Following my earlier report on the launch of HarperCollins’s two portals specific to C.S. Lewis and the Narnia franchise, offering direct book and ebook sales to the public in conjunction with Accenture technology, a HarperCollins spokesperson contacted me with further comment and clarification. Here are the replies provided to my questions:
TeleRead: What is HarperCollins’s intention in this project? What plans do you have to expand it in future?
HarperCollins: This is something we did in partnership with the estate. It was something they asked for and is a service we can provide to authors.
TeleRead: How can selling direct to customers through a publisher-only app provide benefits beyond those available through platforms such as Amazon and Kobo? How might this affect existing relationships with retailers and distributors?
HarperCollins: This enables us to combine consumer engagement with a direct purchase option. We aren’t changing our relationships with other retailers and will continue to link to them as we have done on these two sites.
TeleRead: Does HarperCollins have a specific rollout schedule or further development plan for this type of platform? What plans if any are there for extending it to living authors?
HarperCollins: We are starting with these properties and will learn from this before we roll it out further. We will work via our publishers to offer this service to other authors.
