Erotic fiction was edged out by adult video in retail markets many years ago due to, among other things, a lack of store space and rising publishing costs. Using modern technology, Jack Abey is blazing a trail for erotic fiction to return as a marketable adult industry genre.
Abey's company, ESQ Library Service, is the sole distributor for the company that effectively started adult fiction publishing, Greenleaf Classics. Since it began printing in 1965, Greenleaf Classics has amassed thousands of titles and sold millions of books worldwide. Abey intends to reproduce that success by changing the medium by which consumers view adult books.
Using advanced software acquired from Microsoft, ESQ Library Service now offers complete adult novels on CD-ROM for retailers and consumers. The Aazoo Electronic Book Reader is the modern engine for adult fiction. Readers can bookmark pages, make notes, and change font and color settings to personalize their book. Sophisticated encryption technology prevents users from printing or copying the discs, however. As an added feature, the Microsoft Agent program allows the user to sit back and have the book read to them by an animated character.
ESQ began test-marketing their adult titles on CD-ROM over a year and a half ago. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and the company activated their online service with downloadable books and CD-ROMs for sale as of April, 1999, according to Joe Green, ESQ's executive for sales and marketing.
Currently, ESQ has over 20,000 titles in its library, all of which can be viewed through the Aazoo book reader. In addition, the company offers 16 CD-ROMs, each containing four adult novels, with more to come in the near future.
One of the driving forces behind ESQ's recent work is a devoted customer base. "Our book readers have been very loyal over the years, and we want to reward them," Green told AVN. ESQ will not only be adding many titles to their CD-ROM collection in the near future, but will seek new ways to improve on the technology in use.
Green described the adult industry as consisting of "people who dream." Green, Abey, and ESQ stand for a dream-meeting-savvy business practice. "We've recreated ourselves," Green proclaimed.
Retailers interested in adult books on CD-ROM are welcome to contact ESQ Library Service - appropriately, through e-mail - at [email protected].
