Worried that nothing technologically newsworthy is going to happen before the iPad comes out on April 3rd? Fear not! There’s a big, exciting launch today – We’re releasing Seth Godin’s Unleashing the SUPER Ideavirus Vook. And for a limited time, we’re reducing the price from $4.99 to only 99 cents!

Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most downloaded e-book of all time, and the Vook version completely updates it with 18 incredible new videos and insights from Seth that puts the book on today’s bleeding edge.

With the Unleashing the SUPER Ideavirus Vook you can read, watch, explore new concepts on the Web and share assets from the Vook with your friends. And you can take it everywhere with you on your iPhone. These strategies can be absorbed and spread faster than you can say, “God Bless You.”

Vook worked with the Brooklyn based production company Captain & The Fox to produce the videos — and the filmmakers really made this one a success. Not just complimentary to the text, the videos actually update the book and bring its core lessons into the world where we live today. The themes of Ideavirus are enduring, but companies change, disappear and grow. Luckily, our filmmakers move at the speed of creative inspiration. That expertise and sharp eye combined with Seth’s reflections and insight make for an incredible package.

You can find the Webbased version of the Vook on Vook.com.

And you can get the iTunes app in the iTunes store.

The Vook’s a tremendous value at only 99 cents (for a limited time!) and we’re sure you’re going to love it as much as we do. It’s one of the best Vooks we’ve ever made.
Best,

Team Vook

Twitter: @vooktv

Related posts:

1. VOOK RELEASES ANNE RICE
2. Vook is only as good as its filmmakers
3. Vook releases Treasure Island

Anne Rice has created some of the most powerful and captivating vampire stories in literature—and we were overjoyed when she agreed to work with us. Today, you can see why we were so excited with the release of Anne Rice’s The Master of Rampling Gate Vook. We’re thrilled with this title and we want as many people as possible to read it—so for a limited time, we’re discounting the Vook from its $4.99 list price to a special limited time price of only .99 cents.

At only .99 cents, this Vook is a steal. It features a vampire story written at the height of Anne Rice’s fascination with the dark, entrancing creatures. The entire story is enhanced with seven sharp, engaging videos about vampires, the black plague, the gothic style and Anne Rice herself.

Anne Rice has been a critical part of the Vook’s creation, working with our New Orleans based filmmaker Phinizy Percy to make videos that add a whole new element to the story. Phinizy’s creative vision fit seamlessly with Anne’s. As he told us, “My favorite part of working on the Master of Rampling Gate Vook had to be listening to all of Anne Rice’s interview from her home in Rancho Mirage. The experience of the reader is not only enhanced by both relevant background and history, but also hearing directly from Anne Rice. Seeing her “at work,” provides so much more depth and realism to the story.”

Don’t miss this incredible Vook. Check it out in the iTunes store. Or go to Vook.com to pick up the Web version. Either way, prepare to immerse yourself in a haunting, seductive tale from Anne Rice, packed with videos that give you a new and captivating look into her world.

Enjoy,

Team Vook 
http://vook.com Twitter: @vooktv

Related posts:

1. Vook and Anne Rice
2. Vook is only as good as its filmmakers
3. Vook releases Treasure Island

Vook has a simple idea: put great filmmakers together with great authors and let them create a new kind of media. But for this to succeed, we need a talented filmmaker who can be imaginative, work with another creative vision and shoot and edit for an entirely new form.

This combination of talents — authors and filmmakers whose proccesses compliment each other– has come alive with a series of new Vooks that clearly demonstrate the value (and the fun) of this partnership between publishing and film making.

Over the course of the last six months, we have tapped the creative talents of filmmakers on the East Coast and the West Coast, in New Orleans, London and Prague.

Here are some credits we would like to acknowledge:

CRUSH IT! by Lauren Saffa

For this tremendous title, filmmaker Lauren Saffa worked closely with author Gary Vaynerchuk to give his audience a different perspective on the Crush It! world. Gary already has a strong online video presence through his daily wine video blog, so Saffa had to find a smart way to bring a new side of Gary to his readers. The result was an overwhelming success: numerous reviews have pointed out that the combination of video and text really shows Gary’s passion at its best.

The Master of Rampling Gate by Phinizy Percy Jr.

Anne Rice is a beloved, world class author — one of the premiere story tellers of our time. When she agreed to do a Vook, we were thrilled — and we knew we had to tap New Orleans’ best to work with Anne. Filmmaker Phinizy Percy Jr. jumped at the opportunity and his work brings the world that inspired Anne Rice to life.

