HarperCollins Enables Digital Book Browsing
Book publisher HarperCollins said Thursday it was launching a feature on its site called "Browse Inside," which would allow visitors to peer inside the works of some of its most notable authors. The company initially announced last year that it planned to digitize its catalog of books.
The company already allows prospective book buyers to read portions of its books through Amazon's "Look Inside" feature, however the new effort is a completely in-house initiative. By controlling the digitization, HarperCollins would also control how the books are is distributed.
In a recent interview with the Associated Press Thursday, CEO Jane Friedman said the company saw it as the next logical step, and expected to leverage the service in social networking environments as well. Some of the publisher's most prominent authors would be digitized, including Michael Crichton and others.
By next year, HarperCollins expects to have nearly all its titles available through the service.
"We want to reach consumers wherever they are, however they wish to experience our authors and their words," Friedman said in a statement. "In keeping with our mission to be a true 21st-century publisher we are proud that HarperCollins is taking a leadership role on the digital front to fulfill consumer and marketplace demands while, first and foremost, protecting our authors' copyrights."
About five percent of the books would be viewable online, she said.