authors to submit their works for free. Has anyone else gotten this e-mail? I got it because I was doing well on Smashwords.  I've turned mighty skeptical over the years about stuff that "will change your life forever!", so I was wondering if anyone else knows anything about it?

http://aventineapp.com/

[derekprior]

Anyone heard of this? I had an email, which I'm assuming is spam, claiming they want original titles to be included with the application and most of the profits going to the author. They claim to have gotten my details from Smashwords.

[Nancy C. Johnson, Author]

So, not quite getting this. If you buy an iPhone or iPad, they will somehow offer it as a book there?

I own neither one, but my daughter has an iPhone.

Nancy

[David McAfee]

Never heard of it. But then, I'm not doing well on Smashwords, so there's probably a reason.

[Ann in Arlington]

I merged your two threads on the same topic into one. . . . .

[VickiT]

Yes, I received an email, too.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm still investigating. The website doesn't offer a lot of information.

[sierra09]

I got that e-mail as well the other night but life is too hectic right now to check into it so I wrote it off as spam.

[Ricky Sides]

Sierra,

Don't. I've followed up on the matter to a degree. Already signed the author release form and sent in copies of the first four books in my peacekeeper series.

This is what I know to this point:

Rubicon Media is proud to announce AVENTINE, a free app for the iPad and iPhone that will feature new and original works by authors. Complete with a customized reader, an in-app purchasing mechanism, and the ability to subscribe to favorite authors and rate and review works, AVENTINE looks to not only allow authors to reach users of the iPad, but to take part in a revolutionary method of the publisher-author relationship.

As I said, this service is absolutely free for you. All you have to do is submit your work for consideration. Once your work is approved, it will be included in our in-app store for purchase. You will earn a portion of that purchase and the percentage is based on how many times your work is downloaded – not each individual work, but your entire body of work, creating a unique opportunity for you to earn a lot of money the more you submit, and, again, at no cost!

Rubicon Media is currently accepting novels, short stories, poetry, plays, how-to's, memoirs, comics, and all original works of literature that inspire people to read.

So please find attached a short reader detailing everything a potential author needs to know about joining AVENTINE.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards,
Jason Consolacion

--
Jason Consolacion
Director of Acquisitions
Rubicon Media, Inc.
It's not the iPad that will change publishing. It's YOU.
aventineapp.com

http://aventineapp.com/


Here are some details from the PDF document he referenced:

AVENTINE is not a classic publisher. Full-length e-books are only a part of the application’s collection. Freed from the economic constraints of printing books, AVENTINE has the capacity to display and sell works of different genres and lengths.

A diverse collection of works will be found on the application, from full-length novels of fiction, non-fiction works, memoirs, short stories, plays, compilations of poems, reference and how-to’s, comic e-books, and anything else that inspires people to read.

Works on AVENTINE will be priced starting at $0.99. Depending on the length, experience of the author, and marketability of the work, the price for users will vary. A sample of each work can be downloaded for free by users.

AVENTINE will automatically reject works that are incomplete or riddled with grammatical errors. If you believe you have a quality work that requires polishing, AVENTINE can recommend an experienced proofreader to assist you.

There is no length or language requirement. There is no adult-oriented content on the application.

Authors are paid on an innovative commission schedule. Put simply, the more authors sell, the larger their commission. In the traditional publishing model, authors are measured by the performance of their most recent work. At AVENTINE, there is a different perspective. AVENTINE calculates success and commission rates on a continuing basis. Authors don’t start back at zero when they release a new work. For example, if an author submits a work and it sells 900 times, that author would achieve a split-level of 20%. When the author submits the next work and sells 100 more, the split-level advances to 25% because the total sales are now at 1,000. Commission is not based on each
individual work, but rather the author’s entire body of work, continually building their earnings with AVENTINE.

AVENTINE Author Earnings Schedule
(percentages based on net sales)

First 500 downloads Author earns 20%

501-999 downloads Author earns 25%

1,000-1,999 downloads Author earns 30%

2,000-3,999 downloads Author earns 35%

4,000-7,999 downloads Author earns 40%

8,000-15,999 downloads Author earns 45%

16,000+ downloads Author earns 50%


How Do I Get Started?

It’s easy.

AVENTINE is currently seeking writers to add to its roster of talent. Becoming a published author has never been easier.

