Simon & Schuster on Friday opened a virtual storefront at popular online document-sharing website Scribd.
Works by famed horror author Stephen King and comedian Steve Martin are among nearly 5,000 electronic books the publisher has available at Scribd.com.
We re pleased to offer them this convenient, user-friendly option for discovering, sampling, and purchasing Simon & Schuster books, any time and anywhere, said Simon & Schuster chief digital officer Ellie Hirschhorn.
With millions of visitors and an extraordinary number of posted documents, Scribd has become an important destination for readers seeking written information that is relevant to their lives.
Simon & Schuster digital books can be bought at Scribd then downloaded for reading on computers or mobile devices.
The publisher also distributes works to eBook readers such as those sold by Sony and Amazon, according to company spokesman Adam Rothberg.
Scribd has 60 million visitors a month that go there basically to read online, Rothberg said. Here we have an opportunity to put our books in front of a great number of readers.
Scribd said it uses copyright management software to thwart the uploading of pirated books and that owners of works get to dictate whether digital books are read only or can only be downloaded with anti-copying software installed.
The San Francisco-based website says it takes down copyrighted works that are uploaded without permission from authors or publishers that own the rights to the books.
Simon & Schuster is a major force in book publishing and is again leading the industry by recognizing the power of the social web to influence reading and buying behavior, said Scribd chief executive Trip Adler.
We re thrilled to offer our users a one-stop solution for discovering, sharing and buying written works of all kinds, including bestselling books by one of the world s top publishers. -AFP