Visiting your local book store, settling back into a comfy chair, and taking some time to sample a novel prior to full purchase is something that’s been sadly missing from the online version of the book-buying experience.
Random House launches online book browsing tool for a more \'try before you buy\' reading experience. Credit: Phototram/Flickr.
However, while publisher Random House cannot deliver the prerequisite comfy chair -- or an over-priced frothy latte -- it can at least provide the online tool necessary for literary lovers to fully try before they buy.
Launched earlier this week at the London Book Fair in England, the new book-browsing application enables online shoppers to sample the works of around 500 Random House authors prior to hitting a store’s order button. The service will provide reading access to approximately 10 percent of any given Random House novel.
Online book retailers already signed on to carry the limited sampling service include the likes of Play.com, BookRabbit.com and Lovereading.co.uk. Random House has outlined that it hopes to widen the widget’s parameters to cover something close to 5,000 of its titles by the close of 2008.
Critically acclaimed Random House author Sebastian Faulks, whose books will be available for sampling through the new service, playfully referred to the browsing tool as the best widget “since the original one in a draught Guinness can.”
The unveiling of its new book-browsing application arrives close behind other exercises in exposure implemented recently by Random House, reports The Guardian. These include the emergence of its rbooks.co.uk digital bookstore, virtual world promotions in Linden Lab’s Second Life experience, and also marketing campaigns directed at hugely popular social networking destinations such as MySpace and Bebo.
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oopsJun 4th, 2008 - 22:24:02
WOW.... cool pages.... cool comments.... cool design..... thx....
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oopsJun 4th, 2008 - 22:24:02
WOW.... cool pages.... cool comments.... cool design..... thx....
Report this comment