Simon & Schuster To Launch Video Channel

Simon & Schuster is partnering with Internet video company TurnHere to launch an online video channel dedicated to books and authors.

The companies will create videos with information on featured books and authors along with previews of new titles. The channel will be called Bookvideos.tv and is scheduled to launch in early June.

"Readers have long hungered for greater contact and more information about authors," said Sue Fleming, Vice President, Online and Consumer Marketing for the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. "Now readers will have a way to view and share compelling content about our authors, available on a 24/7 basis."

TurnHere will post videos to a branded channel about authors from Simon & Schuster and will cover all categories including adult, children and audio. Users will be able to watch two-minute segments that focus on an author’s life, the content of the book and how they developed their story idea.

Authors who will participate in the initial launch include, Sandra Brown, Mary Higgins Clark, Vince Flynn, Philippa Gregory, Ursula Hegi, Mark Hyman, and Kathy Reichs.

Simon and Schuster have plans to create videos for 40 authors and may expand that number in the future.

Fleming added, "Bookvideos.tv will allow readers to easily use the Internet to replicate, for the digital age, the critical and time tested word of mouth excitement that comes from talking about a good read."

"Working with Turn Here to tap this huge potential audience is an exciting new way of marketing for us, and we expect to find legions of new readers while at the same time giving a new experience to dedicated fans of our authors."