Interview with Ran

by Ran Shternin

Joined Oct 2013
Published Books 2

How did Ourboox start?

Ourboox started in 2013, when I met Mel Rosenberg. Mel told me about his dream and vision for creating a platform that would allow anyone to create and publish a book.

We immediately clicked and started working to made this vision a reality.

What were the challenges you faced in building the website?

Well, first of all we had to understand the self-publishing market and the traditional publishing market. Understand the challenges authors are facing and the industry in general. We met with hundreds of people from publishers to authors and editors to designers and illustrators, and started to create an outline of how to make self publishing a book a fun and exciting experience.

What aspects of the platform are you most proud of?

The aspects of the platform I am most of are the book creator/editor – which we spend a lot of time on, and also the square book reader – the reader is the real magic – it takes text pages and images and turns them a 3D, flippable, incredible book experience!

Are you surprised by the success of the platform that you built?

Most definitely. When we just started we sat with people one on one and convinced them to create a book on Ourboox. Today we have between 150-350 new books every day!

In addition, it’s been very exciting having been featured by the European Union and the Israeli Ministry of Education as an official tool for students.

Ourboox is being used in almost every country on Earth now. It’s all very exciting.

Ourboox began six years ago. Why has it taken you this long to write your first ebook?

Well, I was too busy writing code 😀

What are the plans for the future of Ourboox?

I am writing this in February 2020, which is right on the verge of launching our premium subscription for authors. We strive to provide value to authors and give them tools to help with all aspects of book publishing. From inspiration, to writing and editing, sharing and printing. The author has always been at the center of everything we do, and now it’s true more than ever.

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