Google Books vs. Amazon's "Search Inside"

It used to be that customers had to go to a bookstore to read books before they bought them. That trend is fading. The new trend is for publishers to use various online portals to allow people to view books online - looking at the actual book interiors - before buying them. It started with Amazon.com's "Search Inside The Book" feature, which is still the most popular exploitation of this technology. But now Google, Microsoft, and others are getting with the program.

As an experiment in marketing, I have made book content for Tourist Town Guides available at both Google Books and via Amazon's "Search Inside the Book" feature. Both services let people virtually flip through the books' pages. Google Books gives people more access to content (about 20% of the book), whereas Amazon offers less online content, but the opportunity to buy the book (Google Books links online stores). I'm going to be monitoring internet traffic to see if these techniques make any difference.

Google Books is at http://www.books.google.com. To view the interior of books on Amazon, search for the and click on the book's cover.

Labels: marketing, website

posted by Dirk Vanderwilt @ 11:29 AM 0 Comments

They finally came!

The boxes from the printer finally came, though not on schedule and hardly on pleasant terms. At least I can continue at this point to send out review packages.

On another note, I replaced the old covers on the website with the new ones. I also added a "media downloads" section, which is referenced in the various news releases that I have been distributing. Download hi-res cover images here.

Labels: marketing, website

posted by Dirk Vanderwilt @ 8:43 PM 0 Comments