The Wall Street Journal published a piece today by Jeffrey Trachtenberg about how books publishers are trying to adapt to the Internet.

They nailed us. Names@Work is exposed as the brains behind “Pulse,” the online book we did for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and we are further accused of doing “innovative marketing.” I am actually quoted, extensively. All that work we did to keep a low profile — gone, like tears in the rain…

Unlike “Pulse,” the Wall Street Journal is not available online without an expensive subscription, so it’s largely invisible on the Internet. You can find the full story in the WSJ of Sept. 11, page R4, in the Technology section, but we’re trying to get out in front of this public relations situation by releasing excerpts.

Read on:

Boundless Possibilities

As ‘networked books start to appear, consumers, publishers, and authors get a glimpse of publishing to come.

“Networked” books — those written, edited, published and read online — have been the coming thing since the early days of the Internet. Now a few such books have arrived that, while still taking shape, suggest a clearer view of the possibilities that lie ahead.

In a fairly radical turn, one major publisher has made a networked book available free online at the same time the book is being sold in stores….

Does the widespread distribution of essentially free content help or hinder sales?

At least one leading house think that it helps. Farrar, Straus and Giroux… has been posting several new pages of Robert Frenay’s “Pulse”…. at PulseTheBook.com seven days a week since April 10. A hardcover version of the book was published in April.

“This was an experimental way to market a book,” says Jeff Seroy, the imprint’s senior vice president of marketing and publicity. “The marketing consisted of releasing the entire book in installments for free.”

The publisher believed that the material, which provides a window into the latest advances in technology and biology, lent itself to innovative marketing. After meeting with Antony Van Couvering, chief executive of Names@Work LLC [that's me folks!], a New York-based business that focuses on Web marketing, [the] publisher committed itself to spending… virtually its entire marketing budget for the book. The publisher was intrigued by the potential for creating a like-minded community whose membership would focus on Mr. Frenay’s work. The site provides readers with a list of the most viewed posts, the posts rated highest by readers, book-related events….

Several hundred people have subscribed to the book, which means they get daily updates which they can read and forward to friends. In addition, a number of outside bloggers have blogged on specific topics on their own sites, thereby expanding the readership pool. A recent tally found a total of 59 blogs posting a total of 125 links to the site.

“The real power of the approach is that the entire book with be indexed in Google’s primary index, which means that anyone can find the book by its content as well as its author, title, or ISDN [sic] number,” says Mr. Van Couvering. It’s unclear how many books will lend themselves to such promotions. However, Mr. Seroy of Farrar, Straus suspects that the concept will become more commonplace as publishers better understand marketing dynamics on the Web. “Everyone is trying to figure out how to move forward,” he says.

The project extends through Nov. 6, at which point the entire 545-page text will be available. Readers can access the book by going to the Web site, or receive the daily chapters by email or an RSS feed. They can also post comments, or visit links on such subjects as politics, science and technology.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux was unconcerned about the potential of lost book sales. it reasoned that enough people who were curious about the entire book, would buy a copy rather than read the book a few pages at a time online. “We figured some would read it on the Web, some would buy it, and some would hear about it because it was a novel way to release the book,” says Mr. Seroy.

Mr. Van Couvering assumed responsibility for the daily updates, as well as maintaining the site. “What it does is extend the sales life of the book,” he says, comparing the approach to the serialized novels of Charles Dickens…. [I did, it's true. Sorry.]

So far, Farrar, Straus says it has been pleased by the results. Unlike an ad, the Web site, which has attracted more than 26,000 visitors, will be in place for months.

Further, book sales have been surprisingly robust. Farrar, Straus printed 9,000 copies of “Pulse,” and has shipped about 8500. Mr. Seroy expects the entire first printing to sell out. “The book got very little mainstream coverage, yet it still sold,” he says, attributing the strong response to the Web site.

Jeff Trachtenberg got the whole thing right, and did a great job with this piece. Any publicity is good publicity, but it’s really gratifying to be singled out in a solid piece by a good reporter.

Posted by Antony in: Blogs, General, Media + Marketing, News, Search