Simon & Schuster and Foli Wi-fly e-Books to an Airport Near You
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Through an exclusive partnership with the digital content mobile distribution platform, Foli, Simon & Schuster will use geolocation technology to help travelers discover its e-book titles, starting with the biography of The Wright Brothers by David McCullough which will be available to passengers, starting May 15, at 50 US airports (listed below), as well as to visitors at the National Air and Space Museum and the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.
With Foli’s geolocation technology, the publishing company can deliver a specific book, or a selection of books, to pinpointed locations anywhere, enabling consumers to read Simon & Schuster’s books for however long they remain at the location. As with Foli’s magazine offerings, delivery is streamlined through the Foli app, which travelers can download into their smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android).
Foli’s patented geolocation technology is so easy to deploy that any location worldwide can be set-up in a matter of minutes, allowing customers access to e-books, premium magazines, along with business specific content simply by launching the Foli app. Foli automatically detects the traveler’s location and loads the appropriate storefront.
The publishing industry has recently dipped its toes in the possibilities aviation affords to introduce e-titles to a wider audience. HarperCollins established an in-flight e-Book delivery platform on JetBlue’s Fly-Fi content service this past December, and a number of newspaper and magazine publishers also came onboard with JetBlue.
Simon & Schuster will also offer a selection of 18 books in a number of hotels and airport lounges nationwide, including the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse and British Airways Lounge at San Francisco International Airport. The publisher will feature titles like Revival by Stephen King, After by Anna Todd, The Innovators by Walter Isaacson, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion and Crazy Love You by Lisa Unger. The books will be available to hotel guests for up to three days while they are at their location, with the option to purchase at any time.
For publishers and authors, the publisher indicates, bringing books to travelers has been limited by the cost and physical limitations of transporting and displaying large quantities of printed books, and by the technical hurdles of protecting e-book content within closed networks and systems.
“The possibilities for targeting where we can share our books are now virtually limitless,” says Liz Perl, executive vice president, chief marketing officer of Simon Schuster.
“More and more consumers are using their mobile devices to read,” says Henry He, founder and CEO of Foli. “With full-length, bestseller e-books from Simon & Schuster, businesses like hotels and airport lounges can offer a differentiated service to wow their customers.”
For great airports to read in on the fly, click here.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough will be available for reading via the Foli app in the following airports on May 15:
- Atlanta, GA (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International)
- Chicago, IL (Chicago O’Hare International)
- Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles International)
- Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (Dallas/Fort Worth International)
- Denver, CO (Denver International)
- New York, NY (John F. Kennedy International)
- San Francisco, CA (San Francisco International)
- Charlotte, NC (Charlotte Douglas International)
- Las Vegas, NV (McCarran International)
- Phoenix, AZ (Phoenix Sky Harbor International)
- Houston, TX (George Bush Intercontinental/Houston)
- Miami, FL (Miami International)
- Orlando, FL (Orlando International)
- Newark, NJ (Newark Liberty International)
- Seattle, WA (Seattle/Tacoma International)
- Minneapolis, MN (Minneapolis-St Paul International)
- Detroit, MI (Detroit Metro Wayne County)
- Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia International)
- Boston, MA (Logan International)
- New York, NY (LaGuardia)
- Fort Lauderdale, FL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International)
- Baltimore, MD (Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall)
- Washington, DC (Washington Dulles International)
- Salt Lake City, UT (Salt Lake City International)
- Washington, DC (Ronald Reagan Washington National)
- Chicago, IL (Chicago Midway International)
- Honolulu, HI (Honolulu International)
- San Diego, CA (San Diego International)
- Tampa, FL (Tampa International)
- Portland, OR (Portland International)
- St. Louis, MO (Lambert-St. Louis International)
- Houston, TX (William P Hobby)
- Oakland, CA (Metropolitan Oakland International)
- Kansas City, MO (Kansas City International)
- Nashville, TN (Nashville International)
- Austin, TX (Austin – Bergstrom International)
- Raleigh/Durham, NC (Raleigh-Durham International)
- Santa Ana, CA (John Wayne Airport-Orange County)
- Sacramento, CA (Sacramento International)
- Cleveland, OH (Cleveland-Hopkins International)
- New Orleans, LA (Louis Armstrong New Orleans International)
- San Juan, PR (Luis Munoz Marin International)
- San Jose, CA (Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International)
- San Antonio, TX (San Antonio International)
- Dallas, TX (Dallas Love Field)
- Pittsburgh, PA (Pittsburgh International)
- Milwaukee, WI (General Mitchell International)
- Fort Myers, FL (Southwest Florida International)
- Indianapolis, IN (Indianapolis International)
- Memphis, TN (Memphis International)
- Wilmington, North Carolina
- Greensboro, North Carolina
- Fayetteville, North Carolina
- Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina (First Flight Airport & Memorial)