Social publisher Scribd and CBS-owned megapublisher of “real” books Simon & Schuster have just announced an agreement to sell Simon & Schuster eBooks in the Scribd Store.
The Scirbd store itself just launched last month. About 5,000 Simon & Schuster titles will be available through the Scribd store. Those titles will then be readable on Scribd.com, computer desktops, and various mobile devices. Simon & Schuster will also make thousands of printed titles available for preview with links to purchase from other outlets.
“Simon & Schuster is a major force in book publishing and is again leading the industry by recognizing the power of the social web to influence reading and buying behavior,” said Scribd CEO and co-founder, Trip Adler. “We’re thrilled to offer our users a one-stop solution for discovering, sharing, and buying written works of all kind, including bestselling books by one of the world’s top publishers.”
The Simon & Schuster content also will be available through the storefront and will be discoverable by browsing Scribd’s categories such as “books” and “business.” The publishing house will also be able to take advantage of social recommendations made through Scribd’s social features, which include Twitter and Facebook integration.
“With millions of visitors and an extraordinary number of posted documents, Scribd has become an important destination for readers seeking written information that is relevant to their lives,” said Ellie Hirschhorn, Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of Simon & Schuster. “We’re pleased to offer them this convenient, user-friendly option for discovering, sampling, and purchasing Simon & Schuster books, any time and anywhere.”
Scribd’s Copyright Management System, which will apply to Simon & Schuster eBooks as it does to all other items in the Scribd store, will help to prevent the upload of unauthorized written works. Publishers have the ability to determine how works are read, including settings for “read only on Scribd.com,” “download,” and “download with DRM.” Scribd also allows publishers to experiment with pricing, which can be changed easily and at any time.
