Avon Romance to debut ReadingSocial App and DRM free ebooks by Jane Litte

Avon Romance, an imprint of HarperCollins, was the first to drop agency pricing and is now ready to go DRM free for some books. Tor recently announced that its books would be DRM free. Tor is an imprint of Macmillan. This is tremendous progress. I’m just going to post the part of the press release for your perusal (the deleted portions are just about HC business and fluffery about Facebook).

New York, NY – October 16, 2012 – Leading romance publisher Avon Books is piloting a free Facebook app, AvonSocialReader.com, which will give readers the chance to read excerpts from Avon’s latest books, share their favorites with friends, and discover new content based on what their friends are reading. Up to 20 percent of each book will be available to read, and once a book is browsed in the app, a person can choose to have that book show up in their News Feed or timeline for friends to see. There will also be clickable buy links to DRM-free editions of the selected Avon books from allromanceebooks.com. Consumers can also choose to purchase DRM-enabled versions of the books at other online retailers.

A recent online consumer survey indicated that romance readers are highly active in the digital arena, purchasing e-books and sharing information via social channels. Many of the respondents pointed to Facebook as being the center point of their social/digital sharing world. “Many are using apps to share the news stories that they are reading online instantly with their friends,” says Liate Stehlik, Senior Vice President and Publisher of William Morrow and Avon Books. “The recent word-of-mouth phenomenon surrounding Fifty Shades of Gray confirms that women are talking about the books they are reading in equal measure. Thus, Avon worked to create a simple way for friends to connect on Facebook over the books they are most passionate about.”

She continues, “The Avon Social Reader is a fun, user-friendly way for readers to sample an interesting mix of excerpts posted to this Facebook app every month, and then virally spread the news about what they are reading via social media.”

Partnering with allromanceebooks.com allows Avon, for the first time, to offer a DRM-free option to their authors and readers, “a publishing capability many of them had asked us to pursue,” Stehlik says. The files can also be delivered as secure Adobe ePub -book editions. Bestselling author Tessa Dare expresses her excitement, saying, “I know that DRM can be a frustration for honest, paying readers who just want to purchase and read books on their preferred devices. Avon’s experiment will help me reach a new segment of the digital readership.” New York Times bestseller Cathy Maxwell says, “I’m excited that readers will now have a new way to get the inside scoop on our books – and what a great, easy way to share with all of their friends on Facebook!”

The Avon Social Reader will be launched out via Facebook today, with excerpts and buy links for the following titles:

·        A Blood Seduction: A Vamp City Novel   by Pamela Palmer

·        A Lady by Midnight by Tessa Dare

·        A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

·        A Scandalous Scot by Karen Ranney

·        A Warrior’s Promise by Donna Fletcher

·        A Week to Be Wicked by Tessa Dare

·        After the Abduction by Sabrina Jeffries

·        Chosen: A Dark Breed Novel by Sable Grace

·        Confessions from an Arranged Marriage by Miranda Neville

·        Darkness Becomes Her by Jaime Rush

·        Dark Desire by Christine Feehan

·        How to Be a Proper Lady: A Falcon Club Novel by Katharine Ashe

·        Lady Alexandra’s Excellent Adventure: A Summersby Tale by Sophie Barnes

·        Last Vamp Standing by Kristin Miller

·        Lyon’s Bride: The Chattan Curse by Cathy Maxwell

·        Mating Season: A Cabin Fever Novella by Alice Gaines

·        Nine Lives of an Urban Panther by Amanda Arista

·        Once Burned: A Night Prince Novel by Jeaniene Frost

·        Perilous Pleasures by Jenny Brown

·        Sins of a Virgin by Anna Randol

·        Skies of Fire: The Ether Chronicles by Zoe Archer

·        Tarnished: The St. Croix Chronicles by Karina Copper

·        The Art of Duke Hunting by Sophia Nash

·        The Way to a Duke’s Heart: The Truth About the Duke by Caroline Linden

·        Under a Vampire Moon: An Argeneau Novel by Lynsay Sands

·        Wanted: Undead or Alive by Kerrelyn Sparks

·        When Dreams Come True by Cathy Maxwell

·        Wicked Road to Hell: A League of Guardians Novel by Juliana Stone

·        Winter Garden by Adele Ashworth

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More information about The Avon Social Reader is available online at Avon’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/avonromance or via the direct link, www.AvonSocialReader.com.