Visit aventineapp.com where you can upload your work as a PDF or Word document. (Edit by Ricky: The website is not yet fully functional, and according to Jason Consolacion, Director of Acquisitions, it won’t be until sometime next month.)

The file will be sent to AVENTINE’s Acquisitions Department for review. If your work is accepted you will be contacted by a member Rubicon Media who will present you with a publishing agreement.

******

I have since received an author release form in the email to digitally sign and returned that form. It took a couple of hours to recive my copy, which the Director of Acquisitions had signed. I sent digital copies of the first 4 books of my peacekeeper series to the company via the email addy the director supplied because the site is not yet fully functional. I’ll let you folks know how this pans out.

This is just speculation on my behalf, but getting in on this early may prove advantageous. It’s a matter of odds. Currently, our books are in the apple store, but realistically it is unlikely that users will be drawn to our products. Populating this app with works upon release should drastically improve the odds of our work being viewed by the customer base.

Or maybe my thinking is way off. (:>

At first glance, the earnings potential is inferior to Amazon, but there is potential for growth as the downloads increase. You'll be getting in on the ground floor. That should help get more exposure for your books. The app should, in my opinion, garner more exposure than a mere presence in the itunes store can generate. Thus sales, even if the percentages are lower, will be additional income. There's no denying that 70% of zero = zero. 

Now if the company sends me a response saying they want me to pay a fee for an editing service or something of that nature, then I'll have cause to wonder if it's one of those deals where the company makes their money off of services rendered to authors. But at this point I have no reason to think that is the case. We all know that with the release of the ipad there is a rush to release apps.

My advice to you is don't ignore this opportunity, but proceed carefully.

Have a great day,
Ricky

[Greenkeeper]

Anyone know anything about the Aventine app for IPad/IPhone? I got an email referencing my Smashwords books saying that they were seeking authors to submit books for their app. From the looks of it the app is essentially an eBook store comparable to Kindle or Smashwords (ie no cost to publish, earn a % of of each sale, etc). According to the .PDF they sent books have to be approved before publishing and the author retains rights (I'd want to read a contract first), but the commission starts at only 20% and ramps up to 50% as you sell more.

Does anyone know how legit this is, and is anyone else doing it? I never hurts to be available at another outlet but I like to be cautious with stuff like this. The email is below:

Rubicon Media is proud to announce AVENTINE, a free app for the iPad and iPhone that will feature new and original works by authors. Complete with a customized reader, an in-app purchasing mechanism, and the ability to subscribe to favorite authors and rate and review works, AVENTINE looks to not only allow authors to reach users of the iPad, but to take part in a revolutionary method of the publisher-author relationship.

As I said, this service is absolutely free for you. All you have to do is submit your work for consideration. Once your work is approved, it will be included in our in-app store for purchase. You will earn a portion of that purchase and the percentage is based on how many times your work is downloaded – not each individual work, but your entire body of work, creating a unique opportunity for you to earn a lot of money the more you submit, and, again, at no cost!

Rubicon Media is currently accepting novels, short stories, poetry, plays, how-to's, memoirs, comics, and all original works of literature that inspire people to read.

So please find attached a short reader detailing everything a potential author needs to know about joining AVENTINE. Feel free to e-mail me at jc@rubiconmediainc.com if you have any questions.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Regards,
Jason Consolacion

--
Jason Consolacion
Director of Acquisitions
Rubicon Media, Inc.
It's not the iPad that will change publishing. It's YOU.
aventineapp.com

[Nancy C. Johnson, Author]

Greenkeeper, I don't know much about it, but I do know that other authors here received the same email, and were wondering the same thing. It just might be legit, so I would check into it further. Hopefully, more will be posted about this in the near future.

Nancy

[Ricky Sides]

Hi there,

See this thread:

http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php?action=printpage;topic=24707.0

In the thread, I wrote a post about my experience to date with Rubicon. Nothing has changed as of this moment.

Sincerely,
Ricky

[Greenkeeper]

Thanks for the link Ricky, that's more or less what I was thinking. I requested to see a sample contract first but this actually seems like a fairly low risk deal.

[Ricky Sides]

Thanks for the link Ricky, that's more or less what I was thinking. I requested to see a sample contract first but this actually seems like a fairly low risk deal.

You're welcome.

It seems to me to be a low risk deal too, but you never know.

