TeleRead: News and views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics » discoverability

Are “new” books working Amazon’s system?

Susan Lulgjuraj — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:30:02 +0000

L.J. Sellers has picked up on a trend on Amazon. The novelist who writes for the Crime Fiction Collective blog noticed old books popping up on lists for new releases. If the book has been out for several years, how can it become a “hot, new release?” Sellers writes: “The newest trend I’ve noticed is the republishing of [...]

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Why the Failure of Books on Board Should Worry Authors

Joanna Cabot — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 19:00:35 +0000

In today’s Morning Links was a great essay from Michael Kozlowski on the ‘death’ of the indie e-bookstore. Books on Board was killed by the agency pricing model, and a failure to innovate and provide better customer experiences such as mobile browsing and more refined search algorithms, Kozlowski alleges. His conclusion, in particular, jumped out at [...]

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Check out Book Bub, a great book recommending service

Joanna Cabot — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:47:49 +0000

On the advice of a TeleRead commenter, I’ve spent the last two weeks trying out a book recommending service called Book Bub. So far, I’m enjoying it. Book Bub’s premise is simple: When you register (it’s free), you select from an offering of genres that interest you, and every day, Book Bub sends you an [...]

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Feeling Bookish: CEO Ardy Khazaei on the real aims—and real benefits—of the publisher joint venture

Brian Howard — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 20:45:18 +0000

While it’s odd to think of an organization backed by the Penguin, Hachette and Simon & Schuster as a startup, Bookish, the new book-recommendation and -discovery site is essentially that. After two years in development under three CEOs, Bookish is now a reality, a place where users can get recommendations—based on titles or groups of titles [...]

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Meet WebBytez, a new method of e-book discovery

Juli Monroe — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 17:45:59 +0000

E-book discovery by readers has been much in the news lately, and it’s definitely an issue for authors, especially those who are self-published. While readers continue to find their next great book in online stores, some still browse brick and mortar bookstores. Wouldn’t it be nice if they could find and buy e-books in a [...]

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Weekend Reading Roundup — Is book discovery only a problem for publishers?

Dan Eldridge — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:14:13 +0000

Here’s the problem with publishers’ book discovery problem (Paid Content) Why Stephen King was wrong to publish ‘Guns’ as a Kindle Single (NY Daily News) Amazon to Investigate Claims of Worker Intimidation at German Centers (New York Times) Publishing is tough these days — unless you’re in nautical almanacs, apparently (The Guardian) Kindle Daily Deals: ‘Beautiful Creatures’ books [...]

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Online tool looks to help authors distribute excerpts

Susan Lulgjuraj — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:05:58 +0000

The book is written. It’s for sale on your website, on Amazon, or wherever you think people will look. So, how do you get people to buy? Getting through the noise can be difficult. That’s where Publisher’s Portal hopes to jump in. It’s a Web-based company looking to distribute excerpts of books for a small fee. [...]

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Pay to Browse: Why it will never work for bookstores

Joanna Cabot — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:00:00 +0000

TeleRead posted earlier about an idea that was floated by Victoria Barnsley, a HarperCollins CEO, during a recent NPR interview: the idea of charging people for the privilege of browsing in bookstores. The idea was that they’d pay to browse, and then go home and order online from the vendor of their choosing. The analogy [...]

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A conversation with Amanda Close about BookScout, Random House’s new discoverability app

Aggregated Content — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:00:32 +0000

By Brian Howard Last week, following a soft-launch the week prior, Random House marched out BookScout, a Facebook app designed to link readers with books they’ll like but might not have discovered on their own. The recommendation engine draws on a user’s “likes”—both on one’s Facebook timeline and then directly through the app. Intriguingly, BookScout [...]

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A Plaintive Cry from the E-Text Wilderness

a TeleRead Contributor — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 02:53:46 +0000

By Rob Suggs So many public domain e-texts, so little time—and guidance. That there’s the rub. Ever had this happen? You spot an intriguing title in the Gutenberg feed, or on some other free text site. New e-reader food? Maybe. What’s the book about? Like all public domain texts, it dates before the Great Rise [...]

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