EBOK.NO celebrated its first anniversary last week.
Schibsted Media Group’s Norwegian ebook venture has had a lean start up with a small team of three people. EBOK.NO has quickly gained a prominent position in the Norwegian market with an almost 30 percent share of ebooks and downloadable audio books. EBOK.NO has had a considerable presence in the Schibsted newspapers, both in print and digital display ads. This has contributed to a doubling of brand awareness in the second quarter.
“I am very satisfied with the position we have established in the Norwegian market, which I believe is due to a great team and hard work. We are now growing; the latest member on board is our new Head of Customer Service, Emilie Jarto, who joined us recently from Schibsted Forlag,” says CEO Elizabeth Sellevold.
EBOK.NO has contributed to synergies with Schibsted’s Norwegian media houses. The online newspapers offer ebooks to their readers. This has been successful initiative providing the newspaper readers with added value as a lot of them are also are avid book readers.
Recently VG included embedded free reading samples provided by EBOK.NO in all their book reviews. You can see an example of the international bestselling author David Nicholls here.
“Being a part of Schibsted Media Group is definitely a great advantage, and we are now looking into how to create even more synergies inside our network,” says Sellevold.
EBOK.NO is growing. Recently, Emelie Jarto (inserted) joined the rest of the team as Head of Customer Service: (From left ) Editor Erlend Rogne, CEO Elizabeth Sellevold and Marketing Manager Sara Kjelstrup.
Shaping the ebook future – today
The ebook industry in Norway is still in its early days, and EBOK.NO’s goal is to expand the market.
“Even though the general digital transformation in the Norwegian book industry has been fairly unhurried until now, we know that the market for ebooks and downloadable audio books will grow in the future. Creating an attractive business model and providing cheap offerings are crucial in order to expand the market for digital books,” Sellevold says.
Since launch EBOK.NO has gained an important voice in the Norwegian ebook market. To achieve this position it has been important to join the discussion about the development and the regulations of the industry.
“My aim has been to be the ebook’s advocate, so that we can improve the offering to our readers, for instance with cheaper prices and a larger selection of books. This position has been vacant as the major industry players have been mostly preoccupied with their print business. Pushing for digital transformation in the industry, I have had numerous discussions with relevant organizations, authors, politicians, journalists, and the general public through newspaper columns and on Twitter. “
Read an interview with Sellevold about EBOK.NO and the Norwegian ebook industry on the website Bok365 (in Norwegian).