If you go to www.chapters.indigo.ca sometime before Friday, June 27th, you’ll be able to download a trio of Canadian titles for free: Paul Quarrington’s King Leary, Miriam Toews’ A Complicated Kindness, and Peter Robinson’s Friend of the Devil. A bold move, considering that each of these are moving quite well in retail today. All include first chapters of the author’s upcoming works as well, which turns this from digital potlatch into a front-list promotion effort. It will be very interesting to see if this is repeated.
The download experience was surprisingly light on data collection. Neither Indigo nor the publishers asked any questions, even anonymously. Nor did they ask for an email address for follow-up marketing. As a consumer, I’m thrilled—a one-click download, no questions asked. As a marketer/data obsessive, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to ask a couple of targeted questions, whether about e-books, format preferences, prior knowledge of the author, or how/where the download was going to be read. It might have helped target the marketing or the content for the next time around.
BookNet Canada is a non-profit organization that develops technology, standards, and education to serve the Canadian book industry. Founded in 2002 to address systemic challenges in the industry, BookNet Canada supports publishing companies, booksellers, wholesalers, distributors, sales agents, industry associations, literary agents, media, and libraries across the country.