PW Daily

Wednesday June 5, 2002


Talking Heads: BAMM.com Adds Downloadable Author Interviews

BookstreamInc., a multimedia company providing online video promotion tools to booksellers, has signed with Books-A-Million to provide content for BAMM.com, making it the first of the big three chain booksellers to pick up the service.

Bookstream supplies downloadable video and audio clips of authors discussing their latest works, along with a synopsis, biography, reviews and excerpts. Called Bookwraps, the clips appear on the product pages of Bamm.com.

Doug Corne, director of merchandising at BAMM.com, said in a prepared statement, "We are very excited to offer Bookwraps. Readers' apprehension about buying books online because they can't 'touch' the product is easily overcome through the enhanced content they provide."

While other companies, such as B&NTV and Bookstarz.com, have attempted similar feats in the past, it appears Bookstream is gaining momentum.

It appears on approximately 140 Web sites, including the Web sites of many well-known independent bookstores, through the Booksite.com network, as well as others such as Wordsworth.com.

Owner Charles Halpin, formerly of R.R. Bowker, told PW Daily, "Essentially a Bookwrap is the equivalent of an online book jacket.

The publishers provide us with the authors they want to feature, and we distribute to bookstores, who can link to us for free."

Publishers pay a fee of $3,200 for each author and book to be promoted. Authors as diverse as Neil Gaiman, Jean Auel, Jim Crace and Daniel Handler (errr, Lemony Snickett) have been promoted using Bookwraps. Among others, FSG, Harcourt, Perseus, Basic and St. Martin's have used the service.

The clips vary in length from 15-90 seconds in length, with little time needed to download.

"It's a real win all round," said Halpin. "The publisher gets a new tool to promote books online, and the customer gets a richer book buying experience."

-- Edward Nawotka, Editor