Sunday, February 17, 2008

HarperCollins Publishers Promotion to Make Select Books Available Online for Free

HarperCollins Publishers today announced a variety of online promotions to allow consumers exclusive sampling of books on http://www.harpercollins.com/. In the "Full Access" Program, a select number of titles can be seen in their entirety for a limited time; in the "Sneak Peek" Program, readers will be able to view 20% of many new titles two weeks before their on sale date; and the remaining titles in the digital warehouse are now available for 20% viewing after the on sale date in the "Browse Inside" Program.

In the "Full Access" Program, HarperCollins is working with individual authors to test how free access affects books sales. For a one month period the following books will be available in their entirety on www.HarperCollins.com: Paulo Coelho's The Witch of Portobello; I Dream in Blue: Life, Death, and the New York Giants by Roger Director; Mark Halperin's The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President: Who the Candidates Are, Where They Come from, and How You Can Choose; Mission: Cook!: My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy by Robert Irvine; and Warriors: Into the Wild, the first volume of the bestselling children's series by Erin Hunter. In addition, a Neil Gaiman title will also be included.* After sampling online, consumers can follow a link to buy the book from any retailer. Additional title promotions will be decided upon on a case-by-case basis moving forward in consultation with our authors.

The "Sneak Peek" program, which allows readers to preview 20% of the book two weeks before its on sale date, is already underway. Last month, Warriors: Power of Three #2, Dark River was made available through "Sneak Peek" and pre-orders doubled over the previous book in the series. Among the other titles being previewed in "Sneak Peek" in February are The Perfect Wife by Victoria Alexander, Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews, and Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson.

No comments: