Crown Publishing Group has relaunched Read It Forward, a website hosting a digital community of more than 385,000 readers. Described as a "publisher-agnostic book vertical," the site is dedicated to helping readers discover new and classic books.
The revamped site places a heavier influence on long-form content and essays by authors of renown-—Erik Larson, Erica Jong, and Karin Slaughter will all be involved in the summer launch—along with book recommendations from the site's staff. The site's design has received a facelift as well, with a simplified navigation bar, a cleaner interface, and a more contemporary look overall.
“We have always been proud of the editorial content featured on Read It Forward, and now we have a more modern design to showcase our interviews, literary lifestyle essays, and reading recommendations,” Crown v-p of community development Kate Rados said in a statement. "While it’s not possible to be all things to all readers, we strive to deliver the best reads at the right time that align with a reader’s taste.”
New features on the site include 'Book Club Appetizer,' a podcast hosted by Read It Forward editor Abbe Wright and Alana Buckbee of Crown; a weekly Twitter recommendation hour, in partnership with Library Journal and Penguin Random House, under the hashtag #AskALibrarian; and the Book Apothecary, a web-based application that recommends books to fit particular moods.
Read It Forward intends to work with bookstores as promotional partners, and has teamed with Tattered Cover in Denver, Colo., and Northshire Bookstore Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and Manchester, Vt. for a sweepstakes offering a single winner 50 books hand-selected by the stores' bookselling staffs. Marketing include further sweepstakes, an active social media and email marketing campaign, and a "site-wide online adventure" called "The Great Reader's Scavenger Hunt."
