Renew the Book

STARTUP COMPETITION

Build, validate and scale your book innovation startup in co-operation with Dutch book publishers!

The first book innovation startup accelerator

Startups building businesses around book innovations look at Renew The Book as the broadest, most intense booktech accelerator program in the world. For our 2017 edition, 53 startups from 25 countries applied. Writing for TiNY, StoryTourist, WriteReader and Zola Books have been selected to come to Amsterdam and innovate together with the Dutch book sector.

AN INTENSE

DAY PROGRAM

FOR ONLY

STARTUPS

WINNER GETS

PRIZE MONEY

ALL FOR

EQUITY

OUR 2017 STARTUPS

Writing for TiNY

Ireland

What is Writing for TiNY?

Writing for TiNY is an award winning children�s book publisher using innovative, bespoke software for highly personalized books about changes, worries & milestones.

Why have you decided to apply?

I stumbled across the program one evening and felt it was the perfect match for us. A combination of publishing expertise, innovation and Rockstart is exactly what Writing for TiNY needs right now.

Writing for TiNY

Ireland

What is Writing for TiNY?

Writing for TiNY is an award winning children�s book publisher using innovative, bespoke software for highly personalized books about changes, worries & milestones.

Why have you decided to apply?

I stumbled across the program one evening and felt it was the perfect match for us. A combination of publishing expertise, innovation and Rockstart is exactly what Writing for TiNY needs right now.

StoryTourist

Sweden

What is StoryTourist?

StoryTourist is a new way to travel and experience books at the very spots where the action takes place � it�s like Pok�mon Go for stories!

What excites you the most about participating?

We are really excited about the opportunity to prototype and experiment with the Dutch publishing industry and get expert advice from the Rockstart business developers!

StoryTourist

Sweden

What is StoryTourist?

StoryTourist is a new way to travel and experience books at the very spots where the action takes place � it�s like Pok�mon Go for stories!

What excites you the most about participating?

We are really excited about the opportunity to prototype and experiment with the Dutch publishing industry and get expert advice from the Rockstart business developers!

WriteReader

Denmark

What is WriteReader?

WriteReader enables kids to become authors and publish their digital books while learning to read and write.

What excites you the most about participating?

It�s exciting that this initiative is initiated by the Dutch Publishing industry recognizing that startups can help add value to their business.

WriteReader

Denmark

What is WriteReader?

WriteReader enables kids to become authors and publish their digital books while learning to read and write.

What excites you the most about participating?

It�s exciting that this initiative is initiated by the Dutch Publishing industry recognizing that startups can help add value to their business.

Zola Books

USA

What is Zola Books?

Zola offers an unmatched set of proprietary tech products enabling anyone to easily sell any book in any format from their website.

What excites you the most about participating?

Code knows no borders; our technology products work just as well for Dutch books as for American books or Chinese books. Every market has its own challenges, and we�re excited about finding out how our solution can help companies outside the United States eliminate problems and create new models for retailing books.

Zola Books

USA

What is Zola Books?

Zola offers an unmatched set of proprietary tech products enabling anyone to easily sell any book in any format from their website.

What excites you the most about participating?

POWERED BY

ROCKSTART

INITIATED BY

GROEP ALGEMENE UITGEVERS

Renew the Book was initiated by Groep Algemene Uitgevers (GAU), the association of book publishers in the Netherlands. GAU sponsors the program and offers its extensive network of 60+ publishing companies as well as access to the networks of other industry partners, in retail, library, promotion and government.

POWERED BY

ROCKSTART

THE PROGRAM

Our 40-day program helps founders focus their product design, market fit and business model and provides direct access to publishers, book retailers and other stakeholders in the book sector.

ROCK SOLID CURRICULUM

Rockstart offers Master Classes specific to the book publishing industry including insights into Market Validation, E-commerce, Intellectual Property and Publishing Technologies. Participants will also engage in Master Classes on Entrepreneurship, Lean Methodologies and much more.

Tomaso Greco

Founder of Bookabook

Renew the Book deepens different aspects of the publishing industry in an innovative and challenging context, this is why it is unique!

HIGHLY SKILLED MENTORS

Expert�mentors are the backbone of our accelerator program. Participating startups have access to dozens of mentors in our GAU and Rockstart networks to advise on everything from business models to international expansion.

Frederique Schut

Co-founder of Bookarang

It was extremely valuable to get so much input, feedback and inspiration from people from the field. We are still in contact with some of the mentors.

ECOSYSTEM FOR SUCCESS

Rockstart�s program provides early access to leading Dutch book publishers, expert mentors, customer feedback and industry partners to advise, test and scale your business.

Ovi Negrean

Founder of Nugget

Renew the Book provided us invaluable access to top Dutch publishers, that helped us test our assumptions and evolve our business model.

MORE BENEFITS

FAST LEARNING

Focus on growth enhancing and/or how to prevent and remedy issues.

ACCESS AND CHANNELS

Quickly test growth assumptions with target groups through readily-available channels and media.

NETWORK

Access to local partners and influential people in the Dutch and European book publishing industry at large.

STRATEGIC ADVICE

From top notch industry insiders and startup/scale-up experts.

VALIDATION

Immediate validation and Rockstart�s stamp of approval.

WORKSPACE

Free of charge, at Rockstart Spaces.

