Publishers have done a lot of stupid things lately—for example, delayed release of e-books and banning of text to speech.
But here’s some progress from Random House, which has launched a book-except sharing app for Facebook, with 7000+ titles available. Smart-move, given that books are social objects, so to speak.
Ahead is a Random House news release, including, at the end, directions on how to use the new capability. What do you think, gang? Are the excerpts long enough? And would you use the service? Why or why not?
The Random House Group launches ‘Random Reads’ Facebook Application
New app allows users to read free chapters and share their favorite books
The Random House Group (RHG) has created the first Facebook application to allow users to read and share free extracts from books.
The ‘Random Reads’ app allows users to add RHG book jacket covers from authors as diverse as Irvine Welsh, Sebastian Faulks, Danny Wallace and Lisa Jewell to their profiles, walls and homepages.
Clicking on the book jacket launches the app which contains an extract of the book, information about the author and related books, and options to email to a friend or buy the book. The extracts are searchable, and text size can be changed to suit the reader.
‘Random Reads’ opens up multiple online ways to encourage reading as users discover, share and discuss RHG titles. Authors can choose to share their latest work with their Facebook fans and reading groups can display several titles at a time to help them decide which should be their next book.
Two slightly different versions of the application are available. ‘Random Read’ allows users to choose a single title to remain on their profile page until they change it, while ‘Random Reads’ allows them to select a number of different titles to be added to their homepage and wall where friends can view in their news feed.
More than 7000 RHG titles are currently available as ‘Random Reads’. Authors include Irvine Welsh, Peter Kay, James Patterson, Andy McNab, Kathy Reichs, Lee Child, Sebastian Faulks, Jack Dee, Lisa Jewell, Richard Branson, Katie Fforde, Danny Wallace and Sophie Kinsella.
Louisa Gibbs, Marketing Manager, Cornerstone Publishing, said: "We are already using Facebook in a variety of ways to reach and engage with our readers but ‘Random Reads’ adds an extra dimension, allowing readers to try before they buy or send an extract of something they have discovered to friends so they can try it too. It will be the ultimate sampling tool and has huge potential to promote our books virally across Facebook’s 19 million UK users."
Ros Lawler, Head of E-Commerce, Random House Group Digital, added: "’Random Reads is the only book app on Facebook that lets you read extracts for free: we think it will become a popular way for Facebook users to share their favourite books and discover new authors’.
The application was developed in-house by The Random House Group Digital and IT Publishing Systems teams in partnership with Bite Studio. It is available in Facebook applications now.
Random Reads is also being used to serialize A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens in the lead up to Christmas. The serialization is being promoted in conjunction with a number of libraries and reading groups who are all featuring the serialization on their sites. Here are a couple of examples:
Using ‘Random Reads’
To add your favorite book to your profile or page:
–Log in to Facebook.com and search for ‘Random Read’.
–Click ‘view application’, then ‘go to application’.
–Search for the book title or author using the search box.
–Choose the book you wish to add by clicking ‘select’.
–Tell your friends what you like about the book, then click ‘publish’.
–Click ‘add to profile’ then ‘add’.
–Your favorite book will then appear within your wall and also on your wall and info tab.
To add a selection of books to your Facebook page:
–Log in to Facebook.com and search for ‘Random Reads’.
–Click ‘view application’, then ‘go to application’.
–Search for the book title or author using the search box.
–Tick the books you wish to add, then click ‘add to list’.
–Check your selection, then click ‘use these books’.
–Tell your friends what you like about the book, then click ‘publish’.
–Click ‘add to profile’ then ‘add’.
–Your selection of books will then appear within your wall and in your boxes tab.
Sounds very interesting. I wonder how much use it will get and how long it will take for it to catch on.