Alice in Wonderland by Emma Heald

Emma Heald is a London based filmmaker and her interpretation of this classic tale combines the surreal sensibility of Lewis Carrol’s original with a deft eye for sharp filmmaking. It’s the kind of work that you’d expect to see featured on children’s television — and as part of the book, it brings a tasteful and compelling video element that’s in perfect harmony with Carroll. . .

Brothers Grimm, Jekyll & Hyde, Frog Prince , Sherlock Holmes, Jack in the Beanstock and Embassy  by Michael Franchetti & Adad Warda

Michael Franchetti and Adad Warda are Prague based filmmakers who have done yeoman’s work for Vook. They’ve been onboard since the beginning — they were responsible for the Sherlock Holmes vook that’s had 30,000 + downloads in the iTunes store — and their Vooks are always staff favorites. Thanks for delivering again and again, guys!

Unleashing the Ideavirus by Captain & the Fox

Rachel Webster and Moss Levenson run the Captain & the Fox production company in Brooklyn. We knew they’d be the perfect people to entrust with our high profile title from Seth Godin, “Unleashing the Ideavirus” — and they nailed the project. The videos are beyond excellent, far higher quality than most television, and the artful integration of different profiles and personalities smartly updates “Unleashing the Ideavirus” for today’s world.

Return to Beauty by Christopher Chambers

A graduate of the prestigious AFI, Christopher Chambers brought his high end skills and technical prowess to creating “Return to Beauty.” The beautiful videos — all shot in high def — of author Narine Nikogosian make this a marquee title that showcases the polished look that we can achieve with our filmmakers.

Promises by Robert Sobul

Robert Sobul’s work on Jude Deveraux’s “Promises” should be an inspiration to any filmmaker wondering how fiction and video can work hand in and hand, complementing and enhancing each other. When I first saw the pieces, I thought — Robert’s produced a Terence Malick take on romance . It’s stunning stuff.

Keeping it Real (estate) by Robert Chapman

Filmmaker Robert Chapman was our go to man for popular Real Estate blogger Kris Berg. When we decided we needed to produce this title in under a week, Robert worked fiendishly to make it happen. His translation of Kris’s hectic life into video makes Vooking look easy.

LOVE LOVE LOVE by Greg Mocker

New York Renaissance  man Greg Mocker did something new even for us — he put a contemporary spin on the sonnets of William Shakespeare, with real New Yorkers reciting the poems. This was a fun, clever project that only someone as mercurial as Greg could pull off — and he did it with panache.

The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen by Peter Duddington and Dicky Dahl

One of the first Vooks we ever produced, the Breakaway Japanese Kitchen was created by Peter Duddington and Dicky Dahl — and we liked it so much that we’ve brought Peter onboard to become a permanent member of the team. Dicky Dahl turned the Vook out in record time and helped set the standard for our efficient production model.

Of course, we couldn’t have accomplished anything without the help of TurnHere. The TH staff unites us with these great filmmakers and help guarantee that our Vooks are original, innovative and compelling.

Related posts:

1. VOOK RELEASES ANNE RICE

One of the great things about working at Vook is that we constantly get to announce new titles we’re releasing with exciting authors. A few weeks ago, Seth Godin let slip that he’s working on a Vook with us—and today we can officially declare that we’re in production on a title with Anne Rice. Called The Master of Rampling Gate, our Vook will offer readers, vampire fans, lovers of Gothic fiction and everyone interested in new ways to experience stories an innovative take on Anne Rice’s classic blend of the romantic, the uncanny, and the truly frightening.  The Master of Rampling Gate is a Rice short story that will probably be brand new to most readers. We’ve spent a lot of time finding the best way to address the narrative with videos and create a Vook that lets you get lost in the story and explore a variety of different takes on Rice’s world at your convenience, all in the same easy-to-use format of the Vook application.

As the videos start to arrive at Vook HQ, we’ll be grabbing some snippets and posting them to our YouTube account. Keep an eye out for some of this new material before it gets into the vook. I’ll be sure to post alerts on Twitter and Facebook.

And there’s a lot more titles in the works! More exciting news coming soon . . .

