If you’re an author looking for readers, a publisher looking for talent, or a booklover looking for a new way to find books and read them, might be worth checking out the beta site textnovel.In this age of email, texts and other non-tangible communiques, I doubt I’m alone in finding happiness when something is mailed to my abode that is not a) a bill b) a flyer for some terrifying new delivery place opening in my neighbourhood. My happiness increases 10-fold when that thing is reading material that I’ve been anxiously anticipating.
As of now, I subscribe only to magazines but when I saw Publishers Weekly story on the new subscription model being tried by Open Letter Books, my eyes did that cartoon poppy-outy thing. Subscription to an entire list? How awesome is that.
Starting in January, Random House will be selling new copies of out-of-print books via a new e-commerce website called the Random Collection. The site will start with 750 titles, will be searchable and allow for feedback from booksellers and other customers on suggestions for future titles.
Some, like Joseph Esposito at Publishing Frontier and Mike Shatzkin at IdeaLogical, have suggested that this plan doesn’t work if the goal is brand-extension.
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.
