Savvy publishers have long known that posting a sample chapter or two on their Web site is a good way to goose sales. Using a link to plain text or a PDF document, surfers could quickly get a sense of the book’s content, and perhaps buy on the spot.
Now Google is asking publishers to link to its Print site to give visitors a preview of the book. In an e-mail sent to publishers yesterday, Google provided this sample URL, asking publishers to insert their own ISBN in place of the last 10 characters:
http://print.google.com/print?isbn=0123456789
For example, here’s the link to the Google Print page for Print on Demand Book Publishing.
The only problem is, there’s no guarantee the visitor who just left your site for Google will come back. If you’re trying to get direct sales from your Web site, this could be an issue. At the Google Print site, your visitor will see “Buy” links to a variety of retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, BookSense, and of course Froogle, the marketplace operated by Google.
Google asks publishers for links to Print
Savvy publishers have long known that posting a sample chapter or two on their Web site is a good way to goose sales. Using a link to plain text or a PDF document, surfers could quickly get a sense of the book’s content, and perhaps buy on the spot.
Now Google is asking publishers to link to its Print site to give visitors a preview of the book. In an e-mail sent to publishers yesterday, Google provided this sample URL, asking publishers to insert their own ISBN in place of the last 10 characters:
http://print.google.com/print?isbn=0123456789
For example, here’s the link to the Google Print page for Print on Demand Book Publishing.
The only problem is, there’s no guarantee the visitor who just left your site for Google will come back. If you’re trying to get direct sales from your Web site, this could be an issue. At the Google Print site, your visitor will see “Buy” links to a variety of retailers, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, BookSense, and of course Froogle, the marketplace operated by Google.
New in paperback: The Home-Based Bookstore: Start Your Own Business Selling Used Books on Amazon, eBay or Your Own Web Site (by Steve Weber)
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