Hyperink, a San Francisco-based publishing startup focused on producing short nonfiction e-books on targeted topics, is launching a broader beta version of their publishing platform today. The venture has published 100 e-books since January and raised $1.2 million in venture capital investment.
Founded by Kevin Gao and Matt Lee, Hyperink is focused on researching subject topics that are in demand and finding experts who can produce 30-50 page nonfiction e-books on selected niche topics. Hyperink offers potential authors the option of writing the book themselves (for a higher royalty) or they will pair the would-be author with a capable ghost writer to produce the e-book for a lower royalty rate.
There are no upfront fees to authors, Gao said, emphasizing that Hyperink is invested in the success of its authors and makes money through the sale of its e-books. “If you write your own book, we’ll design and produce and do all the publisher stuff. We’ll pay a 50% royalty; if you use our ghost writers, we’ll pay a 25% royalty.” Gao said Hyperink also hires writers for a straight fee and has not paid out advances, “so far, but that would depend on the author.” He also said that Hyperink works to market the books using social media and making sure search engines find the book.
Hyperink publishes both straight text e-books (which are sold through a variety of outlets, including the Amazon Kindle and CreateSpace, B&N’s Nook and the iBookstore) as well as interactive media-rich versions of the same books (that include images, video and audio) that can be purchased through the Hyperink website. Prices range from $4.95 for The Life and Death of Steve Jobs by Michael Essany, an entertainment writer, columnist and blogger; to $25 for Ivy League Football Recruiting by Scott Britton, a 2010 Princeton grad and former All-Ivy Linebacker and co-captain of the Princeton football team.
Gao said Hyperink e-books focus on the “long tail,” or the ability of the web and online search capabilities to keep books on niche topics available long past their shelf life as a physical book. The company has a staff of six and Hyperink has raised more than $1.2 million in venture capital from a variety of investors that include Andreessen Horowitz, Y Combinator, SVAngel, Lerer Ventures (founders of HuffPo) and others.
“We focus on short books—most people don’t have time to read 200 page books—text driven nonfiction e-books on self-help and how-to titles that show off the world’s knowledge,” Gao told PW during a phone interview. Gao said that Hyerink is “demand-driven,” and uses a variety of research to find out “what consumers want to read.” Gao said the research includes search engine keywords (like so-called “content farms” ) but he emphasized that Hyperink also, “analyzes lots of data (both quantitative and qualitative) to understand exactly what topics and book titles people want to purchase.” He emphasized that unlike content farms, Hyperink is focused on “high quality content,” on focused subjects and niche categories. “We charge for our content so it’s got to be quality,” he said.
Like most new media focused publishing startups, Gao claims Hyperink can publish quality books on specific topics that they know people will buy and claims they can do it faster than traditional publishers—in addition to offering authors better terms. “The Big 6 [publishers] focus on titles like "How to get into college" and "The basics of filing a patent", Gao explained, “for us, it's not "how to get into college", but "how to get into Stanford", or "how to get into Harvard.”
Gao said they’re constantly looking for “experts” to work with to create books and he said the company is open to working with established publishers as well. “We offer a way to create beautiful e-books and we’re focused on online marketing and discoverability.”
