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When we at Ikaros began exploring the world of ebooks in 2009, I must admit that I knew only the very basics and was completely ignorant of the technologies and specifications involved in such a book – or file.At that time, Greece had neither the market nor the know-how, with very few exceptions.In most cases, publishers were very to extremely reluctant to proceed with the creation and distribution of ebooks, whilst those who did dare to do so usually did so under pressure from various resellers, who hoped in this way to get in on the act early, securing a large catalogue of digital books, as well as recognition from the reading public.There were two factors that played a role in overcoming the resistance of most publishers, or at least those who ultimately decided to enter the digital book market: ease of use and zero production costs. Once you have a file ready in the page-layout programme, why not turn it into a PDF and release it as an ebook as early as tomorrow? The truth is, it sounded so easy and straightforward that we even released a few trial books in PDF format. As far as I know, not a single copy has been sold. I’ve noticed that most digital books released in PDF format have exactly the same ISBN as the corresponding print edition. But how wrong that is! Every ISBN is a unique serial number that identifies a publication. We cannot have the same code whether we are talking about a printed book, a digital book, or even different formats of the same digital book (PDF, EPUB, Kindle). As the boundaries between print and digital blur, it will become increasingly important to be as precise as possible with metadata—the details of each edition. Imagine an online bookshop that sells both print and digital books. A search based on the ISBN will return a single result, but which one? A lot of time has passed since then, with plenty of reading, research and experimentation. Our ebooks are now in EPUB format and are available from our website, online stores, and Apple’s iBookstore. Sales are satisfactory, although they clearly still account for a very small percentage of the total.I am struck by how many colleagues continue to prefer the easy option of PDF. And that’s a shame. Because we are in a profession that has been changing radically over the last two years, and will change even more. The way we publishers work will not be the same, and if we do not change too, we will be left behind. We must evolve, learn new things, and learn to work differently. Abroad, this shift in the way traditional publishers operate is more evident than ever, and publishing companies are taking action. The reading public has expectations. Let us listen to them and anticipate them, before developments overtake us.

The ebooks available from Ikaros on Apple’s iBookstore were expanded yesterday with two more titles, bringing the total to 23. Specifically, we have uploaded the two talks by Kiki Dimoula that are also available in print from our publishing house.The Playful Myth (first published in December 2003) is the text delivered by Kiki Dimoula during her induction ceremony at the Academy of Athens on 11 November 2003. The Fundraising of Thoughts (first published in February 2009) is the text delivered by the poet at the Archaeological Society on 26 January 2009.Together with ‘Ekto Shedio’, which has long been available as an ebook, these three books constitute the complete collection of Kiki Dimoula’s prose works currently in circulation. Happy reading.

Every year, as publishers, we receive countless requests for book donations to remote schools, institutions, correctional facilities and other organisations. One would expect that in most, if not all, of these places, there would be provision for a library, so that the people there could spend their time creatively.Unfortunately, the lending library in Greece has never received the attention and importance it enjoys in most societies around the world, whether it is located within a university or a prison. The state, as usual, has ensured that the libraries established in recent years with European funding remain understaffed, inadequately equipped and, ultimately, with very low visitor numbers. Fortunately, there are exceptions. Thanks to private initiative, or to exceptional individuals who found themselves in the right positions, there are now libraries that stand out and provide their visitors with excellent services, whilst at the same time bringing people together around books, culture and other activities. Examples of this include the Public Central Library of Veroia, the Livadeia Library, and the library of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation in Piraeus.As publishers, and as a business, we always place social responsibility high on our list of priorities. We try to respond whenever we can, but as any entrepreneur who has attempted to donate goods will know, Greek bureaucracy and tax legislation act as a deterrent.Over the past year, we have had the pleasure of contributing to the creation of lending libraries, donating books to institutions and organisations facing financial difficulties. Among these, in October, as part of the Book Night event organised by Public bookshops and Public Book Friends, we contributed by donating books to the library of the Eleonas Women’s Prison, with a total of over 18,000 books collected, with the help of publishers and visitors to the event. In December, following a similar initiative by NET’s ‘Morning News’ programme, we collected books once again, this time to set up a library at the KETHEA unit of Korydallos Men’s Prison. Finally, we donated books to SOS Children’s Villages through the Onassis Foundation Scholars’ Association. Happy holidays and a happy new year!

Draft by Ersi Spathopoulou, for the illustration of Drosostalida Antonis has been working at Ikaros since the summer of 2000. When he started, as a contractor for external work, he had no previous experience in the publishing industry, or with books in general. Eleven years later, Antonis is Ikaros’s most valuable employee. Apart from supplying books daily to all the bookshops in central Athens, Antonis has become the go-to man for all jobs, in the best possible sense. He knows the Ikaros catalogue by heart, is familiar with every inch of the warehouse and its contents, handles payments, and spends the whole day running between printers, bookbinders and workshops. What’s more, he has a hidden talent for proofreading, as he is very often the only one who spots spelling or typographical errors in texts and layouts ready for the printers – there have been quite a few times when he has found mistakes even after they’ve gone to press...When, a short while ago, he gave us – with great difficulty – two children’s stories he had written to read and give our opinion on, in a way, something ‘magical’ happened. For quite some time, we had been discussing at Ikaros the idea of launching a series of children’s books, but we didn’t know where to start. It was one of those ideas you keep mulling over, discussing, then putting aside because there’s always something else on the go demanding your attention.Drosostalida, by Antonis, illustrated by Ersi Spathopoulou, will be published in spring 2012 by Ikaros. Once upon a time there was a tiny speck. A tiny, tiny dewdrop. It had no age, because dewdrops have no age anyway; they are eternal! ‘My home is the clouds, the rivers, the lakes, the sea,’ it would say over and over again with pride, dancing on a tiny snow-white cloud.One day, an eagle saw her as he flew past, dancing happily, and smiled at her. The dewdrop stopped her dance and, approaching the edge of the cloud, asked him hesitantly. ‘Do you know my name?’‘No,’ replied the eagle, and with a powerful flap of its wings it flew away, continuing its journey across the sky. A short while later, a strong wind blew and carried the cloud away, sending it to the land of Rain.As soon as they arrived there, the dewdrop saw her sisters let go of the cloud and fall towards the earth, laughing and shouting. In no time at all, she did the same. She let go of the cloud and began to fall, fall, fall... until she met the river. More about Ikaros’s children’s books in a future post!