Scribd, Publish Yourself Online

Scribd, a self-publishing network, is a self-professed Silicon Valley startup founded in 2006 by Trip Adler, Jared Friedman and Tikhon Bernstam and as the story goes, “The idea was inspired when Trip and Jared wanted to publish some of their school papers online and couldn't find an easy way to do it. They hit upon the idea of making a website designed for people to share their documents with the world… Part of the idea behind Scribd is that everyone has a lot of documents sitting around on their computers that only they can read. With Scribd we hope to unlock this information by putting it on the web.”

Scribd out in the open

The home page says a lot about what Scribd has to offer from Free Unlimited storage, the ability to work with most of the major formats such as MS Office and Open Office plus PDF’s as well as jpg, jpeg, png and gif’s. There is little if any publishing options left out of the equation as it reaches out to offer everyone the option to use it (Scribd) to their individual or corporate advantage. Scribd also has a beta publisher and educational service available and while both are free, participants must apply and meet specific criteria for eligibility.

There is also a broad expanse of categories to choose from ranging from Humour, Culture, Medical, Business, Law and Computers to name a few. Scribd also provides the option to subscribe to the feeds for your favorite categories.

Scribd has taken its options to a level I have yet to see elsewhere in respect to the available languages you can upload and share your files in, 52 languages at least count with a membership of 197,722 and growing. Impressive considering that this will be its second year in service from the data I was able to collect.

Have a burning desire to start your own group, Scribd provides you the opportunity to do so, or if you are more like myself you can also subscribe to your personal choices from the 3,026 already in existence. Each group has the option to be Public (Anyone can see documents in the group and join instantly without approval), Managed Public (Anyone can see documents in the group however, Administrators must approve or invite new members) and Private (Only group members can see documents posted to the group and Administrators must approve or invite new members).

Your can read it or you can listen…

I found it extremely interesting that when I find a presentation I like on Scribd, be it in MS Word, Power Point or a PDF for example that I have the option to multitask without missing a beat. As an example, I always have my desktop and laptop fired up at the same time with several projects on the go at any given moment. Imagine my surprise as I was doing my due diligence in my research for this article and discovered a PPT presentation by my business mentor, Robert Sanzalone, on Scribd. Naturally, I wanted to read it and imagine my surprise when I discovered the option to listen vs. read if I so chose, which I did. I was able to have my cake and to eat it too as I listened to the presentation and continued to write this review.

Copyright Infringements

Scribd takes potential copyright infringements seriously. In today’s world of technology, it is all too easy to alter the work of others and claim it for yourself. Not that we all do it but there are certain low life that devoid of their own talents tend to pray on the hard work of others for personal gain. As we know it is almost impossible to stop such criminal activities but Scribd has ensured the options are there to protect you as best as they can.

The Scribd Blog & Store

Now what sound minded and growing network would not have its own blog to keep both existing and potential members up-to-date with changes and additions as they progress? It just makes sense, not to mention sound business practice. Add to the latter an online store where members can purchase logoed cups and clothing etc to display their loyalty in their everyday lives and it also helps pay the bills at the same time.

How is Scribd funded?

Scribd’s investors include Paul Graham's Y Combinator, the Kinsey Hills group, Redpoint Ventures and several prominent angel investors. Inside sources also make note on the FAQ’s page that Trip Adler sometimes plays sax on the street corner.

Conclusion

Okay I will be the first to admit that when I first came across Scribd while doing an unsystematic site search on StumbleUpon I had originally bookmarked it out of inquisitiveness or as I like to bookmark and label such sites, “For Further Research”. There was something about the initial page view that drew me to want to know more but not at that immediate moment in time. I was not feeling the love to write, my open mindedness was missing. That changed and fast once I started to give Scribd a chance and myself as well.

Based on what they (the Scribd team) have accomplished including the financial backing they proclaim, they must have had one heck of a well-defined business plan in place prior. Could they be on their way to becoming the Donald Trump’s of the world of online technology and marketing options? It boggles the mind what the youth of today can accomplish in today’s fast-paced world and I whole-heartedly applaud each one of them for meeting the challenge.

In this scenario Scribed turned out to be easy and elegant. Not too complex a publishing network I could expect. I highly recommend checking it out for yourself. Now I'd better stop keeping you from finding out for yourself what Scribd has to offer so click away.