Standard Ebooks on the Qurika Store
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Jacob Mathew
Sep 5, 2020, 6:12:00 PM9/5/20
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Hi everyone,
My name is Jacob (Twitter, LinkedIn). First of all, I want to thank you for the work you all are doing. This is an amazing project. I used to use PG as my source for public domain books and it was always a challenge. I stumbled on Standard Ebooks only recently and I can't tell you how much I value your publications. You all are great!
On the topic at hand, I founded a company called Qurika to compete with Amazon Kindle. At the heart of it is an eBook reader for iOS and Android (iOS link, Android link) which I think is quite special. I try to bring back some of the joy of physical books to the screen. Here are some screenshots:
As you can see, it displays the book in 3D and you can interact with it as you would a physical book, so you always know where you are in the book, know immediately how big a book is (the books have meaningful thickness), flip through it, etc.
I would love for you to try it and let me know what you think. Or let me know what you think even if you don't try it. I'm always open to feedback. (Here are the links again: iOS, Android)
Currently, Qurika is a bring-your-own-books reader but I'm in the process of integrating a store/marketplace to it. To start with, I want to make some public domain books available on it. My original idea was that I would use SE as a source for the text and publish them under a Qurika imprint. I had chatted with Alex over email to make sure he was ok with that, and he was.
But I've been following the emails on the mailing list and I noticed that there was actually some interest in getting SE books on online stores and that you have talked to them in the past but there have been issues with handling the frequency in which SE pushes new versions out.
If this is something SE is interested in, I WOULD LOVE to host SE editions officially on the Qurika store. Obviously Qurika is a nascent company, so it is not the same as being on Amazon, but I think we have a truly amazing reading experience that will add value to SE.
On SE's end, I would need, well, nothing. Between the RSS and OPDS feed, I should be able to set it up to be completely automatic. But if you want a stronger integration that is something I'm happy to work on. You would be the first publisher on Qurika, so I can shape things to SE's needs.
Please let me know what you think!
-Jacob
Alex Cabal
Sep 5, 2020, 6:49:45 PM9/5/20
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Sounds great, go for it!
You can use the OPDS feed to get a list of ebooks. The feed contains
updated timestamps, so you can compare them to what you have in your
catalog and update them when necessary. Checking once a day is probably
sufficient, and it would be nice if you issued an HTTP HEAD request to
check the feed's modified timestamp, to avoid downloading the complete
feed itself if it hasn't changed.
Ebooks are modified fairly frequently so it's important to have the
latest version in your catalog. Good luck!
On 9/5/20 5:11 PM, Jacob Mathew wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> My name is Jacob (<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobgmathew/>Twitter
> <https://twitter.com/jacobgmathew>, LinkedIn
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobgmathew/>). First of all, I want to
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qurika.androidapp>)
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qurika.androidapp>)
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
You can use the OPDS feed to get a list of ebooks. The feed contains
updated timestamps, so you can compare them to what you have in your
catalog and update them when necessary. Checking once a day is probably
sufficient, and it would be nice if you issued an HTTP HEAD request to
check the feed's modified timestamp, to avoid downloading the complete
feed itself if it hasn't changed.
Ebooks are modified fairly frequently so it's important to have the
latest version in your catalog. Good luck!
On 9/5/20 5:11 PM, Jacob Mathew wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> <https://twitter.com/jacobgmathew>, LinkedIn
> <https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobgmathew/>). First of all, I want to
> thank you for the work you all are doing. This is an amazing project. I
> used to use PG as my source for public domain books and it was always a
> challenge. I stumbled on Standard Ebooks only recently and I can't tell
> you how much I value your publications. You all are great!
>
> On the topic at hand, I founded a company called Qurika to compete with
> Amazon Kindle. At the heart of it is an eBook reader for iOS and Android
> (iOS link
> <https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qurika/id1311181192?mt=8>, Android link
> used to use PG as my source for public domain books and it was always a
> challenge. I stumbled on Standard Ebooks only recently and I can't tell
> you how much I value your publications. You all are great!
>
> On the topic at hand, I founded a company called Qurika to compete with
> Amazon Kindle. At the heart of it is an eBook reader for iOS and Android
> (iOS link
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qurika.androidapp>)
> which I think is quite special. I try to bring back some of the joy of
> physical books to the screen. Here are some screenshots:
>
> physical books to the screen. Here are some screenshots:
>
> Screen Shot 2020-09-05 at 9.58.13 AM.png
>
> As you can see, it displays the book in 3D and you can interact with it
> as you would a physical book, so you always know where you are in the
> book, know immediately how big a book is (the books have meaningful
> thickness), flip through it, etc.
>
> I would love for you to try it and let me know what you think. Or let me
> know what you think even if you don't try it. I'm always open to
> feedback. (Here are the links again: iOS
> <https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qurika/id1311181192?mt=8>, Android
>
> As you can see, it displays the book in 3D and you can interact with it
> as you would a physical book, so you always know where you are in the
> book, know immediately how big a book is (the books have meaningful
> thickness), flip through it, etc.
>
> I would love for you to try it and let me know what you think. Or let me
> know what you think even if you don't try it. I'm always open to
> feedback. (Here are the links again: iOS
> <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qurika.androidapp>)
>
> Currently, Qurika is a bring-your-own-books reader but I'm in the
> process of integrating a store/marketplace to it. To start with, I want
> to make some public domain books available on it. My original idea was
> that I would use SE as a source for the text and publish them under a
> Qurika imprint. I had chatted with Alex over email to make sure he was
> ok with that, and he was.
