Byliner and The Times Collaborate On a Line of Short E-Books

The Times Launches TimesFiles, Subject-Based Books Curated from Its Archives, Using Vook E-Book Publishing Platform

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2012-- The New York Times today announced the launch of two publishing programs -- New York Times short e-books co-published with the digital startup Byliner, and TimesFiles with Vook.

In collaboration with Byliner, The Times will co-publish up to a dozen New York Times / Byliner Originals in the next year featuring narratives in areas in which The Times has reporting expertise including culture, sports, business, science and health. While sometimes growing out of related Times reporting, the titles will offer new and original content that is not available in the paper or on NYTimes.com. The Originals will range from 10,000 to 20,000 words in length and are designed to be read in one sitting.

“Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek” by New York Times reporter John Branch, the first Times / Byliner Original, tells the harrowing story of skiers caught in an avalanche. It expands on an article that will publish in Monday’s paper. It will be available for purchase on Monday, December 17 at online retailers including Amazon.com (Kindle), Apple (iBooks), Barnes & Noble (NOOK), Byliner.com and NYTStore.com for $2.99.

“Byliner’s mission is to bring readers great stories by great writers, and we're thrilled to be collaborating with The New York Times on this series of original narratives,” said John Tayman, Byliner's founder and CEO. ”The Times has a deep and unparalleled tradition of extraordinary journalism, and we look forward to finding, developing, and publishing many important and lasting stories together.”

Future contributors to The Times-Byliner collaboration include Pulitzer-Prize-winner David Leonhardt, The Times’s Washington bureau chief, and Pulitzer-Prize-winner James B. Stewart, The Times’s “Common Sense” columnist and author of “Den of Thieves,” among other books.

“Our access to quality journalism and talented writers who can build on that content lends itself to the e-book platform,” said Gerald Marzorati, editor for editorial development of The New York Times. “We are excited to deliver the very best long-form journalism to readers, in collaboration with Byliner for our New York Times / Byliner Originals and in utilizing the Vook platform for our archival e-books.”

TimesFiles are curated selections of articles from The New York Times archives, assembled into compelling narratives about a particular topic or event. Built in collaboration with Vook using the Vook e-book publishing platform, the TimesFiles collection will have 25 e-books available on Monday, December 17, with many more expected to come in 2013. TimesFiles will be available starting at $1.99 from Amazon.com (Kindle), Apple (iBooks), Barnes & Noble (NOOK), and NYTStore.com. Launch titles include “The Fall of the Berlin Wall,” “George Steinbrenner and the Yankees” and “The Life and Films of John Hughes.”

“The New York Times produces some of the best journalism in the world, and e-books are the perfect way to curate and collect great reporting and commentary into compelling long-form narratives, easily accessible by readers on mobile devices and e-readers,” said Matthew Cavnar, VP of business development at Vook. “Vook is proud to help The New York Times scale production of beautifully styled e-books, quickly and efficiently bringing many titles to the marketplace.”

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading global, multimedia news and information company with 2011 revenues of $2.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, NYTimes.com, BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com and related properties. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news and information.

About Byliner

Named "One of the 10 Most Innovative Media Companies in the World," by Fast Company magazine, Byliner is the leading publisher of e-shorts, the fastest-growing segment of digital books. The San Francisco-based startup specializes in compelling works of original fiction and nonfiction, written to be read in two hours or less. Byliner Originals, as they’re called, are available on phone, tablet, or computer as part of Byliner's subscription service. They can also be purchased through digital bookstores such as Amazon, Apple's iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Google Play. In addition to commissioning original work, Byliner.com showcases great fiction and nonfiction stories by the world's best writers, allowing readers to easily find, read, and share new and classic stories by their favorite authors.

About Vook

Founded in 2009, Vook has created an innovative technology platform that allows content holders to create great ebooks, add video, audio and images, publish the ebooks to their own Web page and to the major e-Tailers, and track their sales. Vook provides a turn key solution for content strategy, including editorial, marketing and distribution services and has worked with a range of partners, including NBC, Simon & Schuster, The History Channel, Google and Newsweek Daily Beast. For more information, please visit http://vook.com

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com

Source: The New York Times

The New York Times
Danielle Rhoades Ha, 212-556-8719
Danielle.Rhoades-Ha@nytimes.com
or
Byliner
Clare Hertel, 505-474-6783
clare@byliner.com
or
Vook
Allison Horton, 626-264-2668
allison@vook.com