Related posts:

1. VOOK RELEASES ANNE RICE
2. Vook is only as good as its filmmakers

We’ve worked with some pretty big name authors, but now we’re partnering with one of the world’s undisputed greats: William Shakespeare. And we think we’ve found a really interesting way to make some of his classic sonnets surpisingly fresh.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re releasing Love, Love, Love: Shakespeare in The City. The vook features ten of Shakespeare’s timeless sonnets enhanced with passionate, funny, and deeply moving videos, where everyday people riff on the mysteries of love, the pain and the pleasure, the lust and the loss, sharing their feelings while they try to decipher the finer points of Shakespeare’s vision of the heart.

Check out the trailer here. Or just pick up the Vook and see for yourself—it’s only $2.99, which is far cheaper than a bad date and full of enough insight to get you a great one.

Anyone who’s ever been in love—or out of love—will find something to identify with here. The videos really bring the power of the poems home. Seeing real people dig into them in unexpected environments makes the diction and phrasing of Shakespeare instantly understandable, almost contemporary. It’s a must watch for students of poetry and the heart.

Again, always feel to drop us a a line at Matthew@vook.com if you have ideas for vooks or if you just want to tell us what you think!

Related posts:

1. Vook is only as good as its filmmakers

We’ve told you we’re going to be releasing a host of Vooks in 2010— and the process is now officially underway. Tuesday saw the launch of our Woman’s Day Cookvook and today we’re unveiling Treasure Island. We put a lot of time and love into Treasure Island and it shows on every page. With beautiful textures, over 90 gorgeous images and a fully hyperlinked text, Treasure Island is a brand new type of Vook. Our ability to integrate high quality visuals and hyperlinks to explain a variety of terms (I have to admit, I always wondered what exactly the foc’sle was) makes reading Treasure Island a rich, immersive experience.

We’ve incorporated most of N.C. Wyeth’s stunning color illustrations—pictures that will take anyone who read Treasure Island as a kid straight back to their childhood—along with historical images and classic nautical illustrations and charts. Our ability to rapidly create vooks without any laborious production process means we’re going to be able to do a TON of these types of enhancements and offer the vook to readers at an unbeatable price. Right now, there are Treasure Island apps available in the iTunes store at a variety of prices. But our app has more content, hyperlinks, and more images than any other available version—and it’s only $1.99. It’s the best way to read Treasure Island on your mobile and we’re in the midst of preparing to offer a huge variety of other classic books and stories with a wider range of enhancements. So start with Treasure Island, and get ready to enjoy the classics in a whole new way.

Related posts:

1. Vook releases The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen
2. Vook and Anne Rice
3. The Next Generation of EReaders

We’re thrilled to announce the release of the Woman’s Day Cookvook: Healthy Food for Everyday Living —our new vook that’s packed with 45 mouth watering videos, ranging from decadent but surprisingly healthy chocolate concoctions to a delicious low-fat macaroni and cheese dinner. It’s the largest number of videos we’ve published in a vook yet and we’re proud to show just how much great content we can pack into one title.

The vook features 45 recipes, tips and shopping pointers with an accompanying 45 videos: you can see exactly how to master a complicated cooking technique, how to cook a wonderful dish—such as the incredible Fudge Brownie Pudding Cake—and how to shop smart to save time and money. Furthermore, the videos are really fun. We’ve combined video appearances by experts on the Woman’s Day staff with recipes cooked by everyday people—women around the country with families, jobs, and demanding schedules who show you how to create the recipes in a way that’s fun and easy to follow. The videos are not just instructional—they’re entertaining and they make the process of cooking a meal for an entire family into something you’ll actually look forward to.

Not only is the Woman’s Day Cookvook a stellar title, it’s a powerful partnership. To create the cookvook, we partnered with Hachette Filipacchi Media and Woman’s Day to take their great recipes and expert advice and quickly and effectively turn out a value packed product. The Woman’s Day Cookvook: Healthy Food for Everyday Living demonstrates that Vook can make great, high quality content (and lots of it!) and bring it quickly to market at a value price. The Cookvook is available as a browser app or for our iPod or iPhone touch —and both platforms are easily adaptable to any location, making the vook a convenient solution for a busy kitchen. The potential for anyone looking to innovate in the cooking and recipe worlds is limitless with Vook. Whether a potential partner has already created video content or needs videos of their excellent recipe ideas, we’re here to help them enter the world of food culture in the digital age.

Related posts:

1. Vook releases The Breakaway Japanese Kitchen

Vook is expanding aggressively—and that means we’re hiring! We’re looking for a Director of Marketing, a Product Manager and a Hyperlinking Assistant. Anyone who wants to work with a young, rapidly growing company in a cutting edge industry should apply. We want self starters who are looking to grow with us, people who are motivated, smart, responsive, and flexible. It’s an exciting opportunity to be on the forefront of digital publishing. We look forward to hearing from you—links to the job postings are below.

Product Manager: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/sof/1534531177.html

Director of Marketing: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/mar/1534525792.html

Hyperlink Assistant:  http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cpg/1541965097.html

Related posts:

1. Maria Thurrell joins the Vook team

This year, whether you want to lose weight, look great, or make money doing what you love (or all of the above. Why not?), we’ve got a vook for you. For a limited time, we’re offering a special promotion with discounted pricing on our self improvement Vooks — The 90 Second Fitness Solution, Return to Beauty and Crush It!

With these three vooks, you can cover some of the major to-dos for any great year: health, wealth, and happiness. The 90 Second Fitness Solution shows you how to get trim and stay healthy in only 90 seconds a day with easy to follow videos that illustrate core exercise techniques. In Return To Beauty author Narine Nikogosian demonstrates all natural beauty recipes that you can make in your kitchen with household ingredients. Finally, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, is a New York Times bestselling guide on how to live your dreams and make money doing what you love. It’s enhanced with fun videos of entrepreneur and social media genius Gary Vaynerchuk showing you smart tips and pointers on how to get ahead in the digital economy. And you can get all of them for a limited time, discounted price!

We’re determined to help you meet your personal goals this year and we know these great titles offer an elegant, intuitive way for you to make sure your resolutions really do get resolved.

Happy New Year,

Team Vook

Related posts:

1. A Year End Note From Vook
2. VOOK AND VAYNERCHUK CRUSH IT!
3. It’s certainly our word of the year

Friends,

2009 was an explosive year for Vook. We watched our vooks become hits with readers and we took a leading role in the digital book revolution that’s sweeping the publishing industry. When we started production on our first vooks in June, our mission struck some people as odd. But an early story by technology writer Brad Stone in the New York Times detailing founder Brad Inman’s plan to integrate a book with videos and Internet links resonated with readers, encouraging us to move forward with our early betas. In six months, we released eight titles and garnered great reviews, very strong sales and overwhelming consumer support. As Vook broke new ground in digital publishing, we witnessed an acceleration of change in the publishing industry with the appearance of new companies, new formats, and new technologies.

Vook has created a format that many major publishers, agents and authors want to participate in. We have tens of thousands of new readers — and we have new technologies, new partners and new products coming in 2010. Look for 200 or more titles in the new year!

We’ve come a long way, but our journey is just beginning. In October, we launched our first four vooks with our partner Simon and Schuster to a raft of coverage — from the front page of the New York Times to Salon to the LA Times to U.S.A. Today to Entertainment Weekly to NPR. We then released Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Crush It!” with the Harper Collins imprint HarperStudio. If the S&S titles were a major proof of concept, “Crush It!” was the perfect follow up—it succeeded with critics and readers. Within a few weeks, vook sales of the title caught up with the Kindle sales and Twitter heated up with tons of tweets from readers who loved the vook.

We then launched an inaugural cooking title and a vook of Sherlock Holmes. We proved that we could easily scale when we turned real estate columnist Kris Berg’s popular blog into a vook in only two weeks.

We’ve demonstrated that we can move fast to make new vooks and then market them to the right audience. And we’re grabbing the public’s imagination. Our company name and the new format is rapidly becoming part of the popular lexicon: The New York Times and Wired included us in their word lists for the year. We started to see the term vook popping up — from the New York Times to Wikipedia — as the catchall phrase to describe digital books. “Ebook” and “Enhanced book” don’t quite trip off the tongue — but the word vook struck a chord with an industry itching for a better way to describe this exciting new format.

Since day one Apple has been a tremendously supportive distribution partner. We cannot thank the team there enough for featuring and promoting Vook, the company, and many of our titles — one endorsement last week led to 20,000 downloads of our Sherlock Holmes Experience in just a few days.

In 2010, Vook is determined to go from being a new company (and word) to a household standard. We’re lining up hundreds of vooks for production and we’re pursuing multiple agent, publisher and author partnerships. We’ve made great strides with our distribution relationships, and look forward to announcing some major partnerships in 2010 that will help Vook reach an even larger audience.

Thanks to our publishing partners, authors, technologists and agents for your support. For those of you just following us, we appreciate your curiosity as we push the boundaries of digital books and enhanced content this year.

2010 will rock!

Happy New Year,

The Vook Team

Related posts:

1. It’s certainly our word of the year
2. A new You for the New Year
3. Word of the Year?