The Book report, which started on America Online three years ago as an online resource on books and reading, is changing its name and expanding its presence on the World Wide Web.
TBR expanded out of AOL's subscription service earlier this year (News, March 9), launching a Web site featuring reviews, book news, interviews, live events and member-generated material. Carol Fitzgerald, cofounder (along with former editor Jesse Kornbluth) and president of the Book Report, told PW the new site will be called Book Reporter (www.bookreporter.com). The AOL site will continue to be called The Book Report. "The new name is less confusing, easier for navigating on the Web and will differentiate the site on the Web from AOL," explained Fitzgerald.
Book Reporter has been converted to dynamic database (rather than static html pages, pages are generated from a database and configured based on the information requested). Bookreporter.com will feature KidsRead.com and TeensRead.com, popular sites on AOL. New features include Wishlist, a password-protected booklist that kids can send to parents or friends (Fitzgerald emphasized that there is no selling to children on the kids' site), polling on book information and message boards.
Although traffic has remained static during the redesign ("We decided not to promote the site during the makeover," said Fitzgerald), the new site plans an aggressive advertising and linkage campaign to build traffic. The site is also launching Click and Give, a holiday charity program that will donate 10% of its book sales to Reach Out and Read, a national children's literacy program.
