Looking to add books to its interactive selling platform, Talkshoplive, a streaming video shopping network offering social media–driven retail, is partnering with ReaderLink Distribution Services to offer book fulfillment to Talkshoplive clients.

Launched in 2018, Talkshoplive allows its users to sell a variety of products direct to consumers via the Talkshoplive app and website. The platform essentially enables clients to create a livestream TV show available via the app and website and the shows can be posted on social media platforms such as Twitter or Facebook.

Talkshoplive cofounder Bryan Moore told PW the network features a variety of individual sellers—from ordinary entreprenuers to such celebrity sellers as Dionne Warwick, Garth Brooks, Rikki Lake and Michael Bolton—offering all kinds of products direct to consumers via a streaming video version of a TV shopping network.

Moore also said the Talkshoplive video-player offers a “patent-pending” on-screen buy-button that lets consumers “execute a sale right on the video that’s playing in their social media screen.” The service also offers live chat and the ability to post photos.

Moore is a former social media professional who worked in TV before launching Talkshoplive in 2018 with his sister. The venture is self-financed.

According to Moore, most online consumers don’t actually make a purchase, and he claims a Talkshoplive streaming show is highly effective at converting consumers—often the seller’s social media followers—into actual buyers. And Talkshoplive buy-buttons are persistent: shows can be archived or reposted to other sites and the buy-buttons remain active.

Moore cited a show in March by country singer Garth Brooks, where he sold more than 400,000 copies of a vinyl record collection box-set, which he said helped to initiate the ReaderLink distribution deal.

ReaderLink CMO David Barker said “The proof is in the numbers and talkshoplive has a proven track record." Barker added, “After seeing tremendous success with celebrity authors utilizing Talkshoplive, we wanted to solidify this partnership.and make talkshoplive accessible to every publisher we work with." Barker also noted that ReaderLink "looks forward to helping authors and our retail partners achieve great sales through this partnership.”

DigitalReaderLink director of sales, Chris Kouzes, described the partnership as a “fulfillment deal. If the book is already available, we will start shipping to the customer immediately, as early as the next day. Otherwise, the [Talkshoplive] event will be promoted as pre-orders with the ship dates communicated at that time.”

Asked if the direct-to-consumer deal might alienate institutional retailers like Walmart or indie bookstores, Kouzes said ReaderLink views Talkshoplive as it does any other book retailer.

“Readerlink has many phyiscal retail and online accounts that we serve and we provide them the service they require,” he said. “In this case, TalkShopLive is the retailer and we’re their fulfillment partner. Really no different than the role we already play with accounts such as Walmart.com or Groupon.com.”

“At the end of the day, it’s how TalkShopLive promotes these events that makes them unique,” Kouzes explained.

Although Talkshoplive clients sell everything from vinyl records to cosmetics, they have not offered a lot of books. Last year, the site hosted dancer and actress Chloe Lukasiak who offered copies of her 2018 book, Girl On Pointe: Chloe’s Guide to Taking On the World, and sold out the available copies.

Moore said the deal with ReaderLink “is our entré into the book world. We can be a powerful platform for a storyteller. Authors can sell direct and reach their followers on social media every time and make selling the book a part of the storytelling experience."