First Issue

With the launch of a new website called Authonomy, HarperCollins UK is calling on the power of the crowd.

At Authonomy, authors can submit excerpts from their fiction or non-fiction manuscript. These excerpts are then reviewed and ranked by…well, by anyone who wants to take the time to read them. The idea is to get the public searching for and identifying the next great thing.

Once a month, the 5 books with the highest rankings are forwarded to an editorial review board at HarperColllins.

The concept works for everyone:

• HarperCollins gets free help going through its slush pile — a short list without the work
• Authors get a chance to submit their work without an agent and have a fair shot at being considered
• Armchair reviewers get a chance to offer their opinion and potential bragging rights if they help uncover the next bestseller

Authors, if you’re looking for a publishing deal, the site is worth a look.

Extending its dominion yet again, Amazon has acquired Shelfari, a social networking site for booklovers that allows readers to display a virtual bookshelf and share reviews. The announcement came through the Shelfari blog last week.

Earlier in the year, Amazon had chipped in $1 million in funding for the growing site.

The acquisition presents some interesting conflicts for Amazon. Just one month ago, the e-tail giant acquired AbeBooks, a online dealer in used, rare, and out-of-print books. AbeBooks — and now Amazon — is a 40% stakeholder in LibraryThing, a bitter Shelfari rival.

Will Amazon try to buy up the remainder of LibraryThing and merge it with Shelfari? Given the public animosity between the two sites, the more likely course may be for Amazon to divest itself of its LibraryThing holdings.

Whichever way it goes, authors who haven’t been using social networking sites like Shelfari to build word of mouth for their books online should get started. With further integration between Shelfari and Amazon in the cards, more online reviews could easily equal more sales.

Continuing its quest for world dominance, Amazon today announced in a press release that it has inked a deal to acquire AbeBooks, an online book retailer based in British Columbia.

AbeBooks deals primarily in used, rare, and out-of-print books, and most of its 110 million listings are from independent booksellers. AbeBooks will continue to operate as a stand-alone entity and will maintain all of its websites.

A search of the AbeBooks website reveals no mention of the news.

No purchase price has yet been revealed and the deal is still subject to regulatory approval.

What’s your take on the acquisition?

Spencer Johnson will soon have a new book on the market. The mega-bestselling author of Who Moved My Cheese? and The Present is set to publish a new title called Peaks and Valleys: Getting What You Need in Both Good and Bad Times.

World rights have already been sold and the English-language version will be published simultaneously in the U.S., Canada, UK and Australia, though no release date has been announced.

Who Moved My Cheese? has sold over 21 million copies since its release 10 years ago. Some interesting facts about Spencer Johnson and his publishing success, from his website:

• Amazon says that in its first 10 years of operation, Who Moved My Cheese? was its #1 selling title
• Who Moved My Cheese? is China’s all-time best selling translated work (2 million+ copies sold)
• In Japan, Who Moved My Cheese? is the #1 bestselling book of all time by a non-Japanese author (4.5 milion+ copies sold)

What do you think is the secret to the phenomenal success of this mouse-y parable on change?