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'Book People for independents'

05.03.08 Graeme Neill

A new retail website, which is hoping to become "The Book People for small publishers", is about to kick off beta testing ahead of its launch later this year.

Amber Square is the brainchild of writer Greg Matthews, who intends for it to be used as a resource for small publishers to get their lists in front of readers. Matthews said the site was aimed at "those who are looking for (new) ways of exposing their books to the reading public". It will not sell any self-published titles.

Books will initially be promoted through a PDF catalogue, but within six months of launch Matthews intends to begin publishing print catalogues for subscribers. The company is also intending to advertise online and in print."

The creators of this site share a common frustration of seeing beautifully crafted writing, produced as high-quality books by dedicated teams of small publishers, reaching only a tiny percentage of the people who would greedily snap them up to read had they only found them," said Matthews. He declined to discuss how many publishers were currently involved, but said that "a few" had been helping with testing aspects of the site at www.ambersquare.com.

He added that discounts would be "actively encouraged" for books appearing in the monthly print catalogues, and that "because most small press publishers offer promotional copies, we are planning to offer free copies on selected orders—for example 'buy one and choose one promotional book for free'."

Retail digital Graeme Neill Independents

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