ACCOMMODATION BUDGET

Startups receive Euro 2.000 for travel and accommodation costs.

PRIZE

Euro 15.000 cash prize money is awarded for best growth plan.

TIMELINE

An overview of what is happening with Renew the Book in the coming months.

October

Applications Open

22 December

Step 1 Applications Closed

30 December

Step 2 Applications Closed

23 January

Five startups selected and invited to join the 40-day program

23 February

Program begins in Amsterdam

30 March

Grand Finale: pitches and award ceremony

31 March

End of the Renew the Book program

OUR MENTORS

Individual mentoring and strategy sessions are at the core of the Renew the Book program. Our mentor network includes key experts from technology startups, publishing innovators and other related disciplines and industries. These experienced mentors are offering their expertise and connections. Below find the lead mentors, chosen by the startups to support them for the full 40 days.

Rob Veneboer

COO

Graydon

Peter Coebergh

EVP Sales & Marketing

Koninklijke Brill

Mark Beekman

Managing Director

Graydon

Nina Nannini

Deputy Director

NBD Biblion

Jeroen Kuerble

Commercial Director

Editions Lefebvre Sarrut

Rob Spijkers

Founder and Managing Partner

HamiltonRoche

Sander van der Blonk

Partner

Rockstart

Jane Candy

"Lead Coder"

OUR EXPERIMENTS

In the program, startups work closely with experiment sponsors. These are publishers and other key players from the Dutch book sector who support the startups in their experiments with access to audiences, content and platforms. All support is in kind, much of it through the value of time spent by the individual professionals who have volunteered as point persons for their organisations.

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RENEW THE BOOK 2017

INNOVATION GRID

Renew the Book matches startups and book publishers to innovate together during the program. We have collected the innovation needs within the book industry, so we can connect them with the focus areas of startups. This Innovation Grid is the result of surveys, interviews and an industry summit in September/October 2016. If your startup is active in one of these areas, be sure to consider joining our program!

Enable sharing data across the industry (retail, publishers, libraries, book clubs)
Deploy data mining and predictive modelling (also for predicing success)
Collect reader data from retail channels and from digital versions
Slice and dice content to fit other channels, audiences or uses
Create customer profiles (external data)
Develop new genres and topics

Based on media consumption (movies, TV etc.)
Based on social graphs of consumers
Based on new content metadata
Based on user behaviour
Based on location/gps

Data and solutions to continuously optimize the mix of print runs, POD and ebooks
Adopt best practices from other industries regarding direct sales channels
Printing on demand to lower inventory and cosT
Faster delivery of (online) orders

Respond to upcoming trends like AI (artificial intelligence), VR (Virtual Reality), bots
Location based services to enrich the reader�s experience
Reading improvements: speed, attention, atmosphere
Combining offline and online
Add multimedia enrichment
Add game-like incentives

Use social media and other digital channels more effectively as a marketing and sales channel
Find new seductive ways of displaying books at (online) retail channels
Engage in cross-promotions with events and VIP�s
Find an attractive way to present e-books as gifts

Offer e-books for rent or lending for specific locations, activities or moments
System to easily exchange books given as presents, in any bookstore
Pay-per-page/pay-per-chapter model
All you can read subscription model
Renting content per day/per week
Peer-to-peer lending platform

Enable authors to communicate more effectively with readers
Write in collaboration with readers

Find better ways of getting readers to exchange reviews and share recommendations
Create a Tinder-model for books: find your literary soulmate through books
How to reach young potential readers: mobile, social, apps

Monetize reader and customer data to third parties
Create a marketplace for product placement
Advertising in books
Merchandising
Author events

Enable sharing data across the industry (retail, publishers, libraries, book clubs)
Deploy data mining and predictive modelling (also for predicing success)
Collect reader data from retail channels and from digital versions
Slice and dice content to fit other channels, audiences or uses
Create customer profiles (external data)
Develop new genres and topics

Based on media consumption (movies, TV etc.)
Based on social graphs of consumers
Based on new content metadata
Based on user behaviour
Based on location/gps

Data and solutions to continuously optimize the mix of print runs, POD and ebooks
Adopt best practices from other industries regarding direct sales channels
Printing on demand to lower inventory and cosT
Faster delivery of (online) orders

Respond to upcoming trends like AI (artificial intelligence), VR (Virtual Reality), bots
Location based services to enrich the reader�s experience
Reading improvements: speed, attention, atmosphere
Combining offline and online
Add multimedia enrichment
Add game-like incentives

Use social media and other digital channels more effectively as a marketing and sales channel
Find new seductive ways of displaying books at (online) retail channels
Engage in cross-promotions with events and VIP�s
Find an attractive way to present e-books as gifts

Offer e-books for rent or lending for specific locations, activities or moments
System to easily exchange books given as presents, in any bookstore
Pay-per-page/pay-per-chapter model
All you can read subscription model
Renting content per day/per week
Peer-to-peer lending platform

Enable authors to communicate more effectively with readers
Write in collaboration with readers

Find better ways of getting readers to exchange reviews and share recommendations
Create a Tinder-model for books: find your literary soulmate through books
How to reach young potential readers: mobile, social, apps

Monetize reader and customer data to third parties
Create a marketplace for product placement
Advertising in books
Merchandising
Author events