>
> But I've been following the emails on the mailing list and I noticed
> that there was actually some interest in getting SE books on online
> stores and that you have talked to them in the past but there have been
> issues with handling the frequency in which SE pushes new versions out.
>
> If this is something SE is interested in, I WOULD LOVE to host SE
> editions officially on the Qurika store. Obviously Qurika is a nascent
> company, so it is not the same as being on Amazon, but I think we have a
> truly amazing reading experience that will add value to SE.
>
> On SE's end, I would need, well, nothing. Between the RSS and OPDS feed,
> I should be able to set it up to be completely automatic. But if you
> want a stronger integration that is something I'm happy to work on. You
> would be the first publisher on Qurika, so I can shape things to SE's needs.
>
> Please let me know what you think!
>
> -Jacob
>
> --
> Currently, Qurika is a bring-your-own-books reader but I'm in the
> process of integrating a store/marketplace to it. To start with, I want
> to make some public domain books available on it. My original idea was
> that I would use SE as a source for the text and publish them under a
> Qurika imprint. I had chatted with Alex over email to make sure he was
> ok with that, and he was.
>
> But I've been following the emails on the mailing list and I noticed
> that there was actually some interest in getting SE books on online
> stores and that you have talked to them in the past but there have been
> issues with handling the frequency in which SE pushes new versions out.
>
> If this is something SE is interested in, I WOULD LOVE to host SE
> editions officially on the Qurika store. Obviously Qurika is a nascent
> company, so it is not the same as being on Amazon, but I think we have a
> truly amazing reading experience that will add value to SE.
>
> On SE's end, I would need, well, nothing. Between the RSS and OPDS feed,
> I should be able to set it up to be completely automatic. But if you
> want a stronger integration that is something I'm happy to work on. You
> would be the first publisher on Qurika, so I can shape things to SE's needs.
>
> Please let me know what you think!
>
> -Jacob
>
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "Standard Ebooks" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
Jacob Mathew
Sep 5, 2020, 7:59:05 PM9/5/20
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Awesome! I'm really excited about this.
I'm hoping to have the store live by the end of the year, so that is roughly the timeline for this.
I can poll the OPDS feed to keep Qurika in sync and I will make sure to check the timestamps with a HEAD. If you want to push updates immediately to the store I can provide a webhook to call when the catalog changes. I would prefer to have the webhook in place if that is something you are willing to implement on your end. I would like to get Qurika in sync as promptly as possible.
This is something we can discuss over the course of the implementation but is there anything you think you need from Qurika's end? For example, are you interested in querying for stats? There will be a dashboard (minimal when we start out) which I can give you access to with a UI that gives you basic stats, but if you want it programmatically I can accommodate that as well. For example, if you want to display the number of downloads on the book page and you want to include the Qurika downloads as well. Incidentally, are you willing to share the number of downloads you are getting per day across all books? I would like to get some sense of the size of the SE readership.
Finally, also something we can discuss later, but would you be willing to link to the Qurika Store page for the book from SE's website?
-Jacob
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Jacob Mathew
Sep 5, 2020, 8:26:46 PM9/5/20
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Just got a crash report from the app. I don't know if it is from anyone on this list, but if you are having trouble trying out the app, please let me know and I will try to help.
Pardon the few bugs that I still need to fix. Though there are not too many I think. It should be a smooth experience for the most part.
-Jacob
Alex Cabal
Sep 5, 2020, 11:04:08 PM9/5/20
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I think querying the OPDS feed will be sufficient. HTTP HEAD will tell
you if it's changed, and the crawlable feed is listed with
most-recently-updated first, so if you remember the last book you
updated and its timestamp, then you can quickly tell when to stop
parsing the feed for new changes since the crawlable feed can be very
large. Once a day is definitely enough, I don't think up-to-the-second
updates with a web hook is going to make any material difference to
anyone and it will be a lot of work for us to maintain.
Our site doesn't link to any outside ebook sources at the moment, sorry.
> <mailto:standardebooks%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>
> > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebooks%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>>.
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVku_Bng3GkDvJmcvzk-WWo3G0ZM5abU%2B8EQMY-tOPv9A%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
you if it's changed, and the crawlable feed is listed with
most-recently-updated first, so if you remember the last book you
updated and its timestamp, then you can quickly tell when to stop
parsing the feed for new changes since the crawlable feed can be very
large. Once a day is definitely enough, I don't think up-to-the-second
updates with a web hook is going to make any material difference to
anyone and it will be a lot of work for us to maintain.
Our site doesn't link to any outside ebook sources at the moment, sorry.
> > <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com
> <mailto:standardebooks%2Bunsu...@googlegroups.com>>.
> > To view this discussion on the web visit
> >
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com
> >
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> >
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com
> >
> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/standardebooks/CA%2B3VAdVub%3DLdXtxiDdkSyvwUKmZee-SAJiWdL3ighk-DAy%2BPvA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>.
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
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> <mailto:standardebook...@googlegroups.com>.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
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Jacob Mathew
Sep 6, 2020, 1:56:56 PM9/6/20
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Not what I was hoping you would say about linking from SE obviously. If it is a question of development work, I'm happy to contribute.
If you are not linking from SE then I guess a delay of a day is not very significant. I was imagining a link to the Qurika store along with the other download links and then I think it would be important that everything gets in sync quickly.
If I run into any issues or have any questions I will get in touch.
I'm looking forward to this!
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