Sinapses is a Portuguese online book editor publisher with 3 persons working behind the scenes – João Pereira, Rui Justiniano and Sérgio Amaral.
The idea behind this project is to provide “unknown” writers an easy way to publish their stories online for a large audience, and if they are lucky enough their ebook can become an actual (printed) book. The first batch of books was released on Monday and they can be downloaded for free at Sinapses.net in Portuguese only.
To talk a bit more about this innovative project I got my friend João Pereira to answer a few questions:
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- When did the project get started?
One year ago. Putting the idea into practice was a rather slow process.
First, we received far more books than we could review (many of them are still waiting for approval). Then, one of the persons I first invited to join the project decided to leave and we had to find another one. And, finally, we all have our jobs and not that much spare time to devote to this project.
- How many books are currently available? In which writing styles can they be categorized?
We have six ebooks available and many more submissions to review. They are all literary books – from novels to poetry.
- Any plans to enter the English market?
No. We will stick to the Portuguese speaking market. And that’s a lot, especially because of the Brazilian market.
- What are the plans to generate income for Sinapses? And the writers? Any luck so far?
Revenue may come from two ways: online advertising and printed books sales. Profits from sales are shared with the authors.
I’ll explain that last part a little bit further. Some of our ebooks may be published as printed books. We have a risk safe model for this. We will try to get sponsors who, in exchange from advertising space on printed books (as well as the site and ebooks) will help cover printing costs. We will only publish a book when we have enough money to cover the expenses. If you have expenses covered, virtually all money you make from sales is profit.
So (and I think that’s unheard of – here in Portugal, at least) we will have books with ads, in a model similar to newspapers and magazines. But we are very sensitive about what kind of ads we will place on books. And author will also have a vote on this. We don’t want to compromise the books artistic integrity and will always try to achieve a balance.
- What is the selection system to accept or deny books?
We choose books based on what we consider to be innovative, quality writing and, if it applies, good story telling. Our focus is on literature, so our choices are very subjective.
- Can you give an idea about statistics? Number of visits? Number of downloads?
Not yet. We will reveal ebook download statistics some time soon, but we haven’t decided exactly when. I can say, however, the first days surpassed our expectations.
- What is the general reaction of people when you mention electronic books as a way to promote writers?
Well, it is still difficult to most people to consider an ebook a real book. Unlike music (which became mostly digital and people don’t hesitate to just download from the Internet), books still have a value as an object.
Also, reading lengthy texts on screen is still a bit tiring, especially for those who work 8 hours plus in front of a computer. Our books are made to be easily printed in a home printer. On the other hand, some companies are already working on ebook readers, but this technology is still a bit far from the average consumer.
We think this is a growing market that has a lot of potential. But is still far from being a mature one.
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