Simon & Schuster has launched three new Web sites featuring 500-1,000 word samples from its nonfiction titles. The sites--tipsonhealthyliving.com, tipsonlifeandlove.com and tipsonhomeandstyle.com—have all been set up with search engine optimization in mind to draw readers interested in the specific topics.
With relatively little in the way of content indicating that the sites are created by the publisher—tipsonhealthyliving.com, for example, features the S&S logo only once on its homepage, in small lettering near the top—S&S said the intention is to “keep the focus on the content itself, and ultimately, the book from which it derived.”
Designed like magazine sites, with links to buy titles through booksellers and simonandschuster.com, the sites, which S&S runs in-house, also allow readers to share comments and engage in social networking. According to the publisher, the sites are part of an extended effort to syndicate its content and, ultimately, increase book sales. The publisher also said similar partnerships and syndication deals are in the works, with specific plans to focus on topics like careers and money, and religion.
