A little more than one year after its debut, Contentville.com has gone out of business. The company, which launched July 12, 2000, and had 57 employees at one point, had been downsizing over the last few months, and on September 28, the 15 remaining employees were let go. About one month ago, Contentville dropped its practice of having well-known booksellers review titles.
In a note to staffers, Contentville.com founder Steve Brill wrote, "My idea for Contentville just didn't work." Brill avoided laying blame on "the economy or the dot-com economy" and stated that the company had "ample, unstinting support from our financial partners and our media partners." Among those investors was Ingram Book Company, which also fulfilled book orders placed through the site.
