Read the complete article at Entrepreneur.com
~ WEBSITE OF THE DAY ~
While the settlement of Google’s copyright infringement lawsuit may in fact pave the way for digital book distribution to finally take off, one start-up continues to bet on readers’ love affair with the printed word. Book Swim is a Netflix-style online book rental service enabling users to “pool” up and order books and keep them as long as they like for a flat monthly fee. The site’s most popular plan runs $19.98 for 3 rentals at a time, but a cheaper $15/2 book plan is also available. Why pay for books when the local library lends them for free? Well, some folks live miles from their local library or are too busy to make it during regular lending hours. The service is really a godsend for those who like to keep up with the latest bestsellers, which cost $25-$30 to buy and can take months to get from the library. Book Swim wouldn’t disclose how big its catalog is, but says it stocks the top 20,000 most popular titles on Amazon.com. The site is clearly tailored toward voracious readers; company spokesperson Eric Ginsberg cites national statistics that say while only 4% of the U.S. reads 3 or more titles a month, those who do pour through 20 titles a month on average. Any service that keeps people reading is a good one in our view. But it might not be a bad idea to have a digital distribution strategy in place when E-readers do take off. When devices like the Kindle improve and become cheaper, more and more of those power readers are likely to find them indispensable.
