On September 16, Morgan James Publishing will launch an e-book bundling program, providing a digital file version with every purchase of a physical book, said founder David Hancock.
The publisher will be partnering with BitLit,a Vancouver-based smartphone app company that enables readers to claim free or discounted e-book editions of print books purchased through traditional channels. With Morgan James, the customer redeems his or her free e-book alongside the purchase of a print book by using a smartphone to take and send photos of authenticating materials, much like digital deposit apps used by major banks. The customer will sign a page at the front of the book, take a photo of the autographed page, and then send both that photo and a photo of the cover to BitLit, who will then provide an e-book file in the customer's preferred format.
"I've been trying to figure out how we can add value not only to authors but also to readers," said Hancock, who has been chewing on the bundling idea for over two years. "We'll do that by getting the print buyer a copy of the electronic book. BitLit just made it easy for us."
Titles from both the flagship Morgan James imprint and the company's fiction imprint Koehler Books will feature the complimentary e-book for print book buyers. The publisher has already ingested its entire backlist, over 500 titles, and plans on bundling all frontlist titles with e-books after the program launches, including upcoming titles No Bullies: Solutions for Saving Our Children from Today's Bully by Bobby Kipper and Bud Ramey, and the novel Welcome to Dubai by Omar Tyree. Morgan James publishes roughly 150 books per year.
