HarperCollins introduces a variation of Amazon.com’s “search inside” feature with its “browse inside” program today, as well as broadening its audio and video offerings online. The search feature is currently available for a select group of authors, including Michael Crichton, Geraldine Brooks, C.S. Lewis, Lisa Scottoline and Rick Warren, and will expand to all HC books globally over the next year.
Though the company has participated in Google Book Search Program, as well as Amazon’s, they are confident they’re putting their own spin on things, not simply copying.
“Our featured content will be a cleaner, finer copy,” Murray told The Book Standard. “Also, different rules apply to each site where our content appears. If an author wants to show more of his or her book, we can change the rules. By controlling the digital files, we can make the ‘Browse Inside’ program available widely, like on author websites and independent bookseller sites.”
“We want to reach consumers wherever they are, however they wish to experience our authors and their words,” said Jane Friedman, president and CEO of HarperCollins. “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.”
Visitors to the site can browse a small section of 135 books, but will not have access to the whole book. Brian Murray, group president of HarperCollins, said 10,000 HarperCollins books have been digitized for the program, including front and backlist titles, and will available for browsing soon. HarperCollins has been part of the Amazon search inside the book feature and is part of the Google Book Search project, but says their browse feature is different than what is already out there.
[Read the rest at The Book Standard]
