Vibe Bookstore/ Vibe Reader FAQs

I am proud to be part of Vibal Foundation (Via the Philippine Online Chronicles) that I want to keep sharing their projects. All their projects tie in with the foundation’s slogan. “Open Books, Open Minds”. Their latest is Vibe Philippine E-Bookstore.

I first saw the Vibe app, when Gaspar (Gus) Vibal and Kristine Mandigma showed me a prototype sometime August 2011. I was really excited and could hardly wait to get the app.. but there were many things to be done to make it fully functional. Inspired by the National Book Development Board’s Booklatan sa Bayan program, Vibal Foundation uses this cloud-computing project to make available to the reading public a wide range of newly published, out-of-print, or public domain book titles. The project addresses the issues of high printing costs, fragmented distribution channels, and delayed time to market, which are faced by all printed matter in the Philippines. Vibe is also an effective tool for independent publishers and authors who wish to sell their works directly to the public.

Gus Vibal, the executive director of Vibal Foundation first explained the project on October 2011 at the Kape + Teknolohiya to entpreneurs and technology enthusiasts, technology and education advocates at the Technohub. Then Kristine Mandigma introduced Vibe to bloggers at a gathering at the Filipinas Heritage Library shortly after.

It is an innovative project for many reasons.

1. The Vibe app is developed by Filipino software developers.

2. The unique Vibe books’ interactive features contains include animation, scores, embedded videos, and interactivity that appeal the reader’s senses. Some of the books also have built-in encyclopedias. With these features, Vibe promises that “the world of reading will never be the same.”

3. With a minimum of 20 titles, you can get your own customized storefront .

4. Sign up with Vibe , and they will convert your books for free.

5. Retain 70% of the retail price for every book sold.

6. Distribute your books to local and international markets.There is no exclusivity agreement. You can still sell your ebooks to other publishers.

7. It has its own encryption (not Adobe encryption where it can be easily hacked) so books won’t just be sold elsewhere or transferred to another user.

8. There is print -on-demand available anywhere around the world.

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