Have a great day,
Ricky

[David Derrico]

It might not be a scam (don't know enough at this point if they plan to actually pay out or not, or if they plan to shove overpriced "services" on authors), but 20% royalties are pretty darn low, when we can (soon) get 70% straight from Amazon or the iBook store, and already-established services like Smashwords gives 85% (after credit card fees or retailer cuts). Clearly this start-up won't sell MORE copies than Amazon or Apple will, so you'd think they'd want to entice authors with a higher royalty percentage, not less than 1/3rd what Amazon pays.

Also, the ramp-up numbers are pretty ridiculous. A start-up with no user base and probably little to no funding and advertising expects you to sell 16,000 copies just to get to 50% royalties?? Yeah, OK, that means I'd probably be selling a few hundred thousand on Amazon and publishers would be beating down my door. What is their business plan where they plan to get that many customers coming in their virtual doors? And *I* certainly won't be sending traffic their way, when I can send customers to Amazon or iBooks and get 70%.

Definitely not author-friendly or even particularly competitive numbers, IMHO.

[Ricky Sides]

David,

You make an interesting and compelling argument against the deal. I agree with almost everything you said. However, I do wonder if you are right about the iBook store. This is what I'm thinking. Tell me if you think I'm wrong.

In the iBook store, our books are one of tens of thousands. In a newly populated app, our books would be one of hundreds at startup. Possibly less. Wouldn't that greatly increase the odds of sales? If that is true, then doesn't it stand to reason that we'd be making more from that market than we can reasonably expect as one of tens of thousands, but with no means to promote our books in that venue? If the deal in Non-Exclusive, then where's the harm?

Now, David, I'm not trying to be argumentative or combative here. I'm a rookie at all of this and I'm trying to learn. If I'm wrong, would you please help me understand why I'm wrong?

It just seems to me that a smaller piece of the action is better than none at all.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Ricky

[Jay Hartman]

Any indication as to whether or not they're taking publishers, or just authors?

I do think it sounds like a really lousy deal from a royalties standpoint, but then again exposure is exposure. I haven't made a dime over at Scribd, but I continue to upload my authors there for exposure in the hopes that people will read the sample there and buy it elsewhere.

Jay

[Betsy the Quilter]

I've merged two similar threads, hope I don't confuse anyone!

Thanks

Betsy

[David Derrico]

Ricky, first of all, don't worry, you're far from combative! This forum is here for discussion. And what I say is just my own opinion.  

The way I see it, if it's non-exclusive, it's probably not any huge loss to put your books in there. However, if anyone buys your books there instead of Amazon or iBooks, you lose royalties, sales ranking, and possibly reviews on a much more important channel. Now, if the sales are 100% additional new customers that wouldn't have found you otherwise, then you haven't lost anything.

As for sales numbers, I just can't imagine that a small publisher I've never heard of will have any appreciable number of sales when competing with Amazon, B&N, Sony, Apple, Kobo, etc., etc., etc. ESPECIALLY when they're starting this late in the game AND with such a lousy royalty rate. I just can't see them luring enough authors to have a compelling catalogue. Why would I shop there if (a) I've never heard of them, (b) their selection is poor, and (c) I know more of my money goes to the author buying direct or from Amazon or pretty much anywhere else?

Yes, you will be a bigger fish in a smaller pond, but if the pond is just a tiny puddle… I just don't know if it's worth the hassle, chance of being ripped off, chance of losing sales elsewhere, etc. They might not even pay out royalties under a certain amount, which you may never see. With that low a royalty, I don't see them being successful; they might fold before you see a dime. And just for the principal of the thing, why would I accept 20% royalties when the standard is now 70%?

[Ricky Sides]

David,

You made some really good points. In further support of your argument is the fact that there are thousands of apps springing up for the iPad, so first the Aventine app has to be utilized by the iPad owners. That effectively doubles the odds against iPad users actually seeing the listing for our books. Of course the app will be free, thus more likely to see use.

Thank you for taking the time to help me gain a better understanding of this. I'll ponder the matter carefully before contracting with them, if they even offer a contract.  That's not a given.

I don't know about being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. I was looking at it more as being one of the first lions at the kill.  Bigger and stronger lions are sure to come too, but I'd be content and well fed.

Have a great day,
Ricky

[JimC1946]

I just searched for the Aventine app on my iPad, and the app is not up yet.