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HarperCollins To Offer Free Books Online

HarperCollins will begin offering free electronic editions of some of its books online in an effort to increase sales. The idea is to give readers the chance to sample books online in much the same way they would if they were in an actual physical bookstore. "This is analogous to removing the shrink wrap from a book," said Jane Friedman, President and CEO of HarperCollins Worldwide.

HarperCollins Partners With MySpace

HarperCollins Publishers is partnering with MySpace to launch MySpace/HarperTeen.Harper says it is an interactive community for teen readers to read authors blogs, connect with each other, post photos, communicate on message boards and participate in HarperTeen contests, programs and online polls. Starting in January 2008, HarperTeen authors will regularly interact with readers on MySpace through chats.

HarperCollins Lets iPhone Users Read

HarperCollins said today that it would make digital book content available for the iPhone. The publisher said it would make excerpts of 14 new titles available online in an iPhone-compatible format using HarperCollins Browse Inside application.

Publishers Scoff At Online Book Search

In one of its most ambitious projects ever, Google has set a goal to digitize all book content that is public domain, and also snippets from other copyrighted words in order to provide users with the most comprehensive book search function ever conceived. Several prominent libraries have already signed up to be a part of the Google Book Project, but the online search giant’s ambitions have some publishers turning up their nose in disapproval.