Man Is The Media.
ZinePal Gets It Right: Proper Re-Packaging and Re-Distribution of Blogs
November 3rd, 2009 by Martin
You would think that the makers of Zinepal read this blog, but I’m sure it’s just coincidental: A while ago I wrote about similar services FeedJournal and Tabbloid and called for a somewhat different model: Using technology to repackage, edit, and re-distribute blog posts, instead of ‘just’ offering PDF dumps via email.
Now Zinepal does that, well … more or less. You import your blog via RSS feed, and is granted with the option to edit and improve content and layout before packaging into PDF. Oh, and not just PDF, it supports Epub and Kindle/Mobipocket, which increases distribution options significantly. You can even insert logo and ads. Check out the features, including the new Pro package.
Room for improvement
In case Frank Worsley, founder if ZinePal, does read this blog here are a few more features I’d like to see. It looks like he’s doing everything single handed, which is impressive, and of course he needs to specialize before he broadens out the specs. But allow me to dream a little:
- A subscription badge to put on my blog. Readers subscribe to a specific format, which would mean downloading or getting the latest edition via email using my custom layout settings.
- Automatic export to/embed with digital publishing sites such as Issuu (disclosure: I’m a co-founder). It could be done via the Issuu API.
- Professional templates. Newspaper design is an art form, so get a designer to create a number of templates. In the future you could even imagine a platform where people can submit and maybe even sell templates. Don’t forget: The PDF has the option to make content more beautiful than on the average blog and this is one of the most essential features that should be prioritized.
- Handling of rich content, e.g. inserting a JPG or icon with a link to YouTube videos etc. Right now rich content is just removed.
- And one for the future: Offering newspaper-esque HTML templates out of the box. The user (publisher/editor) just needs to input a domain to host it under. It would help add credibility to the content and effectively rid of the dull newspaper vs. blog discussion (at least in terms of technology and appearance). Of course, there are many blog templates to help achieve this already, but meddling with a blog template is still something very few can handle.
Why are ZinePal and similar services interesting?
It seems to me these services right now are ‘stuck’ in the realm of what is technologically possible. Which is understandable. But in the very near future I don’t believe PDF, Epub etc. formats should matter much to the consumers as their devices will read everything. They don’t care if content used to be a blog, because the distinction between blog or, say, newspaper is irrelevant (even non-existing to coming generations). Consumers want to get their content whenever, however, and wherever.
ZinePal et al should focus on seamless user experiences with a minimum of technical knowledge required. Pretty soon technology will effectively have democratized (replaced and made free/cheap) specialized newspaper production tools. And that’s why Zinepal is interesting, because it’s a step in the right direction.
It may be the future of publishing will be made up by several service providers, such as we’re seeing right now. But eventually consolidation will happen, making production and consumption easier. The small and innovative services getting it right today, may be the YouTubes of tomorrow.
